Ingredients
Serves two:
- 100 g bulgur
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- pepper, salt
- 1 aubergine (approx. 350 g)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic
- half green pepper
- 1 peeled Roma tomato
- 10 ‘ready-to-eat’ dried apricots
- 2 tbsp blanched hazelnuts
- pinch of ground coriander,
- cinnamon and cardamom
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- coriander leaves
Badindjan mahsji bi’l misjmisj from the rich collection of Middle Eastern recipes without meat. The cooking in the now Arabic-speaking countries was already environmentally friendly before the word existed. Lots of vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes.
The appreciation for this kind of dishes in those regions does not date from today or yesterday. Take Daniel from the Old Testament. He refused to follow the menu of King Nebuchadnezzar and asked for vegetables and water. And what happened? He became very handsome and fit (Dan.1:1-21) and was not torn by the lions. So if you want to seduce a lion, don’t eat meat!
- Place the bulgur in a sieve over a bowl. Cover with boiling water; leave for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the water with a spoon, then mix the bulghur with tomato puree, pepper and salt.
- Halve the washed aubergine lengthwise. Hollow out the halves with a melon scoop, save the cuttings. Mix the olive oil and turmeric. Brush the inside of the aubergine halves with this. mixture. Place the aubergine halves in an oiled microwave dish. Put uncovered in the microwave for 2 minutes, on highest power.
- Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the onion pieces, the chopped garlic, the chopped tomato and the chopped pepper with the aubergine cuttings, the nuts and the spices until the cuttings are soft. Mix with the halved apricots and salt to taste. Finally stir in the lemon juice. Scoop into the aubergine halves and place in the microwave dish flanked by the bulgur. Cook under a hood on highest power the microwave for 3 minutes. Finally, garnish with coriander leaves.
(Wine: Rosé Pays d’Oc)
Menu suggestion:
- Starter: Avocado from Israel (im egozim = with walnuts). Mix peeled ripe avocado in cubes with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, rings of spring onion, slices of gherkin, thin slices of celery stalk, halved walnuts, pinch of ground cumin, pepper, salt. Cool for half an hour, garnish with strips of red pepper and black olives. Tabasco on the table.
- Dessert: Medjoul dates stuffed with almonds accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee.
