Fatteh Makdous – Syrian stuffed eggplants

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 small eggplants
• 200 g minced lamb
• 25 g pine nuts
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 2 onions
• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 125 ml water
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar
• salt and pepper
• 250 g natural yogurt
• 1 tsp tahini
• 1 garlic clove(s), finely chopped
• 3 mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 dashes lemon juice
• 50 ml water
• salt and pepper
• 2 thin flatbreads
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• Ghee
• 50 g butter
• e.g. parsley, finely chopped

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

Cut off the stalks of the eggplants and peel off about half of the skin. Season with salt all over. Brown and braise in a pan in a little olive oil for about 20-30 minutes, until softened all over and beginning to collapse. Meanwhile, for the filling, gently fry the pine nuts in a little olive oil and ghee and set aside on kitchen paper. Finely chop one of the onions and fry in the same pan. When they are translucent, add the minced lamb and a pinch of cinnamon and fry for five minutes. Add half of the pine nuts and season with salt and pepper. Bring a pot of water to a boil, score the tomatoes, and scald them for about a minute. Then rinse, peel, and cut into small cubes. Finely slice the other onion and sweat it in a little olive oil in a pan. Add the tomato paste. After about a minute, add the diced tomatoes, a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper. Cover with about 125 ml of water and simmer with the lid on for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. For the yogurt dip, mix the yogurt with the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, mint, water, salt, and pepper. Cut the bread into 2 cm squares and toast them in a pan with plenty of olive oil and ghee until crispy. Remove any excess fat from the bread and place on kitchen paper. To serve, melt the butter in a small pan. Place the bread chips on a plate, pour the yogurt dip and tomato sauce over them, place an eggplant on top, score it lengthwise, and fill it with the mince mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts and chopped parsley. Pour over a little melted butter.