Middle Eastern Fried Eggplant with Crispy Bread & Yogurt Sauce (Eggplant Fatteh)

yogurt

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: sour cream

Greek yogurt offers a thicker texture with fewer calories.

pine nuts

🥗Healthier: sunflower seeds

💰Cheaper: walnuts

Sunflower seeds are more affordable and nut-free.

tahini

🥗Healthier: sunflower seed butter

💰Cheaper: peanut butter

Sunflower seed butter is a nut-free alternative.

olive oil

🥗Healthier: avocado oil

💰Cheaper: vegetable oil

Vegetable oil is cost-effective and neutral in flavor.

Cut off the stock of the eggplant and peel it lengthwise in strips to create a zebra pattern.

Cut the eggplant into slices, then into bite-sized cubes about 3x3 cm.

Salt the eggplant cubes to draw out excess moisture and bitterness, then arrange on kitchen paper.

Prepare the yogurt tahina sauce by adding yogurt, lemon juice, crushed garlic, tahini, salt, and cumin to a bowl and whisking together.

Add water slowly to the sauce until a creamy consistency is achieved, then set aside.

Cut the Lebanese bread into small cubes about 2x2 cm.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and fry the bread cubes for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and crisp, then set aside.

Pat dry the salted eggplant cubes before frying them in the same skillet with a little oil for 4 to 5 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Assemble the dish by layering the fried bread on a serving plate, followed by the fried eggplant cubes, and then spooning the yogurt tahina sauce over the eggplant.

Fry pine nuts or almond slivers in olive oil until golden, then pour over the yogurt layer along with the oil from the pan.

Garnish with chopped parsley and pomegranate seeds before serving.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens