Aubergine or Egg Plant?

I had wanted to use some Aubergines and consequently had 4 largish ones sitting in my refrigerator saying “USE ME”. I like deep fried ones, but seriously they scream Calories ! What about Moussaka? For me it says, shepherds pie, or lasagna, neither of which I am interested in eating, or Aubergine Parmigiana, yummy ! But oh so calorie rich!

Looking at various books and the web, I came up with FESENJAM. This historically is from what is now Iran ( Persia) and it was a golden age of Persian cooking, but as with much of the Middle East, it is a favourite in Iraq , Israel where it is a feast dish for Rosh Hashanah , and even in Azerbaijan.

This version is vegetarian but can also be made with chicken, duck, lamb or even beef. It is enhanced by using some of the ingredients of the Middle East, such as pomegranate molasses, spices such as cinnamon, turmeric, crushed cardamom, pomegranate seeds and dried orange peel.

Vegetables need not be boring, but growing up that is what they were! Cabbage boiled to the last inch of its life, Brussels Sprouts were rock hard round things, peas fresh from the garden, were as hard as bullets. Little wonder that I fell in love with CHIPS! My mother even made me every morning to send me on my way to school Fried potatoes and my uncle would cook me my own special Christmas dinner…… Chips! Oh was I a fussy eater. Raw carrots ( fashionable with hummus these days) celery sandwiches for my school lunch! I didn’t eat Meat, Fish, Eggs and only raw vegetables! By the time I went to college I had moved on to eating fish and had to lie in the canteen on a Friday ! Fish was only for Catholics! Imagine what it was like when I had to cook and taste TRIPE! Actually, I haven’t seen tripe in shops for years, not even in butchers that specialise in ‘Forgotten Cuts of Meat’ But what is it?

I was 23 when I ate my first steak and 24 my first egg! My how times have changed!

Tripe is the edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals, most commonly cows and sheep. So in fact offal, a source of protein, and I have just looked it up and if you are desperate to try, it is available in certain farm shops in the UK and butchers in France ( and other countries I’m sure), and in fact a whole range of “old” cuts are available online and for delivery!

But back to FESENJAM.

Ingredients:-

4 large aubergines, sliced
150 mls olive oil
300 grams walnuts
2 large onions chopped
3-4 cloves garlic crushed
2 tablespoons tomato purée
Teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and turmeric
700 mls hot vegetable stock
1-2 teaspoons rose harissa
150 grams pomegranate molasses
100 grams pomegranate seeds
A sprinkling of ready fried onions ( available in Indian stores) optional
A sprinkle of dried orange peel optional

Preheat the oven to 220C/180 fan/gas7

Put the 3/4 of the oil in a bowl. Add the aubergines and a pinch of salt, mix well. Lay the aubergine out on a non stick baking tray, and bake for about 30 minutes, turning over once. Remove when golden and set to one side.

Using a food processor, whizz the walnuts, until chunky crumbs ( or put into a polythene bag and roll them under a rolling pin).

Heat the rest of the oil, add the onions then the garlic, then when the onions are basically cooked add the tomato paste, the spices and some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, add the walnuts stirring well to mix, pour over the stock and molasses. Cook for about 30 minutes, covered but stirring often to avoid sticking.

Finish by stirring in the aubergines, heat for a few minutes more, and then serve along with the pomegranate seeds and additionally maybe orange rind and Indian fried onions to garnish.