eggplant and yellow split pea stew / stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati

eggplant meets split peas
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our Cook the Books Club selection this time brings us to Iran, thanks to Jennifer Klinec, author of the memoir The Temporary Bride.¹ The book starts with the story of Klinec's upbringing in Canada, her move to London to follow her corporate career and her decision to leave such career in favor of opening a cooking school out of her apartment. That is the background to her trip to Iran: Persian food called out to her and dissatisfaction with her life added its weight. In Iran, she meets a young man and the story of their relationship and attendant tribulations takes up the rest of the book. I found the first part of the story more interesting. Once Klinec arrives in Iran, the book could not hold my attention and my progress in reading was slow.

While traditional Persian dishes feature in the book, there are no recipes. I did some reading, focusing on eggplant, a favorite vegetable that I can still find at the farmers' market here. I also wanted a vegetarian dish, so ended up on a vegetarian version of Khoresht gheymeh bademjan, stew of split peas (gheymeh) and eggplant (bademjan). I had never cooked with split peas before so this gave me a great chance to change that.

some eggplant varieties: I like them all (any could be used in the stew)

I read a number of recipes² then went off on my own to create a dish with an infusion of personal preferences. In particular, I did not fry the eggplant and cut them into bite-sized pieces rather than large ones. I also made my own tomato sauce (salsa di pomodoro), taking advantage of farm-fresh tomatoes from the market. I forwent saffron (zafferano): I tried to get some, but the price was above my budget. I tested different quantities of the other spices and the recipe below reflects my favorite rendition.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Eggplant and yellow split pea stew

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup / 100 g yellow split peas
• 2 cups / 475 ml water
• 3 tablespoons / 45 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces red or yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Peel of 1/2 lemon, grated with a microplane
• 10 ounces tomatoes for sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml water
• 10 ounces eggplant
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml water
• 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Put the split peas in a small saucepan and add the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer until the peas are tender (i.e., you can mash them easily when pressed between your fingers). The cooking time depends on the peas: check them after 30 minutes and regularly after that time. When ready, take the saucepan off the heat, uncover and set aside.

Rinse the tomatoes and cut a cross through their skin at the bottom. Blanch the tomatoes in a small saucepan holding enough boiling water to almost submerge the tomatoes. After 30 seconds, take the saucepan off the heat, pour out the boiling water and cover the tomatoes in cold water. Drain, peel and chop the tomatoes into a bowl. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven or sauté pan, warm up the olive oil on medium heat, turn down the heat to medium-low and cook the onion for 8 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and grated lemon peel, stir and cook for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and all the spices (cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, pepper, and cinnamon), stir well, add 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water, stir, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes, regulating the heat so as to maintain a gentle boil.

In the meantime, cut the eggplant crosswise into 1/2-inch / 1.25 cm thick slices, then cube them.

Add the eggplant and the other 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water to the pan, stir well, bring to a boil then regulate the heat to maintain a gentle boil, cover and cook until the eggplant is tender, about 30 minutes (taste a piece after 25 minutes and gauge the time remaining).

Add the split peas and their cooking liquid to the pan. Add the lemon juice and sea salt and stir well. Cook for another 5 minutes, then taste to adjust salt. Take the pan off the heat and serve the stew warm. Enjoy!

Serves 3-4

time to eat!
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The stew is excellent! The original dish is served with basmati rice (the preparation of which features prominently in Persian cuisine). I don't like white rice (long story), so I ate it accompanied by other dishes, like sautéed radicchio di Castelfranco (the variety on the bottom of the photo below). Containing both vegetables and proteins, this stew is a complete and versatile dish.

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¹ The book introduction on the publisher's website and a review in The Guardian, which also explains the temporary marriage custom.
² Like this one and also this (if you search for: recipe persian eggplant split peas, you will get a long list of hits)

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati

or launch the stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey from Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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And I am contributing my stew also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

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FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

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eggplant, yellow split peas, tomatoes, stew

Comments

[Debra Eliotseats]

Love your photos!!! It's great that you took different recipes and made them your own.

[Deb]

Your stew looks delicious. I love eggplant dishes and with lentils--even better. Thanks for also sharing your stew with Souper Sundays this week! ;-)

[Delaware Girl Eats]

Way to go for creating your own recipe for this dish! I love reading several other versions then melding the best of them into a new concoction. Although eggplant isn't my favorite vegetable, I really love split peas, and the East Coast is having the perfect weather for stew.

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Debra :)

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Deb :)

[Simona Carini]

The recent storms ushered winter big time, didn't they? I agree, cold outside makes stew welcome, Cathy :)

[Frank]

I do like this dish but what really caught my eye was your radicchio Instagram post. What beautiful vegetables! I adore Treviso but it's rare to find it in these parts. And I've never even seen the white variety before. Gorgeous!

[Simona Carini]

All varieties of radicchio are beautiful, but indeed, radicchio di Castelfranco is stunning, Frank. There are a couple of farms that grow it here that I am aware of. The ones in the photo are from La Tercera farm in Marin County, north of San Francisco. She also grew the beautiful Lunga di Napoli squash I showed in a recent Instagram post and also the special Coco beans in an earlier post and the Sicilian tenerumi. Shopping at her stall is a true delight :)

[Wendy Klik]

Eggplant is one of my very favorites. I am anxious to try this stew recipe.

[Simona Carini]

Mine too, Wendy. It is great in rich recipes but it also makes a great side dish simply cooked in olive oil :)