Khoresh Bademjan Recipe (Persian Eggplant Stew, خورش بادمجان)

Step 1

Get a large bowl and fill it with cool tap water. Add 1 Tbsp of salt in and squeeze the juice of half the lemon.

Step 2

Peel the eggplants. Then slice them into long pieces, about 1cm (just under 1/2 inch) thick. You'll get about 5-6 pieces per eggplant.

Step 3

Place the sliced eggplants in the bowl of water. Place a small saucer on the eggplants and weigh down with a can of food, so all the eggplants are submerged in the salted, lemony water. Leave for 20 minutes. While the eggplants are soaking, let's get the meat going.

Step 4

Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat, and sauté the chopped onions for 2 minutes.

Step 5

Add the garlic and turmeric and stir for 20 seconds.

Step 6

Add the lamb and stir vigorously, coating it with all those onions. Do this for 3 minutes, to brown the lamb slightly.

Step 7

Add the the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, water and saffron water in. Stir and bring it to a boil.

Step 8

With the back of a knife, pound the limoo amani (dried lime), so that it breaks up into 2-3 pieces. Scoop all this up and add to the stew. Don't worry, the lime will soften and be perfectly edible.Once the stew has come to a boil, reduce the heat right down and simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is just cooked. It will still be cooking for another 20 minutes with the eggplants, so don't overcook it at this stage.

Step 9

While the meat is cooking, let's attend to the eggplants. Rinse and pat dry the eggplants. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush each eggplant with olive oil and place under the grill (broiler) on high.Grill for 15 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Set aside until the meat is ready.

Step 10

When the meat is done, add the eggplants to the stew, bring back to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until the eggplants are fully cooked and soft.

Step 11

Check the seasoning, and add more salt if you think it needs it. Be careful when you stir the salt in, don't break up the super soft eggplants.

Step 12

Add some freshly ground black pepper and top with parsley if you like, and serve with some plain white rice, or some Saffron Rice.