Shake your bisque, baby

Fried eggplant cappuccino 

I like soups. All kinds of them – thick and creamy, clear and runny, hot or cold.  But what I like even better, are soups that come in small sizes.

A fat, inviting bowl that ruins my appetite for main course, doesn’t go down well with me. Especially since most broths play with one or two core flavours, a bowlful of repeated exposure is not my idea of savouring soup.

What I personally favour are soup shots. Small cups of goodness that warm up the belly from inside and make way for good food to it fill it up.

The fried eggplant cappuccino is one such soup.

It works perfectly when served in small doses. You sip, indulge in its flavour, gulp and stop at that.

Ingredients:

1 deep purple eggplant, 3 cloves of garlic, ½ onion (chopped) ½ cup of milk, ½  cup cream, salt to taste, pepper to taste, coriander stalks, 1 pinch of whole wheat flour (optional), oil to fry, 1 tbsp butter

Method:

Clean eggplant and cut it into fine slices.

Rub a pinch of salt on the slices and leave them aside for fifteen to twenty minutes. This step helps in reducing the bitterness of eggplant and makes it blend better with dairy products like cream.

Wash the eggplant slices under running water and drain. Dry them on a kitchen napkin and keep aside.

Heat oil and fry the eggplant slices in small batches. Drain them on a kitchen paper and allow them to come down to room temperature.

In a blender, blend the fried slices into a puree and keep it aside.

In a deep-bottomed pan, heat butter and sauté the onions and garlic until brown. Add the fried eggplant puree to it and season with salt and pepper. Allow the mixture to simmer until it comes to a boil. Remove from fire and let it come down to room temperature.

Transfer it back into the blender and give it a good mix.

Strain it using a kitchen sieve and discard the molasses. Transfer the strained mixture back into the deep-bottomed pan and add milk to adjust the consistency of the soup.