Mrs. Yi's Fried Green Tomatoes

Often, Mrs. Yi tends to make up dishes as she goes along. Her instincts are good. So it was with this fried green tomato dish with curry mayonnaise that she whipped up just the other night. Over many years, I've enjoyed fried green tomatoes prepared scores of ways. To my palate, these were the best yet.

Green tomato season is happening right now.. So it's been ever since the tomatoes in our back yard stopped growing in mid-September and began to redden sparingly. For the dish we're about to share, we plucked four small green tomatoes. They yielded about 15 one-third inch slices.

Here's the recipe:

MRS. YI'S FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

TOMATOES


4 small green tomatoes, or perhaps 2 large, or 3 medium
1 cup flour
1 3/4 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup yellow corn meal


CURRY MAYONNAISE

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Indian curry powder
healthy squirt of lemon juice

Slice the tomatoes into 1/3 inch slices. Season 1 cup of flour with 1 1/4 teaspoon of Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Dip tomatoes in flour so they're well coated and put on a plate. Save the remaining flour. Meanwhile pour canola oil into a frying pan until 1/4 inch deep and place over moderate heat. Beat 2 eggs with a teaspoon of water. To the flour that's left, add the 1/2 cup of cornmeal and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt. Dip floured tomato slices in egg and then in cornmeal making certain they're well padded. Then fry them up in the heated oil til light golden brown and sure to be crisp, about 7 minutes, turning and testing as you see fit. Rest on a double folding of paper towels to drain. Mix the the three ingredients for the curry mayonnaise to be served on the side.