Today my colleague G brought a VERY tasty treat to work. Actually this may have been one of the finer delicacies I have yet to try in the Middle East as it is a complicated dish- and also requires a wealth of olive oil making it a truly rich dish.
Makdous are oil cured eggplants. Here is how you make this tricky wonder:
- Boil in water until they turn soft, boil it with the stem. After boiling the stems will come off easily
- Cut them open, fill with salt
- Put them in a jar and turn it upside down. Allow for drainage (put them on the edge of the sink.
- The eggplants will have white bits around them, try to clean all of it off with paper towels. This has to be a very thorough process to avoid fermentation. Clean the jar, put them in the jar again and leave them for the night again.
- If the water release has stopped, clean them again
Prepare the filling:
- Mix together crushed walnuts, crushed garlic, crushed fil fil (red pepper- depending how spicy you want it.
- Stuff them with the filling. Put them back in the jar.
- Re drain them for a few hours
- Clean off any white bits, replace in the jar halfway, cover them completely in olive oil, they should be completely submerged. Leave space at the top because the eggplants will continue to release water over time.
These shouldn't be eaten for a few weeks, and keep for many many months. The longer you keep them, the more tender they will get and the more the flavors will merge together into the wondrous final product of the Makdous.
Eat the Makdous with a fresh pita bread. Break off a piece of the bread and grab a piece of the tender wondrous delight. Make sure you make a cup of sweet mint tea to go along with it.
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