Afghan Eggplant Recipes

BORANI BANJAN - AFGHAN EGGPLANT WITH YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• Take yogurt in a bowl and whisk it. Add grated garlic to it and mix. Keep it in the fridge while you cook the eggplants.
• Cut the eggplants into thin slices. You can remove the outer covering of the eggplant if you want.
• Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Once hot, add the eggplants slices and fry till they are golden brown in color. Do not over-fry it else the slices will become very soggy, you still want it little firm in the center.
• Place the eggplants slices on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Set aside.
• In another pan, heat 2-3 teaspoon of oil and add chopped garlic to it. Saute till it become light golden brown in color.
• In another pan, heat 2-3 teaspoon of oil and add chopped garlic to it. Saute till it become light golden brown in color.
• Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, cayenne pepper, salt and cook till tomatoes become soft and mushy. This will take 6-7 minutes.
• Next add the fried eggplants, around 1/4 cup of water and cover and cook at low heat for around 10 minutes.Switch off the flame.
• To serve, take a plate and put half of the yogurt sauce. Then place the tomato sauce and eggplants over it and finally pour the remaining yogurt sauce on top of the eggplants and sprinkle lots of dried mint.
• Serve with kabuli pulao, pita bread or naan.

BOURANEE BAUNJAN - AFGHAN EGGPLANT WITH YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• Clean the peel of the eggplant, then cut the stem off.
• Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (leaving the peel on).
• Spread slices on a flat surface or tray and sprinkle generously with salt; let sit for 30 minutes, then dry well with paper towels.
• In a skillet or pan melt the olive oil and butter together over medium low heat; sauté the sliced onion (and green pepper, if using) until nicely browned and slightly caramelized, then stir in the red pepper flakes.
• Pour oil into a separate deep frying pan (one that has a lid) to cover the bottom of pan; over medium high sauté the eggplant slices on both sides until lightly browned.
• As the eggplant slices are done, gently squeeze them with tongs to remove as much oil out of them as possible; discard extra oil.
• Remove extra oil from the deep frying pan, then place one layer of eggplant slices on the bottom of the pan.
• Place a bit of cooked onion on top of each slice; repeat with another layer of eggplant and cooked onion, until you're out of slices and onion.
• Pour the chopped tomatoes with their juice over the slices and onion, careful to not dislodge the onion too much.
• Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, then remove cover and simmer another 5 to reduce the sauce a bit.
• Combine the strained/drained yogurt, crushed garlic to taste, and salt to taste to make the chakah sauce.
• When eggplant is done, remove from heat then carefully transfer the slices to serving dish (careful not to dislodge the toppings), then top each with a dollop of the chakah sauce.

AFGHAN EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Set the oven to broil.
• Slice ends off the eggplants and cut them in half lengthwise. Cut each halve crosswise in 1/3 inch slices. Arrange slices on two baking sheets, drizzle with 1 tblspn of olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of salt. Set the baking sheets under the broiler and cook for a few minutes on each side until they brown lightly. Remove from oven.
• Turn oven heat to 375 degrees.
• In a medium pan, heat the remaining olive oil and saute the garlic. Add the remaining 1 tsp of salt, tumeric, curry, paprika, pepper, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for another minute.
• Add chicken broth to the pan, stir, and turn the heat to high. When the liquid boils, turn it down and let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Pour 1/3 of the liquit into a 9x2-inch baking dish and spread it across the bottom. Arrange half the eggplant on top of the sauce. Srinkle half the cilantro over the eggplant and then layer half the tomoato slices evenly on the eggplant.
• Pour on another third of the sauce. Repeat the layering with the remaining eggplant, cilantro and tomatoes.
• Finish the dish by drizzling the last of the sauce over the vegetables, making sure to coat all of the pieces.
• Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and pace in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and cook another 5 minutes.

BORANI BANJAN (بورانی بادمجان), AFGHAN EGGPLANT CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Rinse and slice the eggplant into 1-cm (1/3-inch) thick pieces.
• Lay each slice side by side on lined baking sheets. (We'll be roasting the eggplants, although the traditional method is to deep-fry them.)
• Drizzle 5 tbsp of oil over the eggplants (no need to flip them) and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Roast in an oven at 425 °F for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, crush or chop the tomato and gather the spices (paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin, ground black cardamom, turmeric, salt, black pepper).
• Crush the garlic into a rough paste; reserve half for mixing into the yogurt (step 17). I use a mortar and pestle but a garlic press works too.
• Crush ginger and mix it into the garlic, along with tomato paste.
• Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a saucepan on medium-low heat. (If you have a laser thermometer, it should be around 300 °F.)
• Add the garlic-ginger-tomato paste and gently fry (temper) for a few minutes or until fragrant.
• Add all the spices and temper for another 30 seconds.
• Pour in the chopped tomatoes and mix thoroughly with the spices. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• When eggplants are roasted to a golden-brown colour, remove them from the oven. Keep oven on.
• Arrange a layer of eggplant at the bottom of a small casserole dish.
• Cover with a layer of tomato sauce.
• Continuing alternating the eggplant and tomato sauce until you reach your last layer of eggplant. Top with a layer of cilantro (reserve some for garnish if you'd like), then cover with the remaining tomato sauce.
• Cover the casserole either with an oven-safe lid or with a tight wrap of aluminum oil, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 425 °F.
• Meanwhile, mix together the yogurt with the remaining garlic.
• Remove casserole from oven and let stand 5 minutes before uncovering and serving. Top with yogurt and sprinkle with any remaining cilantro.