The Preacher Fainted

Before going to the mosque, the imam or preacher left his wife a sum of money and told her to cook something for dinner. In the evening he came home to a well-prepared dinner. He enjoyed eating the eggplant that his wife had cooked, thanked her for the delicious dish, and asked her for the rest of the money. But when she told him that the dish had used up a lot of oil and that there was no money left – he fainted! That is how this dish got its name.

500 g onions, grated

600 g tomatoes concassé

14 garlic cloves, chopped

1 bunch parsley, chopped

2 tsp salt

1 ¼ kg long eggplants

275 g olive oil

3 ½ cups water

1 tsp salt

-   Mix onions, tomatoes, garlic, parsley and salt. Set aside.

-   Garnish eggplants using a channeling knife to cut channels about 1 cm apart.

-   Cut 2 pockets into eggplant and stuff with the onion mixture.

-   Arrange eggplants in shallow pan and pour olive oil, water and second amount of salt over eggplants.

-   Place a weight over eggplants, cover with lid and bring to the boil over high heat.

-   Lower the heat and simmer until eggplants are softened and the juices have evaporated, about 1 ½ hours.

-   Serve cold.