Bademjan is eggplant in Farsi. Kashk is a fermented whey product available in Middle Eastern markets. This dish makes a wonderful starter spread on pita bread or lavash. My husband's mother made this for the family when he was growing up and he refused to eat it because of the garlic. Recently, though, we were looking at menus of restaurants in San Francisco and found Kashk-e Bademjan listed by a Persian restaurant. We were both inrtigued. I found several recipes on the internet; this is the combination I am favoring. We have made dinner out of half of the recipe with whole wheat pita and a toasty chardonnay.
Kashk-e Bademjun
Ingredients
2 large eggplants
1 T salt
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
½ t turmeric
2 T mint leaves, finely chopped (dried mint works also)
1 T tomato paste
10 oz kashk
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and cube the eggplant, toss with salt and drain in colander for 30 minutes. Rinse salt from the eggpland and dry cubes.
3. Toss eggplant with 1 T olive oil, place on baking sheet and roast in oven until golden brown and skins begin to wrinkle.
4. Meanwhile heat 2 T oil in heavy pan. Fry the onions and garlic until golden brown. Stir in turmeric.
5. Remove all but two tablespoons of the onions from the pan and add the mint. Continue to fry until the mint is fragrant and the onions are medium-dark brown and starting to crisp. Remove and set aside; these will be used for garnish.
6. Return the onions to the pan, add the eggplant. Stir in the tomato paste with 1/3 cup of water and season lightly with salt and pepper. (The kashk is salty, do not over salt.)
7. Using a wooden spoon or potato masher, mash the eggplant until slightly smoothed, but still nicely textured.
8. Add one cup of kashk, stir to incorporate. Re-season if necessary.
9. Garnish with the remaining kashk and the fried onion/mint mixture.
10. Serve warm or at room temperature with pita or lavash bread.
