Ingredients for Eggplant and Rice Stew
- 3 eggplants
- 1 onion
- 2 long green peppers (sivri biber)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 tea glass (about 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon salça (Turkish tomato/pepper paste)
- 1.5 tablespoons rice
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 dessert spoon (about 1 tsp) Aleppo pepper flakes
- 1 dessert spoon (about 2 tsp) salt
How to Make Eggplant and Rice Stew
Peel 3 eggplants in a zebra pattern and soak them in salted water for 10 minutes. In a pot, sauté 1 finely diced onion, 2 long green peppers, and 1 red bell pepper in 1 tea glass (about 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) of vegetable oil. Remove the eggplants from the salted water, squeeze out the excess water, cut them into cubes, add them to the pot, and sauté. Add 1 tablespoon of salça (Turkish tomato/pepper paste), stir, then add just enough water to barely cover, along with 1.5 tablespoons of cleaned and rinsed rice. Add 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 dessert spoon Aleppo pepper flakes, and 1 dessert spoon salt, bring to a boil, then leave to cook on low heat.
About This Recipe
In botanical dictionaries, eggplant is described as follows: "a fairly long-lived cultivated plant that grows annually in temperate climates and continuously as a small tree in tropical climates."
Originally from India, the eggplant first made its way to Iran, and from there to other Asian countries. Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing the eggplant to America — he enjoyed growing various crops in the garden of his Virginia home. By cultivating eggplant in his garden, he is thought to have greatly contributed to spreading this wonderful flavor throughout all of America.
Centuries ago, eggplant was barely consumed in certain parts of Europe for many years, on the grounds that it caused madness and even health problems such as leprosy, cancer, and bad breath. So, contrary to popular belief, its entry into European cuisines — Italy in particular — is relatively recent. In fact, eggplant has a neutral flavor and, botanically speaking, has few distinctive characteristics compared to other vegetables, with not many varieties. However, it is both a prized ingredient in Indian cuisine — one of the most exotic cuisines in the world — and an indispensable part of Mediterranean food culture. Eggplant ranks near the top of the world's most popular "edible plants." After India, the regions where it is consumed the most are, in order, Mediterranean countries and especially Turkey, followed by Far Eastern countries and Latin America.
Our Eggplant and Rice Stew recipe turned out just as delicious as Swiss Chard and Rice Stew . Bon appétit in advance…
