European style pickled eggplants ready in two days

Today I will share with you a very special recipe: pickled eggplants. They are delicious, easy to prepare and it only takes 2 days to have them ready. They are a superb side dish to any grilled meat and in many other combinations.
I got the recipe from my grandmother many years ago and I was never able to find anything like this in the stores.

Ingredients:

2 medium size eggplants with skin.
15-20 cloves garlic
a bunch of fresh parsley

1 cup of cider vinegar (white would work as well)
2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3-4 bay leaves
9-10 fl oz olive oil

an empty glass jar (about 800 grams) with a lid

Eggplants
Garlic
Parsley

Preparation:

1. Take the eggplants (with the skin) and slice them. Each slice should be about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick.

2. In a big pot, bring 20 cups of water (about 5 l) to a boil, add a tbsp of sea salt and boil the eggplants for about 5 minutes.

Boil

3. Strain to get rid of the hot water.

Strain

4. Add 7-8 floz (200 ml) of olive oil to a pan and fry the eggplants slices on both sides for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Depending on the size of the frying pan, you will need to repeat this a few times. Put the slices on a big plate once you remove them from the pan.

Fry

5. In another small pot, combine:

1 cup vinegar
2 cups water
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3-4 bay-leaves
1 tbsp sugar or honey
2 tbsp olive oil

Bring it to boil and let it boil for about 3 minutes.

6. In a glass jar (~800 grams) lay 2-3 eggplants slices, a few pieces of garlic, parsley, then another layer of eggplants, garlic, parsley, till you reach the top of the jar, while pushing down the content to make sure that you fit as much as possible. Leave about one inch at the top.

Jar

7. Pour in the hot combination of vinegar and water and make sure that the liquid will find a way to the bottom of the jar.

Full jar

8. Tighten the lid while the jar content is still hot.

Lid on

9. Cover the jar with a warm blanket to accelerate the process.

Cover

10. The pickled eggplants are ready to serve in about 2 days and they can last for long time (even one year) if you keep them in a cool place. Refrigerate the jar once opened.

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