Khoresht Bademjoon - Eggplant Stew

One of my favourite Persian dish lately is khorest bademjan. I really like the one available at Hamid Restaurant UTM. But, what more satisfying rather than the experience cooking it by myself. Moreover, I can put lots of bademjoon in it. Let me share how I cook this recipe.

You need:
- 2 eggplants (bademjoon aka bademjan) - Peeled, halved and salted it. Leave for about 1/2 hour. You will find the eggplants sweating. This is to remove the bitterness.
- stew beef/lamb meat
- 1/3 cup of split peas - Soaked for about 2 hours prior cooking
- 1 large onion - Diced
- 2 tomatoes - Diced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 limoo omani (dried limes) @ lime juice about 1 tbsp
- Water
- Salt & Pepper

Method:
1. Dried pat the eggplants. Fry until golden.
2. In a saucepan, saute onion until translucent, add turmeric, meat, pepper and a little bit of salt. Let the meat brown at all sides.
3. Add in split peas, follow by tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir until the mixture thicken.
4. Pour water, put in limoo omani and wait until boil. Then simmer it in a medium heat for about an hour.
5. Place the fried eggplant into the stew and keep on simmering for 1/2 an hour or until meat is tender.

Ready! Serve with rice.