Borani Banjan (Afghan Layered Eggplant Dish)
Borani Banjan is a delicious dish from Afghanistan made with layers of roasted eggplants, tomato sliced and cooked in delicious tomato sauce. It is then topped with garlicky Greek yogurt for a decadent finish.
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Ingredients
- 2 Medium Chinese Eggplant or 4 Medium Italian Eggplants, cut into ⅓" thick slices
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Medium Tomatoes, Sliced
- 1 cup Cilantro, finely chopped
- For garnish Dried Mint
For Tomato Sauce:
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 4 Garlic cloves, finely minced
- 3 tbsp Tomato paste
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Curry powder
- 1 tsp Paprika powder
- 1½ cups Vegetable Broth
- To taste Salt & Pepper
For Garlic Yogurt:
- 1 cup Thick Yogurt, Greek Yogurt works great
- 1 Garlic clove, finely minced
- To taste Salt & Pepper
Instructions
Roast/ Broil Eggplant:
- Set the oven to broil. Arrange the eggplant slices on 2 baking sheets, drizzle with 1tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Broil for 2~4 minutes or until lightly browned. Flip and repeat for another 1~2 minutes. Set aside.
- Turn the oven down to 375°F.
Make Tomato Sauce:
- Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and saute till lightly browned and fragrant. Make sure to not burn the garlic.
- Add tomato paste, turmeric, curry powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well and cook for 1~2 minutes.
- Add the vegetable broth and bring the mixture to a boil on high heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Layer to make Borani Banjan:
- Pour ⅓ of the tomato sauce in a 9"x13" baking pan or into individual baking dishes and spread it across the bottom.
- Arrange half the eggplant slices on top of the sauce. Sprinkle half of the cilantro over the eggplants and then layer half of the tomato slices evenly over the eggplant.
- Pour on the other ⅓ of the sauce. Repeat with the remaining eggplant, cilantro and tomato slices. Finish the dish by drizzling the last ⅓ of the sauce making sure to cover all the veggies.
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for about 20~30 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly; then remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving. Top with garlic yogurt just before serving.
To make the garlic yogurt:
- Mix minced garlic in the yogurt, season with salt & pepper.
- Pour the garlic yogurt over the baked eggplant and sprinkle with lot of dried mint. Serve with pita or naan bread.
Notes
- Best eggplants to use in the recipe are the long Chinese eggplant. Make sure to choose medium size ones for the best texture. Medium size Italian eggplants will also work great.
- Instead of layering and baking, the broiled eggplant slices can be added to the tomato sauce and simmered for 20~30 minutes until silky and delicious.
- Sub tomato paste in the sauce with 2 medium ripe chopped tomatoes.
- Alternately, skip the baking part and serve Borani Banjan by layering the roasted eggplant on the serving plate. Top with tomato sauce and yogurt sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcal
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