I never cook eggplant at home because my mom makes the best eggplant. Why mess with perfection? Still, I decided to make chef Michael Solomonov’s fried eggplant with tehina and pomegranate seeds from the Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking for one key reason: It looked like the gorgeous cover of Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. Thankfully, it also tasted as amazing as it looked.
The dish took a little prep work, as I needed to salt the eggplant and let it sit overnight to draw out extra moisture. Eggplant skin can be thick and tough, but Solomonov instructs you to peel just half of the eggplant skin so it looks striped. This lessens the resistance when eating but keeps the vegetable intact when cooking. Details like this set you up for success, which makes me trust the recipes that I haven’t tried yet.
The tehina (the same ground sesame paste Americans call “tahini”) was a rich nutty sauce combining the paste with the sharp raw garlic and a bright lemon juice. I drizzled it and molasses atop the sliced eggplants, then sprinkled it all with pomegranate seeds and pistachios. The whole dish reminded me of a savory sundae, perfectly balanced with a sweet, acidic bite.
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate. These recipes are written perfectly. Anyone that can follow instructions can cook from this book.
This book is for: Anyone. No really. With nine chapters covering everything from vegetables to soup to rice to grilled meats, anyone can find something to try in this book.
Other recipes to try: Hummus or fried cauliflower with herbed labneh
The verdict: This simple dish offered more complexity than the Turkish kofte, earning it frontrunner status in our Middle Eastern By the Book battle. Check back next week when Zahav takes on our final contender.
Fried Eggplant with Tehina and Pomegranate Seeds 6 servings
2 large eggplants
Kosher salt
Canola oil, for frying
1/3 cup Basic Tehina Sauce (recipe follows)
3 Tbsp. carob molasses
½ cup pomegranate seeds
¼ cup shelled pistachios
• Remove 4 vertical strips of skin from each eggplant with a peeler, leaving the remaining skin attached. Trim the ends and cut the eggplants into ¾-inch-thick rounds. Generously season both sides with salt and place on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to catch any drips. Refrigerate overnight.
• Heat ½ inch oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Wipe both sides of each eggplant slice with a paper towel to remove surface moisture and excess salt.
• When the oil is shimmering but not smoking add the eggplant slices in a single layer, working in batches to avoid crowding the skillet. Fry the eggplant on each side until dark brown, about 5 minutes per side. You want the eggplant to be seriously dark on the outside and creamy on the inside, so be patient. When the skillet starts to seem dry, add more oil as needed. Remove the eggplant slices from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
• Place the eggplant on a platter and spoon the tehina sauce on top. Drizzle with the carob molasses and scatter the pomegranate seeds and pistachios on top.
Basic Tehina Sauce Makes about 4 cups
1 head garlic
¾ cup lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
1½ tsp. kosher salt
2 generous cups tehina
½ tsp. ground cumin
• Break up the head of garlic with your hands, letting the unpeeled cloves fall into the blender. Add the lemon juice and ½ teaspoon of salt. Blend on high for a few seconds until you have a coarse puree. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes to let the garlic mellow.
• Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large mixing bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Add the tehina to the strained lemon juice in the bowl, along with the cumin and 1 teaspoon of the salt.
• Whisk the mixture together until smooth (or use a food processor), adding ice water a few tablespoons at a time to thin it out. The sauce will lighten in color as you whisk. When the tehina seizes up or tightens, keep adding ice water, bit by bit (about 1½ cups in total), whisking energetically until you have a perfectly smooth, creamy, thick sauce.
• Taste and add up to 1½ teaspoons more salt and cumin if you like. If you’re not using the sauce immediately, whisk in a few tablespoons of ice water to loosen it before refrigerating. The tehina sauce will keep a week refrigerated, or it can be frozen for up to a month.
Printed with permission from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
This article appears in November 2015.
