Bouranee Baunjan - Afghan Eggplant With Yogurt Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 large globe eggplant
• salt
• oil (for frying)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter or 1 teaspoon ghee
• 1 large onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced thinly (optional)
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 (14 -15 ounce) can chopped tomatoes, with juice
• 1 cup strained yogurt (also known as yogurt cheese or "chakah")
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic, to taste
• salt, to taste

Recipe

• 1 clean the peel of the eggplant, then cut the stem off.
• 2 cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (leaving the peel on).
• 3 spread slices on a flat surface or tray and sprinkle generously with salt; let sit for 30 minutes, then dry well with paper towels.
• 4 in a skillet or pan melt the olive oil and butter together over medium low heat; sauté the sliced onion (and green pepper, if using) until nicely browned and slightly caramelized, then stir in the red pepper flakes.
• 5 pour oil into a separate deep frying pan (one that has a lid) to cover the bottom of pan; over medium high sauté the eggplant slices on both sides until lightly browned.
• 6 as the eggplant slices are done, gently squeeze them with tongs to remove as much oil out of them as possible; discard extra oil.
• 7 remove extra oil from the deep frying pan, then place one layer of eggplant slices on the bottom of the pan.
• 8 place a bit of cooked onion on top of each slice; repeat with another layer of eggplant and cooked onion, until you're out of slices and onion.
• 9 pour the chopped tomatoes with their juice over the slices and onion, careful to not dislodge the onion too much.
• 10 cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, then remove cover and simmer another 5 to reduce the sauce a bit.
• 11 combine the strained/drained yogurt, crushed garlic to taste, and salt to taste to make the chakah sauce.
• 12 when eggplant is done, remove from heat then carefully transfer the slices to serving dish (careful not to dislodge the toppings), then top each with a dollop of the chakah sauce.