World Travels - Egypt

 Whilst perusing recipes online I found this wonderful dish masaqa'a comprising of aubergines and green bell peppers that just happened to be vegan... It is always great to find dishes that you do not have to find alternative ingredients for and know that it is completely authentic.  It is very much a staple of Egyptian cuisine and a great alternative to the Greek moussaka. The spices used, cumin and cinnamon remind me of the Lebanese dish Maghmour that I have cooked in the past; so you can see lots of cross-overs between countries.

I roasted some radishes to go with the masaqa'a and served with some shop bought dukkah. I have made the dukkah in the past; that great mix of sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, fennel, and nuts.  This a great recipe by Suzy Karadsheh of the Mediterranean Dish that I will try in the future.  Adding some green olives and a little salad made for a great little supper dish.


Mesaqa’a 

Ingredients

  • 1-2 aubergine
  • 1 green bell peppers
  • olive oil as needed
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 small red or green chili pepper, finely minced or to taste (optional - I left this out).
  • 1 tsp granulated white sugar (optional - again I left this out as I do not like sweet in savoury food)
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tin of plum tomatoes (I break the tomatoes up and take away the skin and top of the tomatoes)
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 C / 425 F.
  2. Slice aubergine in 1 cm rounds 
  3. De-core the green pepper and cut in quarters.
  4. If using an oven place the aubergine and peppers on a parchment lined baking sheet, and lightly coat with olive oil.
  5. Roast until the aubergine are deeply caramelized and a bit charred- about 45 minutes, turning halfway through. The peppers are roasted until they are charred and soft - about 30 minutes
  6. If you are using an air fryer pop in and coat with olive oil and cook for about 20 minutes... check halfway through and turn.
  7. Whilst the vegetables are roasting you can start on the tomato sauce.
  8. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and add the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes.
  9. Add the garlic and the chilli peppers in using and cook for about 3 minutes.
  10. Add the tin of plum tomatoes, water, vinegar, cumin, cinnamon and salt.
  11. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cook covered for about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.
  12. Once the vegetables and tomato sauce are down in a baking dish place the aubergine slices and tuck in the pepper slices between the aubergine.
  13. Spoon the tomato sauce over the aubergine and place in the pre heated oven.
  14. Bake uncovered until the tomato sauce has darkened and there are some char marks on the exposed vegetables (about 30 minutes).

masaqa'a straight out of the oven



Roasted radishes with dukkah



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