kashk-e bademjan

This evening I made one of my favorite Persian dishes, Kashk-e Bademjan...okay, well I made my version of Kashk-e Bademjan! I haven't visited the (to my knowledge) only Arabic food store here in Greenville as it's pretty far away, so when making my favorite Arabic dishes, I've learned to compromise. 'Kashk' means Persian and 'Bademjan' is eggplant, the main ingredient in this dish. The signature feature of the dish is the whey mixed with the eggplant and caramelized onions at the end of cooking; I don't have access to whey so I use full fat Greek yoghurt with a pleasing, if not authentic, result. I also include toasted black sesame seeds; they add a nice texture to this mushy dish and I can't imagine Arabic food without thinking of the subtle smokiness of these when toasted. Here is a link to the recipe for Kashk-e Bademjan from a blog I am following, all about Persian food; gorgeous pics and full recipes.

I paired my dish with ready made Toufuyan flat bread (the best option if fresh made pita isn't available), cilantro and a spiced basmati rice pilaf (cinnamon, falafel seasonings, a few rose petals, pine nuts and black sesame seeds). Below are pictures of my creation.


In other news, we have a new addition to our happy household! This feral kitten came to our door to eat the cat food I had put out for the mysterious fur ball coming to get in our trash. I have also spotted it's mother and a huge possum! Glad the kitty made it's way here and found a home. Over the next few weeks I'll be working on coming up with the money and time to take care of new baby kitty maintenance.


And I caught one of our other fluff balls sneaking into the clean laundry!