Kashk-e-Bademjan

One thing to warn you about Iranian food is that making it is time consuming and it needs a lot of patience. The easiest recipes for Iranians, seem to be far too detailed for Westerners. We slowcook our food and a normal stew might take three to four hours to cook. If you ever need a funny face, talk with an Iranian about sushi and observe how we get traumatised by the idea of uncooked fish!  


Kashk-e-Bademjan is cooked aubergine (Bademjan) served with Kashk. Now what is kashk? It is a byproduct of butter. In Iran, yoghurt is put inside the goat's skin and shaken by rural women. The fat that gets separated is butter and what is remained is boiled again to make Kashk. Kashk is a rich source of calcium and is used in Iran, Lebanon and Syria for different dishes. You might not find it at Tesco here, but any Iranian shop will have it. In case they have dried Kashk, just add some water and let it boil. And if thee are no Iranian shops in your neighbourhood, use greek yoghurt.


What you need: (4 people)
3 Aubergines
1 Large onion
6 Garlic cloves
dried mint, salt, pepper, turmeric, olive oil, walnuts
Kashk or Greek Yoghurt


peel and cut the aubergines. fry them in olive oil. Put them aside on paper towel to drain. 
Chop the onion. put half of the chopped onion aside and fry the rest until golden. chop 4 garlic cloves like flakes. fry them. put them aside.
in a deep pan, fry the other half of onion until it softens. add the remained two chopped garlic cloves. add the aubergine, add a little water. cook till aubergine is tender. mash the whole thing slightly, it shouldn't be mashed perfectly, add a little bit of kashk (if you are using Greek yoghurt, you shouldn't add it here). let it boil and then pour it in the dish.
meanwhile the food is cooking, put a tablespoon of oil in a sauce pan, add two tablespoons of mint and as soon as the colour turns dark green, turn off the heat. Be careful not to burn the mint.
Decorate the aubergine then with Kashk, fried onions, garlic flakes, walnuts and mint. If you are using Greek Yoghurt, just decorate the aubergine with the aforementioned and eat it with yoghurt. Don't add the yoghurt to the food in any stage!


What you eat (with pita, lavash or tortilla bread):

Kashk-e-Bademjan is used as an appetiser in parties but also can be the main food when there are no guests around. My mum is a Kashk-e-Bademjan goddess. Before going to Iran, when I put up my menu-on-arrival (a gift from her to spoil me), I always put Kashk-e-Bademjan. And insist: "maman! make it like old times! forget about Cholesterol!" and it means everything is fried generously... and as Iranians love, a centimeter of oil stands over the food!


P.S. 1. I found out that my beloved Firoozeh Dumas also has written about Kashk-e-Bademjan and her mum's cooking. Firoozeh is undoubtedly one of the funniest Iranians ever and her book "Funny in Farsi" is an amazing autobiographical account of Iranians living outside Iran. Don't read it at night, your laughter will wake the neighbours up!


P.S.2. Some sites say Kashk is liquid whey protein. No idea what is Whey? Do you?