Buonasera.
This recipe from our September 17th dinner comes from Benny Zadik. He has sent it to us from his father Moti's website, a collection of recipes and anecdotes drawing from Moti's Jewish-Iraqi heritage, his love of hot Mexican food, and herbs from East Asia — all spiced with his friendly, outspoken commentary. Ahh... a kindred soul. So go check out his site, you'll learn something.
And for the dinner participants: We'd all like to have your recipe, so get on that computer and send it in.
A presto,
Marco Flavio
Babenjan (Sweet & Sour Eggplant stew)
Try This recipe serves 3-4 people.
There are lots of egglplants out there and many ways to cook them. I think the Japanese ones, which are small and flavorful, work best.
Ingredients
6-10 pound of Japanese eggplants
1 16oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbs lemon juice (or citric acid)
Sugar or sweetener to taste
Olive oil for frying
1 stick lemongrass and/or 2 kefir lime leaves (optional)
Spices: cinnamon, tumeric, black pepper, salt, etc. to taste
This is a delicious stew, not unlike the bamia dish. However, the whole tomatoes and tumeric give it a different flavor and consistency.
This is what I do: that I make is as follows: In a large pot sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil. Cook until yellow, and then add one pound okra (cut in half, or smaller if bigger then 2").
Add salt, pinch black pepper, 1-2 teaspoons of tumeric, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Stir, and now add the tomatoes. The best canned tomatoes, by the way, always come from Italy. If you can get San Marzano tomatoes (available at Whole Foods and other nice supermarkets), it tastes that much better! If you happen to have lemongrass and kefir lime leaves on hand, toss them in. They will really bring out a much more fragrant lemon flavor to the dish!
Add lemon juice and sugar to taste. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, using as much oil as necessary fry the eggplants, flipping once. If you use a larger kind of eggplant, you'll have to cut them in slices first. This is another reason why the Japanese eggplants work really well in this recipe. Remove from the pan and add a little sea salt. Next place the cooked eggplant into your tomato stew and cover and simmer for 15 more minutes to let the spices soak in.
You can enjoy this stew as a main dish or as a starter soup. Garnish with cilantro for a special touch!
Best of luck,
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