A delicious vegetarian recipe, spoiled only by unwanted eye-contact
by Metodej Novotny
As Iran opened up quite recently, gourmet chefs and food-lovers from across the globe start discovering and enjoying its cuisine. But let’s not mix politics into our recipes, it often leaves bitter taste.
My friend Party Peter who crossed Iran on his journey from Aberdeen to Mongolia last summer. He was quite worried that as a pescetarian (a vegetarian that eats fish) he would have hard time finding anything to eat, but surprisingly the Iranian cuisine is largely based around eggplants. This was his favourite recipe – it would be even better if it weren’t for the man who stared at him across the room all the time he was eating it.
To cook 3-4 portions of kashke you will need:
3 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, peeled and roughly diced
0.75 cups of Greek yoghurt
0.75 cups of water
Mint (dried or fresh)
1 garlic clove
Salt, pepper,
Rice or naan bread
Fry the eggplant slices until they can be easily poked with fork. Set aside and start frying onion and crushed garlic until it is soft, meanwhile mash the eggplant with fork or blender. Add eggplant mash, water and mint to the onion and cook until the mixture is thickish again. Taste and add more mint if you like – mint is what really gives this recipe a kick. Add yoghurt, salt, pepper and serve warm or cold with rice or naan bread. Optional: have a stranger stare at you while you’re eating for the full experience.
