Tahina Baingan - Stir-Fried Eggplant with Toasted Sesame Seed Paste

Baba Ghanoush and Baingan Bharta are some of my favourite eggplant dishes. Here I have combined the two and it tastes wonderful. The tahina or toasted sesame seed paste adds a creaminess and rich flavour to this dish. Tahina is apparently the same as tahini. The only difference I could see is that tahina is light brown in colour and tahini is white. I found the tahina in a Middle Eastern grocery store.

Ingredients:

4 large oriental eggplants, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 tsp. turmeric
Salt to taste
3 Tbsp. extra light olive oil

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. shah jeera or cumin seeds 

2 sliced onions
4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. tahina paste

1 tsp. ghee or melted butter
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 – 3 hot green chillies, sliced

1 medium tomato, diced

Directions:

1. Coat eggplant pieces with turmeric and salt, then fry in 3 Tbsp. oil until golden brown. 
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a pan over medium-high heat and add cumin seeds.
3. When the seeds begin to sputter and sizzle, add sliced onions & garlic and saute until translucent.
4. Add half the tomatoes, lower heat to medium-low and cook until oil resurfaces.
5. Add fried eggplant, adjust salt to taste and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Stir in the tahina and fold into eggplant pieces until toasted sesame seed paste coats the pieces of eggplant.
7. Garnish with ghee, chopped cilantro, sliced chilies & remaining tomatoes.
8. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed Basmati rice or chapatis.