This month, Pomi asked that I try to create a recipe using one of their tomatoes paired with eggplant. I have been craving my favorite Afghan meal from a restaurant in Philadelphia called Ariana so my mind went immediately to trying to replicate it. The meal, Badenjan Chalow, is a lamb dish with eggplant, cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices served over basmati rice.
Pomi’s strained tomatoes are perfect for this recipe. Although I’d love to put this in a slow cooker and let it cook all day, I wanted to make this weeknight meal friendly.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 eggplant, peeled and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
- 1 lb lamb chunks
- 1 container Pomi strained tomatoes