Egyptian pickled eggplant with garlic, walnuts and pomegranatefeatured

I had picked up some beautiful baby eggplants at a South Asian market in Queens over the weekend. I really wanted to make maqdous, Levantine baby eggplants stuffed with walnuts, garlic and pomegranate arrils preserved in olive oil.

But man I was feeling lazy. The kids haven’t been letting me sleep. My dishwasher is broken and I’m trying to minimize the dishes. The thought of preparing something that I couldn’t eat for a week or so was just too much to bear. I just couldn’t invest the energy.

So, I decided to go a different route, Egyptian- style marinated eggplant. Fried the eggplant and then doused with an olive oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin marinade and let that sit in the fridge for a bit. I dressed it up as maqdous, topping it with walnuts and pomegranate. It was super delicious in some pita bread, both with or without a dollop of creamy labna.

Sometimes laziness does pay off.

It’s really easy.

Just fry up some eggplant.

Arrange on your plate.

Top with a simple marinade. Let it hang out for a bit in the fridge.

Garnish and dig in! Stuff it in some pita bread, with labna if you wish,

Bel hana wel shefa!

Print Recipe

Marinated eggplant with garlic, walnuts and pomegranate

These eggplants are fried and quickly pickled in a garlic cumin marinade and topped with walnuts and pomegranate. Great as a side dish or light meal eaten with pita bread.

Course: lunch, mezze, Salad

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Keyword: eggplant, pickled, salad

Author: Dahlia Morched

Ingredients

• eggplant, baby or other small variety I used 10 baby eggplant for this amount of marinade
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or other vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• cumin to taste
• ¼ cup walnuts chopped
• ¼ cup pomegranate arrils
• parsley chopped, to garnish

Instructions

• In a small bowl, mix oil, vinegar and garlic. Add salt, pepper and cumin to taste.
• Slice baby eggplants in half lengthwise. If using larger eggplants, slice crosswise into rounds.
• Heat olive oil on med-high. Fry eggplants on both sides until golden brown. The eggplants will soften and release water as they cook, so beware of splattering oil.
• Remove and drain on a paper towel.
• Arrange eggplants in a single layer (or two layers if you need to) in a dish or storage container.
• Spoon oil mixture over eggplants, ensuring they are fully soaked. Let sit for half hour or so in the fridge.
• When ready to eat, top with walnuts, pomegranate and parsley. Enjoy with pita bread and labna if available.

Notes

Keeps well in the fridge for a few days.