Eggplants & Yogurt Recipe

This is one of many Middle Eastern recipes I picked up. It is really tasty in its original state but I have modified it into a low fat version which I post here. Enjoy.

A quick tip: after peeling and slicing the eggplants, place them in a sieve and sprinkle with salt and leave that for 30 minutes before you wash off the salt with cold water and then pat dry the eggplants with kitchen towels. This removes any bitterness found in the eggplant seeds.

Ingredients

4 eggplants, peeled and sliced

Low fat cooking spray

400g of diced lean beef

1 medium brown onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced and extra 5 cloves minced on the side

2 tsp all spice

Salt & pepper to taste

5-6 cups of non fat natural yogurt

1 cup croutons (preferably homemade or get the ready herb and garlic ones)

Chopped fresh parsley and coriander to garnish

1. Spray a non stick cooking pan with the low fat cooking spray and saute the onions until tender. Add the garlic towards the end and then add the beef and saute all together stirring to avoid meat sticking to pan until the meat is browned on all sides and the juices run clear. Add the all spice, salt and pepper and cover the mixture with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the meat is tender (around 30 minutes). Reserve all the sauce as we will use it.

2. Meanwhile, spray the low fat cooking spray onto a baking tray and line it with the towel dried eggplants and grill in the oven until both sides are nicely browned. Keep turning and monitoring the eggplants to avoid burning.

3. Once the eggplants and the meat are done, get a baking dish and place a tbsp of the meat juice at the bottom of the baking dish covered with a layer of the eggplant. Pour another 2 Tbsp of the meat sauce on top. Place the meat without the sauce on top of the eggplants and then cover that with another layer of eggplants. Pour the remainder of the meat juice.

4. Place the whole dish in the oven and pour enough water to cover the mixture and bake in the oven without covering the dish for around an hour.

5. Meanwhile, mix the yogurt with the extra 5 cloves of garlic and place in the fridge.

6. Just before serving, pour the cold mixed yogurt and garlic onto the eggplant dish and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley and coriander.

For those who do know this dish and have tasted it the original way, this may not seem too palatable however it is still a tasty dish. The original recipe calls for the croutons to be fried (which does make sense as they stay crunchy far longer than baked ones), and for fried pine nuts for garnish at the top. The eggplants in the original recipe are fried as well.

Based on the above you can tell that the dish will be tastier however loaded with fat. Most Middle East households cook with animal fat (samn) although I have to admit that the trend is soon wearing off with newer generations opting to go for vegetable oils especially olive oil.