In this gently spiced vegetable dish, baby eggplant slices are first fried until golden, then braised with chickpeas, tomatoes and garam masala until soft, velvety and richly flavored.  To fry or not to fry?  That is the question I face every eggplant season.  Whether ’tis nobler to suffer the oil-slicked mire that gets tracked all over the kitchen, or to take arms against the sea of grease, keeping the splatter to areas dark and unseen in the depths of the broiler.  Broiling is easier, less messy and more hands-off, leaving you free to toss the salad while your eggplant softens and chars. So for the most part, I broil.  But at least once or twice a summer, I say to heck with the mess and heat up a pan of olive oil. Because for eggplant lovers, frying chunks or slices is one of the most classic and luscious preparations. The eggplant’s surface crisps and browns, and the insides collapse, becoming almost impossibly custardy. You just can’t get that same succulence under the broiler.  At our house, fried eggplant is special enough to be the star of the plate, so I tend not to do much to embellish it beyond a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of salt.  But when something more elaborate is required, a topping of curried tomatoes and chickpeas gives the dish protein, aromatic complexity and bulk. And a bright mint and chile chutney kicks in a tangy contrast to all that richness.  A word about the chutney. Don’t think of the sugary, fruity mango stuff that’s a first cousin to jam. This chutney is closer kin to an herbal hot sauce: garlicky, snappy and fiery enough to make your sinuses burn if you leave the seeds in the serrano.  A little yogurt at the end cools everything down, but you can skip it if you’d rather keep things bracing and intense.  I suggest using baby eggplant here because they are more reliably sweet than larger ones. But if you have a very fresh and glossy globe eggplant without any telltale signs of age (browning on the sides, withering at the cap), go ahead and use it.  And if this dish piques your interest but you know in your heart that you don’t want to fry, rest assured that a broiled eggplant is nearly as noble. Just make sure to brush both sides generously with oil before you do it for the maximum creaminess.  Because with eggplant, the only wrong answer to the eternal question is to do nothing at all.  Recipes: Fried Eggplant With Chickpeas and Mint Chutney | More Eggplant Dishes  A version of this article appears in print on August 12, 2015, on page D2 of the New York edition with the headline: Eggplant, Broiled or Fried (but Especially Fried). Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Frying is a little more work and mess, sure, but the crispy outside and custardy inside make for a worthwhile delicacy. (Article plus video.)