Happy Winter!!
As you know, we were up to our eyeballs in eggplants. So naturally I took to Pinterest and other online sources to find some diverse eggplant dishes. This one intrigued me. It had the eggplant, eggs (which we eat lots of), fresh herb (which we also have) and required a cast iron skillet (which I recently discovered we had and started to use much more). If you don’t have a cast iron skillet then you can make it exactly the same way, heat an oven safe 10 inch pie dish in the oven, melt the butter in it and then pour the mixture in it.
I’m naturally curious so of course I looked up what Kuku was. Kuku also spelled as Kookoo is an egg based Persian and Azeri dish. It is frequently a vegetarian dish, made with whipped eggs which then are folded in with various ingredients. It is similar to the Italian dish frittata or an open-faced omelet.
Notes from the Farmer
This will be a good dish to keep in mind for when we get our chickens next year. This is a hearty egg dish that can be used for more than just a breakfast. Combine with a salad and some bread and use as a meat free dinner. The eggs will give you the protein you need and can be complimented with other dishes.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 5-6 slices
Ingredients:
8 large eggs
1 medium eggplant – approximately 1 ½ cups of peeled and diced eggplant
1 medium white onion – approximately 1 cup of diced onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 chopped fresh dill, parsley and/or cilantro or just a ½ cup of just one of those herbs, use what you have!
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt to wash the eggplant
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Peel the eggplant and cut out four thin slices, you will use these to garnish the kuku. Keep the eggplant slices aside. Dice the rest of the eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes and let them sit in cold water and a little salt for 20 minutes. This helps to remove the bitterness of the eggplant. Discard the liquid (it should appear brown), rinse the chopped eggplant under running tap water. Pat them dry with a clean towel.
Heat a 10 inch diameter cast iron skillet on a medium heat and add the olive oil.
Peel and dice the onion and add it to the hot oil. Cook the onion till it gets golden brown. Finely chop the garlic and add it to the onions in the skillet and stir for 2 minutes.
Add the chopped and washed eggplant to the onion and garlic mixture. Cook for another 15 minutes till the eggplant is translucent. Transfer the eggplant mix from the skillet into a bowl and let them cool for 10 minutes. Set aside the skillet, you’ll be using it later.
While the eggplant and onion mixture is cooling. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Chop the dill, parsley and cilantro and whisk them into the egg mixture. Add the herbs, flour, baking powder, turmeric, bread crumbs, lime juice, and pepper into the eggs. Whisk for about a minute to mix all the ingredients. Make sure that there are no flour clumps in the mixture. Fold the cooled eggplant mix into the whisked egg batter.
Melt the butter in the same iron skillet on a medium flame. Remove the skillet from the heat. Make sure that the melted butter coats the surface of the pan completely. Pour the egg batter into the center of the skillet and place the four eggplant slices (that you cut and kept aside earlier) on the surface of the batter. Transfer the skillet to the heated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface is golden brown, keep checking it.
Remove the kuku from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. It will also be easier to remove the kuku from the bottom of the skillet. Serve warm by itself or with plain rice and yogurt.
