Appetizer: Bazingan Mukhalil with Hummus

My love affair with hummus and bazingan started when I moved to Cairo. This reminds me all the tantrum I used to throw as a child every time our cook would make egg plants curry. Little did I know that in just two decades I would be ready to start a new culinary journey loaded with pickles and meezas, fried breads, cheese sambosaks and stuffed vegetables(mahshi). Of all the things that I have learned from Egyptians, love for food remains at the top. I loved to throw parties in the exquisite gardens of our lovely villa; oh boy, the joy of cooking and serving to Egyptian guests was thrilling, I miss that eloquence, those lovely comments and compliments. I always tell my family that those days have helped me grow as a chef, I don’t really expect much praise and feed back any more as they say, you don’t need what you already have so yes, this chef is very thankful and content.

This bazingan pickle's recipe is my favourite, I learned it from my maid who was an expert chef. Enjoy

Ingredients:

about 1 1/2 lb. small, thin eggplants. They should be as thin as possible, certainly no more than 2 inches wide, but ideally much thinner. 4 large cloves garlic 1 Tbsp. salt itb spoon cumin powder

2 tbl spoon chat masala ( available on desi stores)

1/16 – 1/8 tsp. crushed chili pepper flakes or 1 mild chili pepper, minced (optional) juice of 1 lemon and/or about 3 Tbsp.vinegar , Green chilies

method:

smash the garlic, salt,cumin , chat masala and chili pepper to a paste with a mortar and pestle.( hawan dasta) Fry eggplants and green chilies now stuff these with garlic mixture.

enjoy :) serve with hummus or taheeni.

#starter