New spice mix! Ergo, new eggplant dish!

New eggplant dish! I call it... Georgian-inspired eggplant with apricots and olives? It will take me longer to come up with a catchy title than it took us to gobble this stuff for dinner.

Here's the story: over the weekend, my parents were in town to hear me tickling the ivories. This meant, of course, that my mother and I got in some solid eggplant-related cooking time. She kindly gave me an array of unusual spices and spice mixes, including the following:

Ingredients: Coriander, fenugreek leaves, hungarian paprika, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, savory, basil, tellicherry black peppercorns, peppermint, cloves, cassia-cinnamon

 Khmeli suneli is a spice mix used in Georgian (the country, not the state) cuisine, particularly satsivi, a walnut-based dip/sauce. My mother and I decided to experiment with a pureed eggplant dish using this fragrant and sweet spice mix.

Ingredients
1 large or 2 medium eggplants
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp khmeli suneli (or similar spices to those listed)
1/2 cup cracked green olives, pitted and sliced
Juice of 3/4 lemon (or a whole lemon, if you like it tangy)
1 large or 2 small fresh apricots, chopped
Some chopped parsley
Lots of olive oil
Salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar to taste


We started by roasting the eggplant over a gas stove to give it a smoky flavor.

The venerable Elizabeth Lilly takes charge of the roasting.

Once the eggplant is cooked through (not spongy or foamy), cut off the ends and remove the blackened peel.

It's somewhat of a messy job. Also, entire cooked eggplants always look to me like some sort of weird animal carcass.  Appealing, yes?

When the eggplant is ready, sauté chopped onions in olive oil until translucent. Add spice mix and stir, but careful not to burn the spices. Roughly chop/mash the eggplant with a knife and add to the mixture, along with garlic and lemon juice. 

After the eggplant has absorbed some of the spice flavor, add chopped apricot and olives. Continue to simmer on low heat until apricots have broken down. Season with parsley, salt, pepper, and a pinch of brown sugar to taste. 

The result.

Later, my mother proceeded to make an incredible Mediterranean feast, including homemade dolmas, hummus, roasted vegetables, Greek salad, and balsamic lentil salad.

Furniture design by Jordan Mozer and Associates... uh, naturally, because this is their dining room.  

Eggplant mash extraordinaire.