A Taste of Adventure: Kashk e Bademjan Recipe

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With the release of Exodus' cookbook, A Taste of Adventure, we're offering you a sneak preview of the recipes collated by our globetrotting gastronomes.

This Kashk a Bademjan recipe is straight out of Iran, and makes a delicious, quick mid-week treat, taking under 45 minutes from ingredients to plate. Each recipe comes with a story, sent to us by one of our travellers, leaders or staff members.

This one, from Product Manager Tom Harari, takes us across to Iran, one of the biggest headline-grabbing destinations of the past two years since the FCO advice changed and travellers started to return. This recipe combines traditional ingredients with a refreshing twist to make a delectable aubergine stew.

Iran mosque

Tom says, “Aubergine is the Iranian potato, and aubergine stew in various forms is very popular all over Iran. Without a doubt, the best one we had was in the troglodyte village of Maymand. People have lived in the cave dwellings there for a long time and a few still live in them today.

After exploring the village we were invited to one of the dwellings for lunch. Laid out on a rug on the floor, were bowls of the most delicious aubergine stew. We all agreed it was the best meal we had in our two weeks travelling around Iran.”

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How to Make Kashk e Bademjan

Serves: 4 Prepare: 15 minutes Cook: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 aubergines, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp dried mint
• 2 tbsp kashk, Greek yoghurt or full-fat soured cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• To garnish 2 tbsp coarsely chopped walnuts Small fresh mint leaves

Method

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and when really hot, add the aubergine slices and fry until they have softened and are turning golden. Drain the slices from the pan onto a plate lined with kitchen paper towel.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan, lower the heat and fry the onion until softened. Add the garlic and turmeric and fry for a further 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the dried mint.
• Reserve a spoonful of the onion mixture for garnish. Mash or blend the aubergine to a purée. Add the purée to the frying pan and stir into the onion mixture with the kashk (or yoghurt or soured cream, if using) and dried mint.
• Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return the pan to a low heat to warm everything through. Spoon into a serving dish and scatter the chopped walnuts, mint leaves and reserved onion mix over the top. Serve as a light meal or as a dip with flatbreads.

The finished meal Kashk a Bademjan 

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