Dutch Oven Dinner 3/30/2016: Persian Eggplant Stew

On: By: Leslie Cook

Persian_EP_Stew02

I found this recipe for Persian Eggplant Stew (Khoresh Bademjan) on Pinterest, from inmybowl.com. I made a couple of changes since I didn’t have some ingredients, and what came out was wonderful! Serve with brown Basmati rice for a delicious and aromatic entrée. I’ll definitely make this one again with the changes, which I incorporated below.

Ingredients

  • Coconut oil, halved, 1/4 cup
  • Eggplant, 1 large, cubed
  • Salt, 2 tsp., halved
  • Spanish onions, 2-3
  • Garlic, 4 large cloves
  • Baby Portobello mushrooms, 1 lb.
  • Black pepper, 1/2 tsp. ground
  • Turmeric, 1-1/2 tsp.
  • Cinnamon, 1 tsp.
  • Plum tomatoes, 8, quartered
  • Golden raisins, 1/2 cup
  • Limes, juice of 1-2
  • Pomegranate molasses, 1 TB
  • Italian parsley, a few sprigs for garnish

lnstructions

  1. Place the cubed eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with tsp. of salt, and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Blot dry.
  2. Pre-heat 2 TB of the coconut oil in a heavy pan (I used the top of my Double Dutch Oven). Add the eggplant and seer, then turn down the heat and saute, stirring frequently, until the eggplant is soft. Turn off the heat and set aside.
  3. Slice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the mushrooms. Quarter the tomatoes.
  4. Heat the remaining 2 TB of oil in the Dutch oven.
  5. Add the onions to the heated oil, and saute until soft, about 6-10 minutes.
  6. Add the garlic, mushroom, and spices and saute for an additional few minutes until the spices are fragrant.
  7. Stir in the tomatoes, raisins and lime juice and salt (the remaining tsp. or less) to taste.
  8. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and allow stew to simmer for 30 minutes.
  9. While the stew is simmering, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
  10. After 30 minutes, gently stir in the eggplant, and transfer the Dutch oven, uncovered, to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

I had a hot Thai pepper on hand. I minced a tiny bit of that and used it instead of the full amount of black pepper. That made the dish both spicy and sweet (from the Pomegranate molasses and cinnamon) and really delightful.

Serve the stew with rice.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on Facebook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter, @vegwithleslie.

Ideas? Would like to hear from you!