The Faudie, Conqueror of Eggplant

You read that right, Gentle Reader. I have conquered the eggplant.

Maybe it's just me, but there's a sort of...mystery around the eggplant. They're gorgeous to look at if you're a fan of the typical eggplant's deep purple shade, but what exactly is underneath that skin? And can it kill you if not prepared properly? After all, it's a member of the "deadly" nightshade family, so that makes a person wary of the thing.

Needless to say, the first eggplant I ever bought several weeks ago sat in the 'fridge and sat and sat and sat some more in the 'fridge while I worried about how to prepare it properly and how to recreate in my own kitchen the glory that is Alborz' vegetarian eggplant stew. After confirming that dish's name, khoresh bademjan, from the restaurant's menu, I went in search of a recipe online, for my copy of the splendid Ziryab: Authentic Arab Cuisine does not include this dish in its selection of eggplant recipes.

Here's the thing I quickly realized as I was perusing khoresh bademjan recipes online: In its authentic rendering, the stew includes meat, either lamb or beef. But the stew I enjoyed so much at Alborz was vegetarian, so I had to change my search to just "vegetarian eggplant stew" or vegetarian Persian eggplant stew" (I can't remember which I used, but I wouldn't be surprised if I used both). That change yield three really tempting dishes. How was I to decide which to use?

The choice came down to two factors: (1) Ease of preparation of the eggplant and (2) Range of required ingredients, particularly saffron. For you see, Gentle Reader, I prepared this dish on a Sunday and hadn't left myself as much time as I would have liked when I indulge in a culinary experiment. Plus I was out of saffron after the saffron chicken and rice with dates dish from late October pretty much wiped out my stash of the stuff.

Patlicanli Cive (Eggplant Stew With Rice)
1 lb. eggplant, peeled partially leaving lengthwise stripes and diced
2 medium onions, cut in thin half moons
10-12 garlic cloves, chopped finely
3 green chilies, chopped
3 tomatoes (preferably green tomatoes for a sour taste), peeled and petite diced
3 T rice
1/4 C olive oil
1 t black pepper
Salt
2-3 T chopped fresh basil or mint OR 1 T dry mint or basil

1. Heat the oil in a pot.
   
2. Add the onion and garlic, and stir for 3-4 min.
   
3. Add the chopped chilies, and stir for a couple of minutes.
   
4. Add the tomato, eggplant, black pepper and salt, then stir once and do not stir again. Otherwise, the eggplant will get mushy.
   
5. Cover and cook on medium-low heat until the vegetables get juicy in the pot.
   
6. Stir in the rice, nice and polite.
   
7. Cover and cook on low for 30-40 min.
   
8. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped basil or mint.

Nutritional Info
I first found this recipe on iFood.tv and realized it's originally from a Web site on which I'd found another of my three prime candidates, Almost Turkish Recipes. Unfortunately, neither of these sources provided nutritional information for this dish.

The Faudie's Futzings
I told you already, Gentle Reader, that I was a bit pressed for time, but I tried not to let that impact my preparation too much:

• I'm not sure if the eggplant I used weighed a pound or more. It didn't feel like it, but I didn't want to use the more recently procured eggplant along with the old one, for I was saving it for another recipe.
  
• I used canned diced tomatoes.
  
• I used canned diced green chiles.
  
• My garlic was minced and in a jar.
  
• I didn't use the full quarter-cup of olive oil called for. I probably used about 2 tablespoons, which is a lot for me.
  
• I only used one onion, but it was a fairly large one.
  
• I completely forgot to add salt when I put in a few twists of freshly ground pepper from my pepper mill.
  
• While I have dried basil and even got it out to use, I didn't in the end because that's not included in the Alborz dish I was attempting to recreate, flavorwise.
  
• The recipe doesn't specify a particular type of rice to use, so I opted for basmati.

What the recipe doesn't mention but I suppose is implicit in the preparation of any eggplant is that it should be salted and allowed to sweat for about 30 minutes beforehand to help reduce the bitterness and, if memory serves, keep it from becoming utter mush. Before embarking on the peeling 'o the eggplant, I consulted a few of my vegetarian cookbooks and Cook's Illustrated tomes for guidance and wisdom, and I seem to recall reading that letting an eggplant sweat--

and trust me, it will sweat

--allows for better frying, which is one of the "best" ways to prepare it.

Unfortunately, none of the books I browsed said anything about how to peel an eggplant. Thank the FSM for the Internet! It may be full of porn and nonsensical blather (such as this blog), but it also has some useful information.

After toweling off my sweaty eggplant, I set about dicing it. The innards were nothing at all like what I expected, which was either something akin to the hollow inside of a bell pepper or a juicy but somewhat hollow of a tomato. No, despite the hollow feel of the an eggplant, it's fairly solid but yielding, like a zucchini. Interesting!

The stew came together in a snap. I wasn't sure what to do about the step telling me to cook the ingredients until the veggies became juicy since I was using canned veggies, including their juices. I think I let the stuff cook maybe five to seven minutes before I added in the rice. And while I usually try not to disturb a pot with rice but maybe once while it's cooking so as not to screw up the rice, I checked and stirred the stew several times throughout the 30 minutes of final cooking. I broke my little rule because I was concerned the stew didn't have enough liquid for the rice to cook correctly. Oh, all that stirring did not turn my diced eggplant to mush. It stayed nice and firm. See:
Yes, the finished stew is quite gorgeous. As for the taste--it was spot on. I was so thrilled with the flavor, for I had no idea if the recipe would even yield a flavor close to the stew at Alborz.

You might be surprised to know, Gentle Reader, that the stew has a certain sweetness to it. Odd, since there are no ingredients that would bring a sweet flavor, non? I wonder if the sweetness is a byproduct of the stewing of the eggplant, or perhaps the onions caramelized while the rice cooked. I dunno. I all I do know is that I was unsuccessful in saving any of this dish for leftovers: When I went to stow away what was left in Chive the Dutchie after we'd all eaten (the boys had crouton crumbs-breaded tilapia baked in the oven, a variation on a recipe from AllRecipes.com I received via email that day), I couldn't stop myself from taking another bite...and then another bite...and then a few more bites until all the stew was gone.

Sunday Night Fish Alternative for the Boys
or
What to Do With Old Croutons

Yes, I know, Gentle Reader, I'm a terrible glutton. But the stew was just so damn tasty and warm and comforting on a hectic, rainy, chilly Sunday evening. So if you happen to have an eggplant lying around and need a nice warm-me-up meal, whip up this recipe. You too can conqueror the eggplant in a most tasty way.