Original name: Mualle
Origin: Turkey
Ingredients
700 gr eggplants
170 gr green lentils
100 ml olive oil
1 big onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 piccadilly tomatoes, diced
2 green peppers (friggitelli), chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint (around 5 gr)
1 tablespoon of concentrated tomato paste (mutti triplo concentrato)
1 teaspoon of turkish pepper paste
½ teaspoon of crushed chilli (pepperoncino)
50 ml turkish pomegranate sauce (you can also substitute it with balsamic vinegar)
2 teaspoons of salt
Preparation
Cut the eggplants in rectangular shapes, about 5×7 cm surface and 1 cm high. Put the pieces on a big tray and sprinkle salt over them. Let it rest for 1 hour.
In the meanwhile, put the green lentils in a small pot, add water up to 5 cm above the lentils. Cook until they get soft and drain them.
In a bowl prepare the spicy mixture: mix the onion, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, fresh mint, tomato paste, pepper paste, chilli and 2 teaspoons of salt.
When 1 hour has passed, wash the eggplants and drain them well with the help of a kitchen towel. Get a pot big enough, grease it with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Take 1/3 of the prepared spicy mixture, spread it at the bottom of the pot. Make a layer with half of the eggplants, on top of eggplants make another layer with half of the lentils. Put again 1/3 of the spicy mixture and repeat with the eggplant and lentil layers. On top add the remaining 1/3 of the spicy mixture and pour the remaining olive oil. Finally pour the pomegranate sauce on top. Put the pot on fire when it starts boiling, decrease the flame to the lowest level and cook for about 1 hour covered until the eggplants get totally soft.