Afghan Eggplant - Badenjan Boorani

This is a recipe I adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's indispensable World Vegetarian. The main change I made was to brown the eggplant in the oven first thing, rather than deep frying it at the last minute.

You can cook the eggplant the day before you serve the dish and the tomato sauce is actually improved by being made a day ahead.

If I have leftovers, I puree everything in the blender and add vegetable stock to make a wonderful soup. In the summer I add yogurt to the soup and serve it chilled.

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste

1 large eggplant

olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped fine

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes, plus juice

1/4 cup water or tomato juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

fresh ground black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons of fresh mint or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried

Greek style yogurt (a half cup or more to taste)

mint or flatleaf parsely sprigs

Toast the cumin and coriander in a dry pan until they are very fragrant. Turn off the heat, add the cayenne and stir to combine. Set aside.

Cut the eggplant crosswise in slices 1/2" to 3/4" thick. Spread each slice with a little bit of olive oil on each side and bake on a nonstick baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven until they are nicely browned but still somewhat firm -- 20 to 30 minutes.

Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick frying pan. Saute the onion in the oil until it is softened and transluscent. Add the garlic and stir for about a minute. Add the reserved spices and stir well to combine. Add the tomatoes and their juice, the water or tomato juice, the salt and pepper, and the chopped mint. Simmer gently for ten to twenty minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Put the eggplant in a lightly oiled baking dish in one layer. Cover with the tomato sauce and bake in a 350 degree oven until it is completly heated through.

Stir the yogurt with a fork until it is smooth.

Put one or two slices of eggplant on a plate (or all the slices on a platter). Top with the yogurt and garnish with mint or parsley. Serve with rice. This is a very light dish, so I like to precede it with a salad that includes garbanzo beans. This recipe serves about three to four people.