Stacey made this for me when I was visiting her in South Africa last June. Immediate favourite of mine, long standing favourite of her and Joel! Enjoy!

Adapted from Middle Eastern Cookery by Arto der Haroutunian

Ingredients:

4 medium eggplants
6T olive oil
2 onions thinly sliced
2 green peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tomatoes, sliced
3T tomato puree
2t salt + salt for salting eggplant
1/2t cayenne pepper
1t allspice
2T chopped, fresh parsley
12T cooking oil
450ml water

Method:

Preheat oven at 375°F

Peel 4 long strips of skin off eggplant leaving remaining skin. Cut eggplants in half lengthwise, salt,and leave for 15min. Rinse salt.

Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add onions, green peppers, garlic and fry until just soft. Add
tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, cayenne, and allspice. Cook on medium to low heat for 5 min. Add
parsley and remove from heat.

Heat cooking oil in frying pan. Fry eggplants, turning often, until flesh softens. Remove from pan. Cut slits on inside of eggplant pieces (lengthwise and across in a grid pattern). Place eggplant on oventray, cuts facing up. Spread onion/pepper/tomato over the top of the eggplants. Cook in oven for 1hour or until knife passes through eggplant without resistance.

Can be served hot or cold. Can garnish with parsley. Best served with plain yoghurt on a bed of rice or couscous.

Recipe by Stacey S.