Sometimes I feel like my mission in life is to make people fall in love with eggplant. The eggplant is seared until very dark brown, then dressed with tehina sauce, and date molasses, which offers just enough acidity to cut through the richness of the tehina and just enough sweetness to counter the bitter edge of the eggplant. When references are made to Israel as the land of milk and honey – the ‘honey’ in question is actually date molasses. Dates are so important to Middle Eastern cooking- it is a natural, thick sweetener extracted from dates with food natural acidity; it’s used in both savory and sweet dishes. I add pomegranate seeds and pistachios for crunch and it makes the plate look like a million bucks.

Fried Eggplant with Tehina, Date Molasses, Pistachios and Pomegranate

Category

Category name

Serves

4

For the Eggplant

Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant
  • Kosher salt
  • Canola oil, for frying
  • ¼ cup Basic Tehina Sauce, recipe follows
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons date molasses
  • 1 tablespoon shelled pistachios, toasted
  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds

Method

  1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove, 4 vertical strips of skin from the eggplant, leaving the remaining skin attached. Trim the ends and cut the eggplant into ¾-inch thick rounds. Generously season both sides with salt and place on a wire rack set over a baking sheet to catch any drips; refrigerate overnight.
  2. Heat ½-inch oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. With your hands, squeeze each eggplant slice to remove any excess liquid. Wipe both sides of each eggplant slice with a paper towel to remove surface moisture and excess salt. When the oil is shimmering but not smoking, add the eggplant slices in a single layer, working in batches to avoid crowding the skillet. Fry the eggplant on each side until dark, golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. The eggplant should be seriously dark on the outside and creamy on the inside, so be patient. When the skillet starts to seem dry, add more oil as needed. Remove the eggplant slices from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
  3. While the eggplant is cooking, make the Tehina Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the garlic and lemon juice and let sit for a few minutes to tame the garlic. Add the salt and whisk. Add the lemon juice mixture to the tehina and a little more salt and mix well. Add half of the water and whisk into the sauce, adding more until the sauce is the consistency of heavy cream. The sauce will lighten in color as you whisk. If the tehina seizes up or tightens, whisk energetically, and keep adding ice water, bit by bit, until the water is incorporated. Continue whisking until you have a perfectly smooth, creamy, thick, sauce.
  4. Spoon some of the Tehina Sauce on a plate and arrange the eggplant on top. Dollop more sauce on the eggplant and drizzle with the date molasses. Scatter the pistachios and pomegranate seed on top.

For the Tehina Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • 1 cup tehina or sesame tahini
  • ½ to ¾ cup ice water

Method