Sweet Eggplant Delight

Directions

We clean the eggplants, removing the stems, and wash them thoroughly. We place them in cold water with the juice from one lemon and the citric acid. We let them soak for 2-3 hours, covered with a weight on top. Then we remove them, rinse them, and put them in a pot with cold water. We let them boil for 5 minutes and then change the water. We repeat the same process. When we change the last water, we place them in a colander and gently squeeze each one (careful not to break them) to remove any water they have retained. Then we insert two cloves in each eggplant. In the pot, we add the sugar with 1 ½ cups of water. We add the cinnamon stick and let it boil for about 5 minutes. We add the eggplants and let them simmer for another 10 minutes. We move the pot to the side and let our sweet sit for 24 hours. The next day, we give it a boil until the syrup thickens, adding juice from ½ lemon and the vanilla pod. At this point, you can optionally add toasted almonds or walnuts. Then we put it hot into sterilized jars. We seal them and turn them upside down until they cool.