Tandoori Eggplant

Spicy and delicious Tandoori eggplants - coated with a tasty and better-for-you Tandoori marinade - featuring Mazola® Corn Oil, spices, and herbs - and then grilled to perfection on a grill pan over gas flames. And, it’s vegan too. This smoky Tandoori-spiced eggplant is a perfect dish to start with your summer-time grilling.

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Eggplant steak, Eggplant tikka, Spicy eggplant tikka, Tandoori eggplant, vegan eggplant tandoori

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 8

Servings:

Calories: 74kcal

Author: Sophie

Cost: $6

Equipment

Grill pan

Ingredients

1 large eggplant cut into cubes or slices approx 1 lb
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Tandoori Marinade

1 tablespoon Mazola® Corn Oil and more to brush the pan
2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste freshly ground
1 teaspoon paprika ground. ½ teaspoon ground cayenne more If you enjoy hot dishes
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon lime juice optional
Salt to taste

Skewer Tandoori Eggplants

½ cup Cubes of Red, green and yellow peppers
2 cups eggplant cubes
¼ cup tandoori marinade

To Serve

Cucumbers, Lettuce, Mint yogurt chutney

Instructions

Cut the eggplant into spices or cubes. Rub the pieces or slices with salt and turmeric and set aside for 10-minutes.
Prepare the marinade and combining all spices and then adding Mazola® Corn Oil first. Mix it well and then add rest all ingredients. The marinade should look thick yet liquid-like.
Heat a seasoned cast iron grill pan and brush it with Mazola® Corn Oil.
Slather both the sides of the eggplant slices with the tandoori marinade and place them on the grill pan.
Cook the slices under medium to high flame until each side has nice grill marks and eggplants are tender yet not super-soft.
Serve these tandoori eggplant steaks with salad and mint raita.
For tandoori skewers, marinate the cubes in ½-1/3 cup of the marinade. Now grill them on a grill pan for 1-2 minutes on each side. This step ensures that eggplants are fully cooked when grilled with the skewer.
Place eggplant cubes with onions and peppers in a skewer.
Grill them directly over the flame or charcoal grill while brushing with the Mazola® Corn Oil or cook them on a seasoned cast iron pan.
Serve these warm with mint raita and chutney.
Enjoy!

Notes

Instant Pot Grilling W/ CrispLid:

Preheat the Crisplid at 350F for 7-minutes.
Meanwhile, line the inner pot of your IP with parchment paper or aluminum foil. This will help to catch the drip from the eggplant slices while grilling on the CrispLid basket.
Brush the inner basket with Mazola® Corn Oil and place the eggplant slices. Set the timer for 8-minutes to cook the eggplant slices.
If your eggplant slices are thin, cook them for 5-minutes.
After the cooking time, flip them and cook again for 3-5 minutes depending on the desired doneness you want. I like tender yet not very soft eggplants, so a total time of 8+5 minutes work for me since my eggplants are sliced really thick.
After grilling, serve them with mint raita and salads.

Air-Fryer Grilling:

Preheat the air-fryer at 350F for 5-minutes.
Meanwhile, line the air-fryer racks with parchment paper or aluminum foil. This will help to catch the drip from the eggplant slices while grilling .
Spray the lined racks with Mazola® Corn Oil and place the eggplant slices. Set the timer for 6-minutes to cook the eggplant slices.
If your eggplant slices are thin, cook them for 4-minutes.
After the cooking time, flip them and cook again for 3-5 minutes depending on the desired doneness you want. I like tender yet not very soft eggplants, so a total time of 10 minutes work for me since my eggplants are sliced really thick.
After grilling, serve them with mint raita and salads.

Nutrition