GastronomicGallivant: Lebanese Stuffed Eggplants With PineNuts N Raisins

When my parents visited me a couple of weeks ago, they b(r)ought me plenty of baby eggplants along with a boatload of vegetables. Normally I stuff the eggplants in the same way that I know, either with dry gravy or kadai gravy.But this time I decided to try a Lebanese version(with pine nuts and raisins) that I have been wanting to for quite sometime after I saw it in the Gourmet magazine last year. I was so sad when Conde' Nast decided to close this wonderful magazine after 70 years.Boohoo.I was/am a big fan of the magazine and now even more so after trying this recipe from its August 09 edition. The recipe in the magazine uses lamb and nuts but I tried a vegetarian version with plenty of changes and it was such a big hit in the house.Scroll down to see the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Baby Eggplants - 15#s
• Olive Oil - 4 tbsp

For the Stuffing:

• Onion - 1, small
• Long Grain Rice - 1/2 cup, cooked
  
• Pine Nuts - 3 tbsp
• Pinto Beans - 7 oz( about half a can), roughly smashed  [or] Ground Lamb - 1/4 cup
• Cracked Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - a dash
• Raisins - 2 tbsp

For the Gravy:

• Onion - 1, big, roughly chopped
• Roma Tomatoes - 3, very ripe, roughly chopped
• Ginger - 1/2 inch
• Cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped
• Garlic - 2, cloves, fine diced
• Dry Red Chilli - 2 [or] Red Pepper Flakes, as needed

Procedure:

• Dry roast the pine nuts and set aside.
• Gravy: In a deep skillet, heat a tbsp of oil and saute the garlic, onions,Red chilli and ginger until the onions are browned. Add the tomatoes and fry until they lose the raw smell. Switch off the stove and add the chopped cilantro. Grind and set aside.
• Cut a small portion of the eggplants at the bottom. Hollow out the eggplants using apple corer leaving the crown intact.

• Don't discard the insides of the eggplants. Dice finely using a food processor and add it to the stuffing ingredients.
• Stuffing: Heat a tbsp of oil in the same skillet and add the ingredients under the "Stuffing" one by one in the same order except the nuts and raisins, along with the diced insides of the eggplant. (If using Lamb, saute until the lamb is partially cooked.)
• Switch off stove,add the raisins and the pinenuts. Cool the mixture.
• Stuff the cooled mixture into the hollowed eggplants.
• Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and add the stuffed eggplants. Fry them gently taking care not to squish the stuffing for a couple of minutes.
• Pour the ground gravy and cook with lid on for 45 minutes or so.

• Serve hot with flavored rice,Fried Rice,plain rice or even by itself. 

Enjoy!