Layers of crunchy pita, fried eggplants, meat, tomato pomegranate sauce, tahini yogurtsauce and topped with nuts and pomegranate seeds. A burst of flavors like no other!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Levantine, Syrian
Prep Time 1hour
Cook Time 30minutes
Ingredients
Vegetable oil for cookingas needed
For the base
2small pita breadcut into bite size squares
¼tspAleppo pepper
For the eggplants
750geggplants
1tspsalt
For the beef mince
250gbeef mince
½tspsalt*
½tspSalma’s spice mix*
½tspAleppo pepper
For the tomato sauce
1thinly sliced onion
3tbsptomato paste
1tbsppomegranate molasses
½cupboiling water
Pinchof salt
For the yogurt sauce
½kgyogurt
1tbsptahini
1small garlic cloveminced
¼tspsalt*
For the topping
Toasted nuts
Pomegranate seeds
Gheeoptional
Instructions
For the eggplants
Start by cutting the eggplants into bite size cubes. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt, put on a kitchen towel in a single layer. Allow for water to be drawn out of the eggplants for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours. Blot dry.
Deep fry the eggplants cubes until golden.
For the pita
Deep fry the pita squares until golden. Sprinkle immediately with Aleppo pepper.
For the beef mince
Brown the mince in a heavy bottomed skillet. Season with salt, Salma’s spice mix and Aleppo pepper.
For the tomato sauce
Add 1 tsp of vegetable oil and cook onions until translucent. Add tomato paste and pomegranate molasses and cook for a minute. Add ½ cup boiling water and salt. Simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens.
For the yogurt sauce
Beat the yogurt, tahini, garlic, and salt together in a bowl.
To assemble
Arrange the pita square of a plate. Top with eggplants, then beef mince. Add the tomato sauce, followed by the yogurt tahini sauce. Scatter over the toasted nuts and pomegranate seeds. Add the hot ghee if using. Watch out when adding the hot ghee, as it will splatter.
Notes
Traditionally, eggplants and pita bread are deep fried. I usually air fry them. Read post above for more on this.
I use coarse sea salt in all my cooking, change quantities accordingly depending on the type of salt you use.
Salma’s spice mix is a spice mix created by grandmother (Salma) and we use it a lot in our cooking. CLICK HERE for the recipe.