ii. Uses in Cooking

Eggplant has been used in Persian cuisine in a variety of ways: as a basic ingredient of appetizers (mazas) served before meals or with drinks, in main courses, and pickled in vinegar. One of the first references to the culinary aspects of the plant occurs in a medieval Persian medical treatise, which describes its medicinal value and methods of preparation (E. Jorjānī, Ḏaḵīra-ye ḵᵛārazmšāhī, ed. J. Moṣṭafawī, Tehran, 1352 Š./1973, III/1, pp. 122, 154).

Two kinds of eggplants are common in Iran: the conventional bādenjān-e rasmī, which is long and thin, and the more ample dolmaʾī, which was imported from abroad. In Persian cuisine, choice eggplants are straight, long, firm, and black. Eggplants are among the foods that are preserved and stored for winter in Iranian homes (qorma-ye bādenjān). Selected in the last month of summer when they are most abundant, eggplants are preserved in two ways: 1. After peeling, they are cut, salted, and left to “sweat,” thereby losing their biliousness (zardāb, talḵāb, sawdāʾ</em>); then they are hung on a line to dehydrate in the sun (the dried eggplants are rehydrated twenty-four hours before use); 2. the peeled eggplants are browned in a great deal of oil, placed in a copper pot, and then covered with a thick layer of hot oil which congeals to seal them.

In Persian cuisine, unlike that of Turkey, Greece, and the countries of North Africa, eggplants are cooked peeled and generally seasoned with cinnamon or turmeric, the latter being more to Iranian taste. Most eggplant dishes are classified nānḵᵛorešī (eaten with bread) and served as appetizers consumed with alcoholic beverages.

An early eggplant dish mentioned by the 8th/14th-century poet Bosḥāq Aṭʿema is būrānī-e bādenjān, chopped eggplant sautéed with onions and turmeric, slowly cooked, and then mixed with yogurt (Āšpaz-bāšī, Sofra-ye aṭʿema, p. 46; Bosḥāq Aṭʿema, Dīvān, ed. Mīrzā Ḥabīb Šīrāzī, Istanbul, 1303/1885-86, p. 104). Popular in Iranian cuisine is the combination of kašk (condensed whey) and eggplant, which is found in the dish āš-e kašk o bādenjān, layered sautéed eggplant, grilled onions, and red beans covered by whey seasoned with turmeric (Mosīū Rīšahr Khan, Ṭabbāḵī, p. 27). A variant of the ubiquitous Persian stew and soup āb-gūšt contains eggplant, meat, ḡūra (unripe grapes), potatoes, tomatoes, and split peas. Similarly, a variety of kūkū, the traditional Persian vegetable soufflé, kūkū-ye bādenjān, calls for mashed, grilled eggplant, eggs, parsley, walnuts, and onions (M. R. Ghanoonparvar, Persian Cuisine, Lexington, 1982, I, p. 134). Another traditional recipe, māst o bādenjān, which combines eggplant, yogurt, and dry mint, is called nāzḵātūn by Tehranis (cf. Ghanoonparvar, Persian Cuisine II, p. 150, whose recipe calls for pomegranate juice). In Persian stews (ḵᵛorešes), eggplant is cooked with chicken and ḡūra or pomegranate juice in a dish called mosammā-ye (or mosamman-e) bādenjān (Āšpazbāšī, Sofra-ye aṭʿema, pp. 23-24; Farhang-e fārsī III, p. 4, 119) and with lamb in ḵᵛoreš-e bādenjān (N. Ramazani, Persian Cooking, n.p., 1974, p. 138). Among other dishes prepared with eggplants are: āš-e darhamjūš, kotla-ye bādenjān (cutlet of bādenjān), fesenjān-e bādenjān, yaḵnī-e bādenjān, bādenjān-e sorḵ-karda, ḥalīm(-e) bādenjān, kašk o bādenjān, eškana-ye bādenjān. The introduction of the ampler American bādenjān has allowed cooks to prepare such stuffed eggplant dishes as dolma-ye bādenjān (Ramazani, Persian Cooking, pp. 50-51).

Eggplants also figure in the regional cooking of Iran. Bādenjān-polow, which combines a paste of chopped, sautéed eggplant, chopped meat, and assorted spices with white rice, is prepared mainly in Fārs and Kermān. Bādenjān-e qāsemī or mīrzā qāsemī, a casserole of grilled eggplants, garlic, tomatoes, and eggs, is a specialty of northern Iran (Ghanoonparvar, Persian Cuisine I, p. 140).

The rise of the domestic canning and jarring industry during the last two decades in Iran, has added to the number of preserved eggplant products on the market. Consumers can purchase an eggplant preserve made from bādenjān-e rasmī, heavy syrup, cloves, and cardamom. Also widely available is an array of pickled eggplant and vegetable preparations.