Borani Banjan

This is an afghani dish featuring eggplant in a savory tomato sauce garnished with yogurt. It's light but hearty and went perfectly with the Qabuli pulao I made.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, sliced about 1/2 inch thick
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup water or chicken broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp crush red pepper
1 cup of yogurt
1 tsp dried mint leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Turn the oven to broil. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Flip them over, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil for another 5 minutes. Remove, and set oven to 375.

In a saucepan, heat a couple tbsp of olive oil, add 3 of the the minced garlic cloves and sauté for a couple minutes until it just starts to turn golden brown. Add the tomatoes, paprika, turmeric, curry powder, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and cook until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the water or chicken broth and tomato paste, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes.

Pour a small amount of the sauce onto the bottom of a baking dish and spread it around. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer over the sauce. Pour sauce over the eggplant, then repeat another layer of eggplant. Repeat this process until you're out of eggplant and sauce. The top layer should be sauce. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro on top, cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Whip the yogurt in a bowl with the remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt and pepper. Just before serving pour the yogurt over the eggplant and sprinkle with the dried mint leaves.