Finally, our first dish from the great cuisine of Afghanistan and it certainly won’t be the last. We start with one of the most famous, called Borani Banjan or Banjan Borani. “Banjan” stands for aubergine and “‘Borani” for a method of preparation originating from Persian cuisine, in which cooked vegetables are combined with spices and yoghurt.
Our recipe describes one of countless ways to prepare this delicacy. We explain why we do things our own way and what we know as an alternative.
It all starts with the main ingredient – aubergines. It doesn’t matter which variety you use. The ones we use today are violet.
The aubergines are often peeled first by removing strips of skin with a peeler. Some remove the entire skin, others half of it by alternately removing one strip of skin and leaving one (the latter is also known from Turkish cuisine). The aubergines are then usually cut lengthways into large slices.
We don’t do it this way because we like the texture and flavour better another way. We don’t peel the aubergines and cut them crosswise into slices a little under a centimetre thick.
The aubergine slices are almost always fried in plenty of oil until golden brown. We don’t do that either, because it can be done with much less oil and much less work, with at least the same flavour – we think even better.
We bake the aubergine slices on a baking tray with baking paper or on a silicone mat on the wire rack. You can find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques here.
The oven is heated to 180 degrees Celsius with fan. The aubergine slices are brushed with vegetable oil on both sides and placed next to each other. We use olive oil, but any neutral vegetable oil can be used. As always, the aubergines absorb the oil quickly. Don’t be tempted to apply more and more. It will release again during baking.
This way, the aubergines bake for 30 – 35 minutes until they are soft and browned. However, we don’t want to produce crisps, so you should pay more attention to the time than the colour. The aubergines do not get as dark as when deep-fried using this technique. However, you need much less oil and the dish contains less of it later on. Baking doesn’t take any longer than deep-frying, which requires you to fry, turn and drain individual slices all the time. We simply put the finished slices to one side, it doesn’t matter if they cool down.
In the meantime, we finely grate garlic into yoghurt and season with a little salt. This mixture should have time to develop its flavour, so you should do this early on and certainly not at the very end. The yoghurt can also be seasoned with dried mint – the only reason we are not doing this today is because we will be using fresh mint later.
We also cut onion into ½ cm thick rings and tomatoes into slightly thicker slices. For the spices, we prepare salt, black pepper, turmeric, coriander and cumin. If you want to add a little heat, you can also use a little chilli powder. However, Afghan cuisine is less spicy than that of northern India, for example, so we remain cautious here. Some recipes use fresh green chilli, which is also an option.
For a tomato sauce, we cut more tomatoes into small cubes and also use tomato paste.
If very ripe tomatoes are not available, use tinned tomatoes. These can also be combined with fresh tomatoes. We intensify the flavour of our fresh tomatoes with the tomato paste.
In a small pan, we simmer the diced tomatoes over a medium-high heat in a little vegetable oil with the lid on until they have melted after about 7 – 8 minutes. Then we add the tomato paste and our spices.
We stir well and leave everything to simmer for a further 3 – 4 minutes so that the flavours combine. The result is a flavourful base that will season the entire dish.
Now a little water is added, about 100 ml. You have to adjust this by feel, as all tomatoes are different. The aim is to create a liquid but thick and chunky tomato sauce, which is now finally seasoned to taste.
The ingredients are then layered in a larger pan: Cover the base with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Place half of the tomato slices on top, followed by half of the onion rings.
Place half of the aubergine slices on top to cover everything. Finally, pour more tomato sauce over the aubergines.
Repeat this with the remaining ingredients, cover with a lid and braise the vegetables over a medium heat for 30 minutes. We reduce the temperature slightly after half the time (in our case: from 5 to 3 out of 10). We don’t stir under any circumstances, we want to stick to the layers.
All that’s left to do now is to plate up. Cover the base of a serving dish or large bowl with a layer of yoghurt.
Add the braised vegetables on top, as they have been placed in the pot, without stirring.
Fresh herbs to taste and spoonfuls of yoghurt form the final touch and create this beautiful picture:
Served and eaten with (flat) bread or rice.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients (for 2 – 3 people):
3 large aubergines
A little olive oil or neutral vegetable oil
For the yoghurt sauce:
200 g yoghurt
2 cloves of garlic
salt
Optional: dried mint
For the tomato sauce:
A little vegetable oil
2 – 3 fresh tomatoes, finely diced (alternatively: tinned tomatoes)
1 tbsp tomato puree (alternatively: combine fresh tomatoes with tinned tomatoes)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp each of turmeric, cumin and coriander
Water as required
1 onion, sliced into rings
2 – 3 tomatoes, cut into slices
Herbs to taste: mint, dill and/or parsley
