Real African Dishes: [MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] Persian Eggplant Pickle - Jorshi Liteh ; 0 pts plus; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber

* Exported from MasterCook *

Persian Eggplant Pickle - Jorshi Liteh

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 32 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Condiment LowCal (Less than 300 cals)
LowerCarbs LowFat (Less than 10%)
Vegan

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 1/4 pounds eggplants
2 teaspoons nigella seeds
1 teaspoon golpar seeds -- (optional, hard to find)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 Tablespoons salt
6 1/4 cups vinegar -- white or grape vinegar works well
1 bunch fresh parsley
1 bunch fresh cilantro
fresh tarragon, mint, savory, and dill -- handful of each (or 1 Tablespoon each dried)

Remove and discard the calices of the eggplants; wash the remainder and
chop it into chunks. Put this into a pan together with the spices and the
salt, cover with teh vinegar, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, wash and roughly chop the fresh herbs. When the eggplant
has cooled, mix the herbs in and either push it all through a strainer, or
put it in the blender on pulse for a couple of seconds. You are aiming for
a rough texture, not a puree; you should still be able to see lumps in the
finished product. Just trust me - it really does taste better than it
looks.

Pour the blended relish into sterililzed jars, label it, and tuck it away
for at least 1 week, it will keep for up to a year.

Liteh is enjoyed in Iran with fish and alongside kebabs, providing
contrast to salty, smoky, or greasy food. In the context of Veggiestan, it
is particularly good with barbecued vegetables and alongside dolmeh.

Makes about 2 quarts

AuthorNote: In Iran, housewives are pretty much all minor domestic
goddesses, and pride themselves on their range of house pickles. Few
meals are complete without a tray of choice preserved vegetables being
proferred, and these are sometimes brought out to be eaten with bread and
herbs as an appetizer.

'Torshi' in Farsi just means sour stuff, and the word represents a huge
range of vinegary pickles. It creossed the borders into Turkey, where it
became 'tursu', and the word stem is in fact to be found all over the
Middle East. This is in contrast with shor, which means salty, and is
applied to pickles that have been preserved in brine rather than in
vinegar. One of Iran's most famous pickles is thus 'khiar shor', spiced,
salted baby cucumbers.

Anyway, on to teh pickle in hand. Strictly speaking, liteh is a blended
mixed pickle, but as eggplant is the chief ingredient, this seems a fair
translation. Eggplant is great in pickles (hence the inclusion of not one
but two recipes in this chapter), as it natually acts like blotting paper,
absorbing every flavor you throw at it.

Useful pickle facts: pickles are pretty indestructible if you treat them
right. In fact, some are better off with a Best After date than a Best
Before date. But if you introduce foreighn bodies or grease into the mix
htey will deteriorate very quickly. So always use a clean, dry spoon or
fork to serve them. And make sure that all the pickle thieves in your
household do the same.

I always thought there was some mystique to sterilizing jars for
preserving stuff like this. There isn't. Just fill the jar with boiling
water, sloosh it around and empty it again. Leave the jars upside down to
drain and dry thoroughly. That's it.

Cuisine:
"Persian"
Source:
"New Middle Eastern Vegetarian: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan by
Sally Butcher, 2012"
S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):
"July 2013"
Yield:
"2 quarts"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 19 Calories; trace Fat (8.5%
calories from fat); trace Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 406mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Vegetable; 0
Fruit; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 5247 0 0 0 0 0 0 3362