Hama-Style Batarsh with Grilled Eggplant

Ingredients

• 4 pieces large eggplants
• 4 pieces medium tomatoes
• to taste crispy meat
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1½ cups yogurt
• 2 tablespoons tomato molasses / tomato paste
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon seven-spice blend
• 3–4 cloves garlic
• ½ cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• a little pomegranate molasses
• optional nuts
• optional almonds
• optional pine nuts
• optional cashews

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250°C with top and bottom heat.
2. Prick the eggplants all over, then place them in the oven on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
3. Prick the tomatoes, then place them in the oven with the eggplants until softened and infused with a grilled flavor.
4. Leave the tomatoes and eggplants in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.
5. Peel the grilled tomatoes and reserve their juices with the pulp.
6. Let the grilled eggplants cool, then peel them.
7. Chop or mince the grilled tomatoes and eggplant flesh with a knife; do not use a blender.
8. Finely chop or crush the garlic.
9. Mix the yogurt and tahini in a bowl until the consistency is medium—not thin and not stiff.
10. Add the salt to the yogurt-tahini mixture.
11. Cook the crispy meat in a pot with the ghee until done.
12. Add the grilled tomatoes and their juices to the meat in the pot.
13. Add the appropriate spices to the meat-and-tomato mixture in the pot.
14. Arrange the grilled eggplant on a serving platter, forming a hollow in the center.
15. Fill the center of the eggplant with the meat-and-tomato mixture from the pot.
16. Add the yogurt-tahini mixture over or alongside the dish, according to how it is served.
17. Parsley may be added on top.
18. The dish may be garnished with the optional nuts.