Stuffed Aubergine - Persian Style (Dolmeh Bademjan)
Dolmeh Bademjan is one of my favourite Iranian dishes and one, that my grandmother used to make best. After stuffing the aubergine with rice, lentils and minced meat, let it slow cook for 45 minutes in a flavourful tomato sauce. This is where the magic happens: as the aubergine tenders it blends in with all the other ingredient’s flavours. Served on a bed of tomato sauce with mint-yoghurt and fresh parsley. If this doesn’t send you straight to food heaven, then I don’t know what will :)
Ingredients
Serves 4
Preparation time: 1,5 hours
4 aubergines
120 g basmati rice
6 tbsp lentils
200 g minced beef (or lamb)
1 onion
4 garlic gloves
6 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp harissa (optionally if you like to add some spiciness)
20 g fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tsp turmeric
1.5 tsp smoked paprika powder
250 g natural yoghurt
1 tbsp dried mint
knob of butter
olive oil
salt & pepper
Utensils
1 or 2 large sauce pans with lid (needs to fit 4 aubergines)
small sauce pan
large frying pan
large mixing bowl
chopping board
large sharp knife
wooden cooking spoon
sieve
spoon
plate
Method
Wash and dry the 4 aubergines. Use a sharp knife to lengthwise slice a thin layer off the top of (no thicker than 2 cm). These slices will serve as lids later.
Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the aubergines’ flesh. Make sure, you don’t damage the skin. Finely chop the aubergine flesh, set aside.
Season the inside of the aubergines’ skin with salt.
Wash 120 g basmati rice. Bring about 1/2 litre of water and 1.5 tsp salt to the boil in a medium or large sized sauce pan. Cook rice for about 10-12 minutes on medium heat. The rice is ready when softened but should still have some bite to it, as it will continue cooking within the aubergine later. Drain the rice in a sieve and place in a large mixing bowl.
In the meantime, bring some water to the boil in a small sauce pan, add 6 tbsp lentils and cook for 15-20 minutes. Drain and add to the same bowl as the rice.
Peel and finely chop 1 onion and 4 garlic gloves. Heat up a lug of olive oil and a knob of butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes until softened. Transfer over to a plate and add more olive oil to the pan. Now, add the chopped aubergine flesh and fry on medium heat for 5-7 minutes until well cooked.
Add 6 tbsp tomato paste (plus 1 tbsp harissa optional) to the pan and fry for 1 minute. Add the onions back into the pan and slowly stir in 700 ml boiling water. Season with 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp smoked paprika powder and salt & pepper to taste. Let simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
Add 6 tbsp of the sauce to your large bowl and the rest into the large sauce pan(s) in which you are going to cook the aubergines.
Heat up a lug of olive oil in the frying pan on high heat and add 200 g minced meat. Season with 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and salt & pepper. Fry for about 5 minutes until meat is cooked and use a wooden spoon to divide the minced meat into fine crumbles. Transfer to the large bowl.
Finely chop 20 g parsley and add half of it to the large bowl - keep the rest for garnish. Mix ingredients in bowl well and add more salt and pepper to taste.
Time to stuff the aubergines: They may have let off some water, simply use some kitchen towel to dry the inside. Use a spoon to fill aubergines with rice mix. Place the “aubergine lids” back on and transfer them to the large sauce pan(s) with the tomato sauce.
Cover the sauce pan(s) with a lid and let simmer on lowest heat for about 45 minutes until aubergines are tenderly cooked. In case there’s too much sauce evaporating, add more boiling water, tomato paste and salt if needed.
To prepare the mint-yoghurt, simply place 250 g natural yoghurt into a small serving bowl. Add 1 tbsp dried mint and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well and garnish optionally with some more mint.
Serve aubergines on a bed of sauce. Sprinkle remaining fresh parsley and serve with mint-yoghurt on the side.
Noosheh Jaan! (“Enjoy your meal” in Farsi)
