Borani Banjan (بورانی بادمجان), Afghan Eggplant Casserole
Servings: 4 sides
Calories: 327kcal
Cost: $1.12
Borani banjan is an Afghan eggplant dish baked with spicy tomato gravy. This naturally vegan-friendly recipe makes for a comforting, aromatic winter casserole.
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Ingredients
Roasted Eggplants
- ½ cup oil (divided into 5 tbsp + 3 tbsp)
- 1 large eggplant (approx 1 to 1 ½ lbs)
- ½ tsp salt or 1 tsp kosher salt
Tomato Gravy
- 1 head garlic (*can sub garlic paste if you're lazy)
- ½ inch piece ginger (*can sub ginger paste if you're lazy)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (*optional)
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 black cardamom pod, ground into powder (*optional)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp fine salt or 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 large tomato (*can sub canned diced tomatoes)
Toppings
- ½ cup fresh cilantro (15 g)
- ½ cup Homemade Vegan Yogurt (120 g)
Instructions
Roast the Eggplants
- Preheat oven to 425 °F (218 °C)
- Rinse and slice the eggplant into 1-cm (1/3-inch) thick pieces.
- Lay each slice side by side on lined baking sheets. We'll be roasting the eggplants, although the traditional method is to deep-fry them.
- Drizzle 5 tbsp of oil over the eggplants (no need to flip them) and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Roast at 425 °F (218 °C) for 25–35 minutes or until golden brown.
Prep Tomato Gravy
- Meanwhile, crush or chop the tomato and gather the spices (paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin, ground black cardamom, turmeric, salt, black pepper).
- Crush the garlic into a rough paste; reserve half for mixing into the yogurt later. I use a mortar and pestle but a garlic press works too.
- Crush ginger and mix it into the garlic, along with tomato paste.
- Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a saucepan on medium heat.
- Add the garlic-ginger-tomato paste and gently fry (temper) for a minute or two until fragrant.
- Add all the spices and temper for another 30 seconds.
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes and mix thoroughly with the spices. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Assemble and Bake
- When eggplants are roasted to a golden-brown colour, remove them from the oven. Keep the oven on.
- Arrange a layer of eggplant at the bottom of a small casserole dish. Cover with a layer of tomato sauce.
- Continuing alternating the eggplant and tomato sauce until you reach your last layer of eggplant. Top with a layer of cilantro (reserve some for garnish if you'd like), then cover with the remaining tomato sauce.
- Cover the casserole either with an oven-safe lid or with a tight wrap of aluminum oil, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 425 °F (218 °C).
- Meanwhile, mix together the yogurt with the remaining garlic.
- Remove casserole from oven and let stand 5 minutes before uncovering and serving. Top with yogurt and sprinkle with any remaining cilantro.
Nutrition
Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 622mg | Potassium: 754mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1575IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 2mg