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Contributed By: cassandraecurran@hotmail.com
Vegetarian Times

This eggplant dish with a pomegranate-walnut-honey sauce is exotic. The walnuts are used as a thickening agent, the pomegranates for sourness and the honey as a sweetener. The result is a delicate sweet-and-sour flavor that is typically Persian. Serve this dish with rice or pasta.

Ingredients

5 Asian eggplants (2lb), or 2 large common eggplants with bitterness removed

6 t Olive oil

1 Medium-sized onion, peeled and sliced

2 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped

2 tsp Ground cumin

1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon

2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp Ground turmeric

1 tsp Crushed red pepper

1 cup Chopped fresh parsley

2 cups Chopped cilantro leaves, plus 1 cup leaves for garnish

1/2 cup Chopped fresh mint

2 cups (1/2 lb) toasted walnuts

1/2 cup Pomegranate paste diluted with 2 1/2 cups water, or 3 cups pomegranate juice

1 t Honey or brown sugar, as needed

1 cup Cilantro leaves for garnish

1 cup Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Fried eggplant rounds, fried cilantro leaves and fried onion rings for garnish, optional

Preparation

1. Peel eggplants, and remove stems. Place segments of common eggplants, if using, in salted water to remove bitterness. Rinse Asian eggplants, squeeze out water with towels and slice into 1 inch thick rounds.

2. Heat 4 T oil in deep skillet over medium heat. Add eggplant, and saute on all sides about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove eggplants from skillet, drain on paper towels and set aside. Add remaining oil to skillet, and reheat over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Add garlic during last few minutes of browning onions, and continue cooking. Add cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, turmeric, crushed red pepper, parsley, cilantro and fresh mint, and saute for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

3. Grind walnuts in food processor until very fine or sauce will be gritty. Combine walnuts with diluted pomegranate paste and honey, as needed, and stir until sauce is smooth.

4. Pour sauce into skillet. Return eggplants and seasoning to skillet, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer mixture for 30 minutes, or until eggplants are tender, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon. If sauce is too sour, add more honey or brown sugar to taste.

5. Spoon onto plates or into serving dish, garnish with cilantro leaves and pomegranate seeds; add optional garnishes of fried eggplant, cilantro leaves and crispy onion.

Cook's Notes

To remove the bitterness from common Western eggplants, peel and slice them lengthwise into quarters, then cut the quarters into 1-inch lengths. Soak the eggplant pieces in a large container of water with 2 T of salt. Allow them to soak for 20 minutes, rinse them thoroughly and squeeze out the water with a towel. Asian eggplants, bottled pomegranate juice and pomegranate paste are available at Iranian markets.

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