So, yeah, there’s no nice way to cut this – as you get to the later stage of cooking this, this looks like baby poo, and it has about the same consistency, too.  But, if you can get over how it looks, it’s really quite good – I took a fingertip to the spatula after I containered it, and it tasted really good. This is a traditional Persian dish, and a bit of a branch out for me, but it seems like it’ll be pretty filling.

Mizra Ghasemi

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• .33 c vegetable oil
• 10 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 t tumeric
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped small (I will give you my tips for doing this in the recipe)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 t tomato paste
• 3 large eggs, beaten

Preheat your oven to 400 (mine was at 375 due to it running hot), put your eggplants on a lined baking sheet, and pierce them with a fork so that they don’t explode (you don’t want that). Roast them for about 40 to 45 minutes, until they look like picture 2.  Let them cool enough to handle, and then peel the skin away (or scoop away the cooked innards), and mash the flesh as best you can. I did this part two days ahead, and just threw it in the fridge, and the result was just fine.  So long as the eggplant is cooked, you should be okay.

Chop up your garlic cloves (recipe recommends 7, I went above and beyond because my love affair with garlic is well documented by now) while you heat your veggie oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add your garlic, and cook until they’re golden brown, and add your tumeric, stirring until the garlic’s coated.  Then, add your mashed eggplant, and cook for about twenty minutes, stirring frequently for the first ten minutes to help it break down, but then stirring only occasionally after the first ten to allow it to cook.

While this is happening, you can peel your tomatoes! And trust me, there’s a way that’s a lot easier than you know.  Get a pot boiling with water, and cut a small x into the bottom of your tomatoes (I forgot to do this, but it still works even if you don’t do it). Stick your tomatoes in the boiling water for one minute, and have a large bowl or pot ready with ice cold water. Take your tomatoes out after one minute and dip them in the ice water; the skins will peel right away. (You can also use this trick to deseed them by cutting them in half after this and squeezing.)  Then take your peeled tomatoes and chop them up small.

After twenty minutes, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste, and stir well to combine (see pic 4). Cook for another fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add your beaten eggs at the end of fifteen minutes and stir well, until you get the final picture, which is after about five additional minutes of cooking.  Yes, it looks like baby poo.  It tastes good, I promise.