Fried Eggplant and Green Pepper

(Patlican Biber Kizartmasi)

2 cups water with 1 tbsp salt
1 large eggplant
1 large cubanelle pepper
1/2 cup sunflower oil

Tomato Sauce:
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 heaping tbsp of diced tomato
2 heaping tbsp of crushed tomato
Salt

Peel the eggplant in lengthwise strips. Cut into large chunks. Soak in 2 cups of water with salt for about 30 minutes.

Place sunflower oil in a medium sized skillet. Squeeze the eggplants with your hand and dry them with paper towel. When the oil heats up, fry the eggplants on both sides until golden brown. Afterwards, place on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.

Meanwhile, remove the seeds from the pepper. Cut into large chunks and fry on both sides until golden brown. While you're frying the pepper, cover it with a paper towel since the oil will spit. This won't happen with the eggplant. After the pepper pieces are fried, place on a paper towel and wait until they cool down. Then peel off the thin layer of skin with your hands.

Combine all the tomato sauce ingredients in a small pot. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Make sure it doesn't dry out.

Put the eggplants and peppers on a service plate. Pour the tomato sauce over it and refrigerate. This recipe is served cold as an appetizer. Try serving this dish with bread.

* This is a vegetarian dish.