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Fesenjan-e
Bademjan
(Eggplant & Pomegranate Braise)
Queen
Esther, the Persian queen who is the heroine of the Purim
holiday, kept her Jewish background hidden while living
in the Court of King Ahashuerus. It is now suggested
that she may have done this by eating a vegetarian diet.
It is this reason, as well to as give hope to Jewish
vegetarians everywhere looking for tasty special occasion
recipes for Jewish holidays, that this main course Purim
dinner recipe is included in our Purim recipe files.
This
eggplant dish with a honey walnut sauce is exotic. the
walnuts are used as a thickening agent, the pomegranates
for sourness, and the honey as a sweetener. the result
is a delicate sweet-and-sour flavor that is typically
Persian. Asian eggplants, pomegranate juice and pomegranate
paste are available at Iranian market and the Middle Eastern
or Ethnic specialty sections of some major grocery stores.
Peel
eggplants and remove stems. Salt, let sit for at least 20
minutes, rinse and squeeze out water. Slice into 1 in. thick
rounds.
Heat
4 tbsp. oil in deep skillet over medium heat. Add eggplant,
and saute on all sides about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove eggplants from skillet and drain on paper towels and
set aside. Add remaining oil to skillet and reheat over medium
heat.
Add
onion and saute until golden brown (10-14 minutes). Add garlic
for last few minutes of browning onions and continue cooking.
add cumin, cannamon, salt, pepper, turmeric, crushed red
pepper, parsley, cilantro (or lemon basil or fresh oregano)
and fresh mint and saute for another 5 minutes. Remove from
heat and set aside.
Grind
walnuts in food processor until very fine, or else sauce
will be gritty. Combine walnuts with dluted pomegranate paste
and honey, as needed, and stir until sauce is smooth.
Pour
sauce into skillet. Return eggplants and seasoning to skillet,
reduce heat to low, cover and simmer mixture for 30 minutes
or until eggplants are tender, stirring occasionally with
a wooden spoon. If sauce is too sour, add more honey or brown
sugar to taste.
Spoon
onto serving dish or plates, and garnish with herb leaves
and pomegranate seeds, or any combination of the optional
garnishes of friend eggplant rounds or crispy onions. Serve
with couscous or rice , warm flat bread and a fresh green
salad.
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Ingredients
5
Asian eggplants (2 lb.) or 2 large regular eggplants with
bitterness removed**
6
tbsp. olive oil
1 med. size onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2
tp. gr. cumin
1/4
tsp. gr. cinnamon
2
tsp. salt
1
tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2
tsp. gr. turmeric
1
tsp. crushed red pepper
1
c. chopped fresh parsley
2
c. chopped cilantro leaves, (substitute with lemon
basil or fresh oregano if you hate cilantro like I do)
1/2
c. chopped fresh mint
2
c. (1/2 lb.) toasted walnuts
1/2
c. pomegranate paste diluted with 2 1/2 c. water or 3 c.
pomegranate juice
1
tbsp. honey (blackberry honey is a yummy choice !) or brown
sugar, as needed
for
garnish
1
c. cilantro leaves, basil or parsley
1
c. pomegranate seeds (about 2 pomegranates)
fried
eggplant rounds, fried cilantro or basil leaves and fried
onion rings (optional)
**NOTE
I
prefer the Asian eggplants for this recipe, well, always,
actually, because I hate seedy eggplant, but if you must
use the larger, Italian/Western kind, cut into pieces
and soak in a container of water with 2 tbsp. salt for 20
minutes, rinse thoroughly, then squeeze the water out with
a towel. This part of the process is less important for the
Asian eggplants than for the other kind, which are more bitter,
and need to be washed and salted to take the bitterness
away.With Asian eggplants, you can just let sit for
20 minutes with salt on top of them, then rinse and squeeze--the
soaking is uneccessary. Remember, the more water you squeeze
out of eggplant, the more room it has to absorb the sauce
you are cooking in.
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