Makdous
Recipe by Chef Chef Moe Abutaha of Shawarmaji
Makdous is a beloved pickled eggplant stuffed with walnuts, garlic, and chili peppers eaten throughout the Levant (Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria).
Ingredients:
3 lbs Indian (baby) eggplants
1 lb red bell pepper
1/2 lb red chilli pepper (fresno or red jalapeno)
1oz peeled garlic
5 oz walnuts (broken up into quarters)
5 oz salt
2 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions:
Prepare the Eggplant:
Boil eggplant in water until it is soft then strain it and cool it down quickly with cold running water or ice bath. After its cooled we will start to take of the stem off the eggplant and use a knife to cut an opening lengthwise in the eggplant. After we cut the opening we salt the eggplant generously from the inside through our opening and from the outside.
Then place the eggplant into a basket strainer with a container underneath to catch all the water from the eggplant. Then add a weight on top of the eggplant this could be a pot filled with water.This weight can start with around 10lbs.
After 1 day check on your eggplant, flip them over, then place a larger weight on the eggplant, up to 20lbs.
Keep checking on the eggplant day by day until there is no more water coming out of it.
Make the Filling:
Deseed bell peppers and chilis, then grind them with the garlic. You can use a food processor or food grinder.
After the peppers and garlic are ground add 1 tbsp spoon salt to the mixture and put it in a strainer so we can get rid of all the water in the mixture.
After we are sure there is no more water, we will add the walnuts to the mixture.
Assemble:
After you are sure there is no water in the eggplant and no water in the filling mixture we can start filling the eggplant and adding them into a jar. After all the stuffed eggplant or (makdous) is added to the jar we cover with extra virgin olive oil to preserve it and you can store in a cool dark space and enjoy makdous throughout the year!