Fried Green Tomatoes

I'd been wanting to make Fried Green Tomatoes ever since I first heard about the southern American classic, which was quite a few years ago, but I finally only got around to it this past weekend.

I was watching the movie Fried Green Tomatoes on television and those thick slices of gorgeous, green-gold goodness called out to my tastebuds louder than I could resist. Since I have plenty of green tomatoes growing in my backyard right now, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Although the name of this dish makes it sound deep-fried, the tomatoes are actually shallow-fried in just a little more oil than one might use to saute veggies. Typically, fried green tomatoes are not vegan. You need to make an assembly line with milk, flour, eggs and finally cornmeal, coating the slices of tomato in each before they are fried.

Soymilk, I knew, would do perfectly instead of the milk, but for the eggs I decided to substitute flaxmeal plus water. This is because the eggs act as a glue in this recipe to which the cornmeal, that gives the tomatoes a crispy outer golden coating, adheres. And flaxmeal whisked with water produces a gooey mixture very similar to eggs in texture. Plus, like eggs, it has protein and a good quantity of omega 3 fatty acids which are really, really good for you. If you don't have access to flaxmeal, I'd suggest just dipping again in milk for a second time and then in the cornmeal.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy, all!

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 large green tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt and ground black pepper and set aside.

1/2 cup soymilk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp flaxmeal whisked with 4 tbsp of cold water. If the mixture is still too thick and gummy, add some more water for an egg-like consistency.

1/2 cup cornmeal

Place the soymilk, flour, flax mixture and cornmeal each in four separate containers, deep and wide enough to submerge the tomato slices.

Heat 2 tbsp of canola or other vegetable oil in a cast-iron or non-stick skillet.

Dredge each slice of tomato in the soymilk, then the flour, then the flax and finally the cornmeal, and place into the hot skillet.

Fry on each side about 2 minutes over medium-high heat or until golden brown.

Remove to a dish lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil, and sprinkle with some more salt and pepper when hot, if desired.

I had a little extra batter left over and I also fried up a few slices of zucchini. Yum.

You might want to try making bhujias or pakoras with green tomatoes too. Follow this recipe for the batter, dip the green tomatoes in it, and deep fry.

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My laptop crashed the other day, taking with it lots of photographs of dishes I'd meant to blog about, which is the reason I've been a little slow these past few days. The worst is past, though, and I hope to be back to my usual blogging schedule from now on. Thanks for your patience, dear friends and readers!

Also, I am hoping to see more of you participate in It's A Vegan World: Malaysian this month. The deadline's September 5, so do send in your favorite dishes. Bloggers and non-bloggers are both welcome to participate. I'm waiting!