- Family Spice - https://familyspice.com -

Persian Eggplant Stew with Sour Grapes (khoresh bademjan ba ghooreh)

Persian Eggplant Stew (khoresh bademjan ba ghooreh) is a classic Persian stew made with fresh eggplant, tomatoes, yellow split peas and pickled sour grapes.

Khoresh bademjan (persian eggplant stew) in a white dish with baby eggplant next to it

I love introducing Persian cuisine to newbies because it is always welcomed and so eagerly devoured. Whether it is Persian kabob or Persian stews, the simple flavors come together to make an incredible and memorable meal. And the stew I am sharing with you today is equally as special.

As with many Persian stews, they typically feature a vegetable and served with meat and served over a bed of chelo, basmati rice with saffron. The stew I am sharing with you today, khoresh bademjan ba ghooreh, highlights eggplants in a tomato base with yellow split peas and sour grapes.

Why you must try this recipe

One of my favorite Persian stews is this khoresh bademjan. It is a tomato based stew with either beef or lamb that features another one of my favorites: eggplant. Oh. My. GAWD. It is such a delicious stew.

Many people add yellow split peas to the stew, becoming khoresh gheymeh bademjan. As with most Persian stews, the sour component comes from dried Persian limes, limoo omami. I like to make it with gooreh, sour grapes.

Yes, you heard that right. Unripe, green grapes are a favorite among Persians. I go more into detail on this ingredient below.

Let me just tell you that this stew doesn’t have strong spices or crazy flavors. It is not spicy – Persian food is NOT spicy. But these wonderful ingredients give plenty of flavor. It really is a very special dish.

This wonderful stew is a staple dish in the Persian household and is one my favorite Persian dishes. It is fragrant, incredibly flavorful, and is one of my favorite ways to eat eggplant.

As with most Persian stews, it tastes even better the next day. This is definitely a dish that you can make ahead 2 days in advance and just reheat for your dinner party. And for me, making a spectacular dish over the course of a couple days, helps me out a lot. 

What is ghooreh?

Ghooreh are Persian sour grapes. They are green and small and more than just unripe grapes, but offer a wonderful sour flavor that is different from lemon juice or dried limes. Persians love all things sour, so we use many different ingredients to offer this flavor profile.

Sour grapes are in season in late spring thru summer and you can find them in middle eastern grocery stores. You can also find ghooreh pickled if you can not find fresh ghooreh. I have used both for this recipe, just drain out the sour grapes before adding them to the stew.

Fresh gooreh, Persian sour grapes

If you can not find ghooreh, you have several other sour substitutes you can use. There are dried limes, in powdered form or whole. If you can’t find these limes, you can also use lemon juice. Ghooreh also comes in dry powder, too, so you can also sour your Persian eggplant stew with this.

If you do find ghooreh and you have extra you can’t use right away, you can either freeze them or pickle them. To pickle them, clean off stems, rinse ghooreh then place in a clean hot jar. Cover with hot vinegar, either white or apple cider vinegar, and let it cool to room temperature. You can store in the refrigerator or hot water can the pickled ghooreh.

Ingredients you need

Baby purple eggplant on an antique scale

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)!  Read my full disclosure policy

How to cook eggplant

I had a great conversation with some fellow cooking enthusiasts about how to cook eggplant. Many people complain that eggplant tastes bitter. Other people never cook with eggplant and end up overcooking it until it is a bowl full of mush. Eggplant does require a little extra work before you begin cooking it.

Eggplants by nature are full of water. As it cooks, the water is released into the rest of your dish. You can use any type of eggplant for this Persian eggplant stew, but I personally find the larger American version to contain more water than the smaller varieties. It is this water that gives off its bitter taste.

In order to remove it, I always salt the eggplant before cooking. Once the eggplant is peeled and sliced, salt the cut sides and place on a cooling rack covered with paper towels.

Place paper towels over the eggplant and then place a baking sheet over the eggplant with heavy objects resting on top. The pressure and salt will release the bitter water from the eggplant. 

I usually let the eggplant sit like this for about an hour. Then wipe down the eggplant, give it one final press with paper towels and they are ready for baking or frying. Remember, eggplant shrinks considerable when cooked, so keep those slices extra thick.

You can either fry the eggplant on the stove or roast them in the oven. I have prepared eggplant for khoresh bademjan both ways and each method works beautifully. I do find that roasting in the oven dries them out more quickly because it requires less oil, so I prefer frying them.

Step-by-step directions

1. Peel eggplant, but keep stem intact, and cut in half lengthwise. If using larger eggplant, read post on cutting instructions. Salt them and let them sit as I explained above to remove the salt from the eggplant.

Peeled baby eggplant with some cut in half

2. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and add oil. When oil is hot add chopped onions. Cook until onions start to soften, approximately 5-7 minutes then add salt, pepper and turmeric.

Sautéing chopped onions in a stainless pan

3. In a large bowl mix together stew meat, salt, pepper, turmeric and flour.Cook for a 2 minutes, then add stew meat and brown all sides, approximately 7 minutes.

Sautéed chopped onions with chunks of beef stew meat added to it

4. Stir in beef broth and using a wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits of meat from the bottom of the pot. Stir in tomato paste until combined.

Browned stew meat with tomato paste added to it

5. Add the rinsed yellow split peas and dried limes. Stir in diced tomatoes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. Stew can be refrigerated 3-4 days before serving after this point. Flavor is enhanced the longer it sits.

