What to use instead of eggplant
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Fried or roasted slices that go silky and drink up sauce
The spongy cell structure collapses under heat and the flesh turns creamy while holding together, and those same air pockets are why it takes on so much oil.
Zucchini, thick-cutRan out
Match by weight, salted 20 min and patted dry
Cooks in half the time and never goes as creamy. It sheds a lot more water, so a moussaka built on it runs at the edges unless the slices are browned hard first.
Portobello caps, gills scrapedRan out
Match by weight
Meatier and deeper with none of eggplant's sweetness, and they shrink by nearly half, so buy double what looks right.
Potato slices, parboiledRan out
Match by weight, boiled 5 min and drained dry
Starchy and dense, and it holds the layers of a moussaka better than eggplant does. No silkiness and no bitterness at all.
Peeled winter squash, sliced thinRan out
Match by weight, roasted 200C for 25 min
Sweet and soft with a firmer bite, and it holds shape in a bake. The sweetness fights a sharp caponata, so add another spoon of vinegar.
What doesn't work: Cucumber or yellow crookneck squash. Both hold far more water and neither has the spongy structure, so they slump into liquid in the pan and thin the sauce instead of thickening it.
Blistered whole and mashed into a smoky pulp
The skin chars over direct flame while the flesh steams inside its own jacket, so you get smoke on the outside and a soft, mashable pulp within.
Zucchini charred wholeRan out
Match by weight, charred 10 min and drained 15 min in a sieve
Takes smoke well and holds far more water, so the mash is soupy without the draining. Less sweet and more vegetal.
Red peppers charred over the flameRan out
Match by weight
Sweeter and much more assertive, and the pulp is silkier and less fibrous. It turns a bharta into something closer to a muhammara base.
Cauliflower roasted hard, with tahiniRan out
1 head roasted at 220C for 25 min + 2 tbsp tahini per 500 g eggplant
Nuttier and drier, and it holds char flavour well. The tahini is doing the work of the missing creaminess, so it is not optional.
What doesn't work: Peeling and boiling the eggplant to save time. You get pale wet pulp with no char at all, and the extra water dilutes the spices, so a baingan bharta comes out tasting of onion and tomato only.