Princess Buran's Eggplant

BADHINJAN BURAN (PRINCESS BURAN'S EGGPLANT) - EGGPLANT PUREED WITH YOGURT AND SPICES

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Serves 100 to 150
This is a dish of legend. And I may have created one of my own, as
people came up to me after the feast and confessed that they hated
eggplant and had eaten three servings of it. As for the history of
the dish, Charles Perry has an entire essay devoted to it in
"Medieval Arab Cookery". I'm sure that my interpretation was also
colored by all the multitude of other Buran and Buraniyya recipes I
read.
Original Recipe:
Take eggplant and boil lightly in water and salt, then take out and
dry for an hour. Fry this in fresh sesame oil until cooked: peel, put
into a dish or large cup, and beat well with a ladle, until it
becomes like khabis [pudding]. Add a little salt and dry coriander.
Take some Persian milk, mix in garlic, pour over the eggplant, and
mix together well. Take red meat, mince fine, make into small kabobs,
add melting fresh tail, throw the meat into it stirring until
browned. Then cover with water, and stew until the water has
evaporated and only the oils remain. Pour on top of this eggplant,
sprinkle with fine-ground cumin and cinnamon, and serve.
al-Baghdadi = al-Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) by Muhammad ibn
al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi, a 13th century
cookbook. On p. 59-60, Medieval Arab Cookery.

My Recipe:
NOTE: This must be kept refrigerated or in a cooler until shortly
before serving. Allow to come to room tempe`rature.
12 pounds eggplant - I used the large ones because they were cheaper,
but I suspect that smaller Asian eggplants would be better
1 pint light sesame oil (or olive oil)
2 quarts whole milk yogurt with NO additives or thickeners - I used
Pavel's Russian Yogurt - there's nothing in it but milk and yogurt
culture - no gums, no gelatin, no thickeners, etc.
1/4 cup salt
1 Tablespoon pepper
2 to 3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ground coriander seed
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ground cumin seed
Fresh mint
1 fresh pomegranate
1 pint whole milk yogurt

1. If using large eggplants, remove stem end and quarter. Small
eggplants, leave whole.
2. Boil briefly, until just barely tender. I did this in multiple
stages as all the eggplant wouldn't fit in one pot.
3. Put eggplant in a sieve or colander over a bowl or in a clean sink
and let drain. Again I did this in stages. I didn't drain the pieces
for a whole hour. After batches had drained for 15 minutes or so, I
removed them to a large bowl.

My Recipe:
NOTE: This must be kept refrigerated or in a cooler until shortly
before serving. Allow to come to room temperature.
12 pounds eggplant - I used the large ones because they were cheaper,
but I suspect that smaller Asian eggplants would be better
1 pint light sesame oil (or olive oil)
2 quarts whole milk yogurt with NO additives or thickeners - I used
Pavel's Russian Yogurt - there's nothing in it but milk and yogurt
culture - no gums, no gelatin, no thickeners, etc.
1/4 cup salt
1 Tablespoon pepper
2 to 3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ground coriander seed
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons ground cumin seed
Fresh mint
1 fresh pomegranate
1 pint whole milk yogurt

1. If using large eggplants, remove stem end and quarter. Small
eggplants, leave whole.
2. Boil briefly, until just barely tender. I did this in multiple
stages as all the eggplant wouldn't fit in one pot.
3. Put eggplant in a sieve or colander over a bowl or in a clean sink
and let drain. Again I did this in stages. I didn't drain the pieces
for a whole hour. After batches had drained for 15 minutes or so, I
removed them to a large bowl.

4. Put enough sesame oil in a large frying pan to cover the bottom,
then heat on a medium-high fire.
5. When oil is hot, add some of drained eggplants - one layer of
eggplant only. Cook until tender, then remove - I drained them in a
colander as I removed them from the pan.
6. When all have been cooked and allowed to cool, puree them. I used
a food processor but a blender would work. And a potato masher or
ricer should work too.
7. When all the eggplants were pureed and in a big container, I added
two quarts of Pavel's yogurt. I honestly believe the quality of the
yogurt affected the taste of the finished dish. But use the best
plain yogurt you can find.
8. After mixing yogurt and eggplant, add spices. Allow to sit
overnight in a cool place for flavor to develop.
9. Peel pomegranate and remove white pith. Separate seeds into a bowl.
10. Dish eggplant into serving bowls, decorate the edge with fresh
mint leaves or sprigs, place a dollop of yogurt in the center of each
dish and top with pomegranate seeds.

I didn't want to make this for so many people so I reduced the amounts. This is the
amounts I used:

2 eggplant (1 lb 13.8 oz)
Up to 1/3 cup extra virgin sesame oil (I bought it at the Kabul Market)
1 1/3 cup whole milk yogurt (I make my own)
2 tsp kosher salt
up to 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Up to 1 TBSP ground coriander seed
Up to 1 TBSP ground cumin seed
Fresh mint to garnish
fresh pomegranate seeds to garnish
whole milk yogurt to garnish