Fattet Battenjen Recipes

FATTET BETENJAN (EGGPLANT AND YOGURT SALAD)

Steps:

• Pour water and 2 tablespoons salt into a large bowl. Add cubed eggplant and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain and place on paper towel-lines plates until completely dry, about 30 more minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Chop pita bread into 1-inch cubes and place on a baking sheet.
• Roast in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes; do not burn. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• Heat 1/2 inch oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry eggplant until golden, about 6 minutes per batch. Remove to paper towel-lined plates to drain.
• Meanwhile, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a small frying pan. Add almonds and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring often, until nicely brown and toasted, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.
• Place lettuce on a serving platter. Layer with eggplant, chickpeas, and roasted pita bread. Pour yogurt mixture over top and sprinkle with toasted almonds. Serve at room temperature or cold.

FATTET AL BETINGAN MAHSHI

Steps:

• For the eggplant stuffing, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet. Put in the meat and cook for about 10 minutes, adding salt, pepper, cinnamon, and allspice, and crushing the meat with a fork and turning it over until it is cooked and the liquid has evaporated.
• In a small skillet, fry the pine nuts in a drop of oil, shaking the pan to brown them lightly all over. Stir half the pine nuts into the meat.
• Wash and dry the eggplants and hollow them out with a corer (see page 315). Fill them with the meat-and-pine-nut mixture. (Use the eggplant flesh for another dish.)
• Make the tomato sauce in a wide pan or baking pan. Put in the tomatoes with the sugar, a little salt and pepper, and, if you like, the pomegranate concentrate. Stir well and simmer for 5 minutes. Put in the eggplants, and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, or until the eggplants are very soft, turning them over once.
• Open out the pita breads, cutting around them with scissors or a serrated knife, and separating them into halves. Toast them under the broiler until they are crisp and lightly browned.
• Mix the yogurt with the garlic, if using.
• Just before serving, assemble the different components in a wide and deep serving dish. Break the toast into small pieces with your hands into the bottom of the dish. Take the eggplants out of the tomato sauce, and pour the tomato sauce over the toast, which will become soft and bloated. Pour the yogurt all over, and arrange the stuffed eggplants on top. Then sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts.
• Instead of cooking the eggplants in the tomato sauce, fry them in enough medium-hot oil to half-cover them, turning to cook them all over. The skins (there is no bare flesh) stop them from absorbing the oil. Lift them out and drain on paper towels.
• Mix 2 tablespoons tahina paste with the yogurt.