Adding yellow split peas to khoresh bademjan

6. When paper towels are wet after 1 hour, squeeze eggplant dry with paper towels and remove excess salt. Heat large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Fry eggplants in batches until both sides are browned.

Add more olive oil as needed. Drain fried eggplants on paper towels to remove excess oil and reserve.

Browning halved baby eggplant in a pan

7. Add cinnamon and gooreh into the stew. Pour stew into a 13×9-inch dish.

Adding gooreh (sour grapes) to khoresh bademjan

8. Add fried eggplant over the stew and top with slices of tomato, if using. Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF in the oven for 30 minutes.

Top view of a large pyrex dish with khoresh bademjan layered in with tomato slices ready to bake

Recipe tips and FAQs

Middle eastern cuisine highlights eggplant regularly, and Persian cuisine is no different. From Persian eggplant dip (kashk bademjoon) to yogurt mixed with eggplant (borani bademjan) to eggs and eggplant (Mirza Ghassemi) and even pickled eggplant (torshi-yeh bademjan va anar), we simply love our eggplant. And this under appreciated vegetable comes in many varieties, too.

You do need to cut the eggplant differently depending on which size you use: the large American versions (cut into rounds), the small Italian sized (halve them lengthwise), and even the long Chinese eggplants (cut them into manageable pieces). I’ve made stews with all of them at one point in time. I peel the skin from the large eggplant but leave it on for the smaller varieties. You can do either depending on your own personal preference.

What kind of meat is in khoresh bademjan?

Like most Persian stews, khoresh bademjan is made with lamb shanks, but you can also make it with beef stew meat or beef shanks. If you do not want to use red meat,  you can also substitute it with bone-in chicken thighs. For this recipe, use 4-pounds of chicken thighs. Brown the chicken and then let it cook in the stew until done, about 30-45 minutes.

Can khoresh bademjan be made vegetarian?

Traditionally, this stew is made with beef or lamb. But, you can also make this Persian eggplant stew vegetarian, too. As the recipe shows, yellow split peas are included in this delicious stew. If you are not adding meat to it, add ½ cup yellow split peas instead of ¼ cup.

pomegranate ecookbook cover and table of contents

If you are enjoying my recipes, I would love for you to sign up for my newsletter (and get my free pomegranate e-cookbook!) or follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

Yield: serves 8-10

Persian Eggplant Stew with Sour Grapes (khoresh bademjan ba ghooreh)

Khoresh bademjan (persian eggplant stew) in a white dish with baby eggplant next to it

Persian Eggplant Stew (khoresh bademjan ba ghooreh) is a classic Persian stew made with fresh eggplant, tomatoes, yellow split peas and pickled sour grapes.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 9 baby eggplant
  • 1 TBS salt
  • 2 lb beef stew meat
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoon all purpose flour (omit for gluten-free option)
  • 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 14 oz beef broth
  • 2 TBS tomato paste
  • ¼ cup yellow split peas, rinsed in water and drained
  • 3 dried limes, cut in half
  • 14 oz canned diced tomatoes
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup sour grapes (ghooreh)
  • 3 Roma tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch slices (optional)

Instructions

    1. Peel eggplant, but keep stem intact, and cut in half lengthwise. If using larger eggplant, read post on cutting instructions.
    2. Sprinkle both sides with 1 TBS salt.
    3. Place eggplants over paper towels on a cooling rack and cover with more paper towels. Place a baking sheet on top along with heavy objects and let it sit like this for 1 hour. This will remove the bitter water from the eggplant.
    4. In a large bowl mix together stew meat, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and flour.
    5. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 1 TBS oil.
    6. When oil is hot add chopped onions.
    7. Cook until onions start to soften, approximately 5-7 minutes then add ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and ¼ teaspoon turmeric.
    8. Cook for a 2 minutes, then add stew meat and brown all sides, approximately 7 minutes.
    9. Stir in beef broth and using a wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits of meat from the bottom of the pot.
    10. Stir in tomato paste, rinsed yellow split peas and dried limes.
    11. Stir in diced tomatoes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. Stew can be refrigerated 3-4 days before serving after this point. Flavor is enhanced the longer it sits.
    12. When paper towels are wet after 1 hour, squeeze eggplant dry with paper towels and remove excess salt.
    13. Heat large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 TBS olive oil.
    14. Fry eggplants in batches until both sides are browned.
    15. Add more olive oil as needed.
    16. Drain fried eggplants on paper towels to remove excess oil and reserve.
    17. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
    18. Add cinnamon and gooreh into the stew.
    19. In a 13x9-inch pyrex dish, pour stew in.
    20. Layer fried eggplant over it.
    21. Layer sliced tomatoes over eggplant (optional).
    22. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Notes

Serving Suggestions: Serve with basmati rice.

Cooking Tips: You can also substitute the beef stew meat (feature picture) with 3lbs of lamb shanks (with bone) or with 4 lb fryer chicken (cut up). Increase baking time in the oven to 45-60 mins. For vegetarian stew, substitute beef broth with any vegetable broth and increase yellow split peas to ½ cup.

You can substitute dried limes for ¼ cup fresh lemon juice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 429Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 497mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 15gSugar: 21gProtein: 36g

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

You can also follow me on PinterestFacebook or InstagramSign up for my eMail list, too!

2 1 vote
Article Rating