Kashk o Bademjan

Kashk o Bademjan, I can say it is the most famous Iranian appetizer and one of the most delicious ones. At first, people in the northern cities of Iran, Esfahan, and Zanjan cooked this food, after that, all Iranians know Kashk o Bademjan and eat that as a main dish, appetizer, and also side dish.

What’s the meaning of Kashk o Bademjan? What is Kashk o Bademjan made of?

This food is made of curd (Kashk) and eggplant (Bademjan). These two are the main ingredients and the names of Kashk o Bademjan are derived from the two main ingredients of this dish. Always, people serve that with beautiful garnishes, for example, Kashk o Bademjan garnished with fried onion, curd, and walnuts.

The best way to eat this food is with bread and usually served with different side dishes like Sabzi Khordan and onion. Traditionally, Iranians consume food with reformer natures for health benefits. For instance, Kashk has a cold nature, for that, Iranians serve Kashk o Bademjan with grape syrup. As well as This is why walnuts and saffron are used to garnish this dish.

Ingredient:

. 2 large eggplant, grilled or fried

. 1 large onion, finely sliced

. 2 large cloves garlic, grated

. 1 cup Kashk

. Olive oil

. Salt and pepper to taste

. Turmeric to taste

. Dried mint

To begin with, finely slice the onion and then fry it in a suitable pot, until the sliced onion becomes light. Then reduce the flame to moderate, and stir until the onion is soft. At this time, preferably add grilled or fried eggplant to the onion and stir. Let’s stir it until it’s crushed, and mix well. Add salt and pepper and turmeric and then turn it off.

In another pot, pour the oil and add dried mint, fry the mint in oil but be careful not to burn it ( for that, reduce the flame). The point, the oil should be more than mint. When mint is fried, turn it off. Add the fried mint to the mixed onion and eggplant, and stir the mixture very well. The amount of garlic depends on your taste, but this recipe is a base of that you can use more or less garlic for your food, add grated garlic to the ingredients, reduce the flame to moderate or less moderate and mix until the mixture taste well and turn the flame to the lowest setting.

For preparing Kashk, you can use two ways depending on your taste. First way, in a separate pot, pour Kashk with hot water dissolve it, let it boil, and add it to the pot. The second way, pour Kashk and hot water into a bowl after that, add it to the pot. Next, pour it into the food, and again stir it until the mixture is mixed well. Let the mixture boil, after that reduce the flame, and cover the pot. let it cook together with a low flame.

For garnish Kashk o Bademjan, you can use fried onion, fried mint, fried garlic, and Kashk. Some people like to add saffron to the Kashk because of that color and the nature of Kashk and saffron. Walnuts are one of the famous garnishes for this food. Also, dried rose powder is very beautiful and colorful, in addition, it is good for the nature of this food too.

As I mentioned, grape syrup is served with Kashk o Bademjan. To prepare that, mix Iranian grape syrup and grape vinegar ( it is optional but the base version is made with vinegar ) with cold water and as you like ice. Serve this traditional tasty and cold drink with your dishes.

Of course, there are different versions of this food. Some people make Kashk o Bademjan with mince meat or many people make that with chopped walnuts. The recipe in this article is a basic and popular recipe of Kashk o Bademjan.

Side dishes:

Bread ( Lavash )

Always, people eat Kashk o Bademjan with bread. For example, Lavash or Sangak

Grape syrup drink

An Iranian traditionally cold drink which is served with dishes. I wrote a shortest recipe of that in the end of article

Sabzi Khordan

A platter of fresh herbs like basil, parsley, dill, garden cress, and many other fresh and green herbs

Red onion

Sliced raw red onion for serving with food

Bon Appetite!