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Stuffed Eggplant

MAHSHI BATINJAAN

Eggplant are abundant in the Middle East. They grow in Lebanon in the summer and fall. In the winter and spring they flourish in the Jordan Valley and are exported widely. They are cooked in a variety of ways but mahshi is the most famous method of preparation.

Select the small cylindrical type of eggplant for mahshi. Hollow them and prepare a stuffing as for Kousa Mahshi. Syrians substitute one-half cup sammak water with half a teaspoon of sugar for the lemon juice called for in the kousa recipe. Sometimes a stuffed green pepper is added to the Batinjaan Mahshi. Serve hot.


(From Food from the Arab World Marie Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)

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