Vegan Kashke Bademjan

This vegan Kashke Bademjan is an eggplant stew that we like to make with tomatoes, green bell pepper and spices. We love to drizzle some tahin yoghurt dressing on top and eat it with homemade Lavash Flatbread and green olives. It’s healthy and so delicious. This is really Iranian comfort food! You can also eat this meal with some rice. It’s definitely a winner. We say… go for it!

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients
3 large eggplants
1 tbsp olive oil (plus extra to fry the eggplants)
150 g white onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp paprika powder
70 g tomato paste
400 ml water
¼ tsp black pepper
1 ½ tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp salt
3 tomatoes
½ green bell pepper

Garnish with:
Green olives
Fried onions
Tahini yoghurt dressing

Method
1. Cut the eggplants in half in the middle, then cut in half lengthwise and then in three. This way you get coarse slices. Add some olive oil to the pan and heat over high heat. Fry the eggplant slices brown on each side and set aside in a bowl.

2. Slice the onions into half rings and the garlic in slices. In another pan, heat some olive oil and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add the turmeric powder, paprika powder, tomato paste and water. Stir everything. Add the black pepper, cinnamon powder and salt and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add the fried eggplants to the pan. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and the bell pepper into strips. Place the tomatoes in the pan on top of the eggplants followed by the green bell pepper (check the video). Put the lid on the pan and let it simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Do not forget to stir occasionally so that it does not burn on the bottom of the pan.

Serve right away and eat with homemade lavash bread (click here for the recipe) or rice and garnish with green olives, fried onions and tahini-yoghurt dressing.