Servings: 4-5

 

Bouranee Baunjan is originally an Afghani eggplant dish served with a tangy garlick yogurt sauce. If you know me well enough, you know that I do not eat eggplants. I don’t like the texture or the taste, but there are few exceptions and this dish is one of them. This recipe is one of my mom’s specialties, it’s so flavorful and the mixture of the yogurt nicely contrasts with the sweet tomato sauce. More importantly the taste of the eggplant is very subtle.

 

Ingredients:

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• 6 medium eggplants peeled and cut into round circles about 1.5cm in thickness

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tsp odorless coconut oil or avocado oil

• 4 large ripe tomatoes finely minced

• 1 medium sweet green pepper minced

• 1 medium sweet red or yellow pepper minced

• 2 medium onions minced

• 1 tsp tomato paste

• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp hot chili powder

• 1/4 tsp dried mint

• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (toast them in a pan or in the oven without oil until brown)

 

For the labne sauce:

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• 1 cup labne and

• 2 1/2 cups yogurt

• Salt to taste

• 2 mashed garlic cloves
   

Directions:

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1. Spread the round slices of eggplant in a tray and sprinkle them with salt on both sides and let them sit for 20 minutes to sweat. Then, wash off the salt and dry the eggplant slices with a kitchen towel.

2. Place the eggplants back in a baking tray and brush them with olive oil on both sides and grill them in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10-15 minutes on each side or until they become a little toasty and brown.

3. In a deep pan, melt the coconut oil, then add the onions and cook them  until they wilt for about 7-8 minutes.

4. Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Add the tomato paste.

7. Add the chili powder, 1 tsp salt and balsamic vinegar.

8. Add 1/2 cup of water and let the vegetables simmer for another 10-15      minutes.

9. To make the yogurt sauce, in another deep bowl, mix the yogurt, labne and garlic and add some salt to taste.

10. Use a deep medium sized pyrex dish to assemble. Pour 1/3 of the yogurt mix in the base of the dish.

11. Place a layer of eggplant, top each eggplant with a heaped tablespoon of the vegetable mix, then cover with another layer of eggplant, then another tablespoon of the vegetable mix.

12. Pour the remaining yogurt sauce on top.

13. Sprinkle with dry mint and toasted pine nuts.

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The beauty of this dish is that you can serve it warm or cold. So if you are planning to make it for lunch or dinner, you can make it a day earlier and place it in the fridge and serve it when your guests arrive.