- 4 eggplants, halved
- 1 bag of microwaveable black or brown rice
- 1kg of steggles turkey mince
- 1 red onion finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- Olive oil for frying
- 3/4 tsp of cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp of sumac
- 3/4 tsp of allspice
- 1/2 tsp of cumin
- 2-3 tsp of dried oregano
- 5 tbsp of tomato paste
- 11/2 cups of water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 250C (fan forced).
- Microwave rice as per packet instructions and set aside.
- Score the cut faces of the eggplant in a criss-cross fashion. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with some dried oregano, salt and pepper. Lay on a sheet pan lined with baking paper, cut face down. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until the eggplants have softened and browned beautifully.
- Meanwhile, in a deep fry pan, heat up 3-4 tbsp of olive oil. Add turkey mince, and fry until all water has been evaporated. Season well with salt and pepper. You’ll know it’s down when it’s starts to brown and crisp up around the edges. This should take about ~10 minutes.
- Add onion and garlic and fry until translucent and slightly softened. Add cinnamon,sumac, allspice and cumin and fry for 1 minute.
- Add in tomato paste and fry for 2-3 minutes to allow it to ‘cook out’; this helps to remove that raw tomato taste and in effect deepen the flavour.
- Add in water and let it gently simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the meat is tender and has a ‘sticky’. You want to retain a bit of moisture, you don’t want to dry out the mixture too much.
- Stir through currants and chopped shallots. Add the rice and fry for 1 minute. Check for seasoning, you may need to add some salt at this point.
- To serve: spoon over eggplant. Drizzle some Greek yoghurt on top and top with fresh herbs and a spritz of lemon juice.
Garnish: fresh herbs, extra virgin olive oil & @jalna yoghurt Greek yoghurt
Sourced from @thegirlinthegreenapron
