World Travels - Azerbaijan

 Moving on from my culinary visits to Georgia of late I thought I would venture into the neighbouring country of Azerbaijan. In a country known for it's pilaf, kebabs and piti (a type of mutton and chickpea stew) I struggled to find any good vegetable recipes... I finally decided on Khayle which usually is a type of omelette with spinach, herbs and eggs.  This was a great recipe that I could veganise using gram flour. The egg version is usually served with a steamed rice dish called Osh.  I decided not to cook this rice dish as the gram flour would already act as a carbohydrate. The khayle reminded me of a Persian dish called Kuku Sabzi which is a baked omellete with loads of herbs and spring onions but a whole lot more spices.  The other dish that I decided to try was Badimjan Borani which is a pretty simple stew of aubergine, potatoes, tomatoes, and green pepper flavoured by fresh coriander.  

To wash the lunch down I found a beautiful wine from Georgia - M&S Found Saperavi - the Saperavi is Georgia's signature and rare red grape producing red juice.  

During my research I did find some other recipes including a yoghurt and chickpea soup called Dovga, qutab (a pancake or flatbread type dish with herbs, and cheese that reminded me of the Turkish dish Gözleme) and an Azeri saffron pilaf which I would love to try.

 

From top left clockwise: Khayle, Slovenian tomato salad, Badimjan Borani

Badimjan Borani

I use the recipe from  the website Flavors of Baku but changed some of the ingredients and the order to put in the pan; plus I added some chickpeas at the end as they always go so well with aubergine.  I felt that the dish needed some more flavour so perhaps up the amount of garlic and possible use some sesame seed oil and seeds or pomegranate molasses to add a different tone to the dish. Pomegranates are the national fruit of Azerbaijan after all.

Ingredients

• 1 onion or leek
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 aubergines
• 1 tin of tomatoes (400g)
• 1 large potato
• ½ bunch of coriander
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp of olive oil

Instructions

1. Wash all the vegetables and herbs.
2. Slice the onions into thin half rings or the leek into thin slices
3. Peel the skin off of the potatoes, and dice into small cubes.
4. Dice the aubergine into small cubes as well.
5. Remove the seeds from the pepper, and cut it into small cubes.
6. Fry the onion or leek in a saucepan until it is lightly golden in the olive oil.
   
7. Place a layer of chopped peppers onto the onion.
8. Cook for a further 5 minutes then add the garlic and the chopped aubergine and potato.
9. Stir over a low heat and allow a little browning of the potato and aubergine.
10. Add a tin of tomatoes chopped up
11. Cover your saucepan with a lid and simmer over a low heat.
12. Sauté (simmer) over low heat until the potatoes and aubergine are fully cooked. If you are adding cooked chickpeas add now just to warm them through.
    
13. Sprinkle with  chopped coriander and serve hot or cold.

Badimjan Borani

Khayle

 I took the recipe from Flavors of Baku and then veganised it; replacing the eggs with chickpea flour and water... I also baked the dish instead of just cooking on the hob.  

Ingredients

• 1 large onion slice into half moons or 1 large leek thinly sliced
• 1 bunch spinach (120g)
• 1 bunch spring onions
• 1 bunch coriander
• 1 bunch dill
• 1 bunch parsley
• 100g chickpea flour
• 500 ml boiling water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 185C.
2. Wash all the herbs and pat them dry with a towel to remove all water before cooking, and chop them finely.
3. Peel the onion, cut it in half, and slice into thin half-rings or slice the leek thinly
4. Add olive oil into a pan, place the sliced onion and chopped white parts of the green onions, and fry over low heat until they are soft and lightly golden.
5. Add the spinach to the pan with the onions.
6. Simmer over low heat until the spinach wilts.
7. Add the finely chopped herbs and stir to mix with the spinach.
8. Season with a little salt and pepper.
9. In a bowl sift the chickpea flour and add the boiling water.  Mix into a batter and ensure that all the lumps are removed.
10. In a baking dish (about 25-26cm in length) place a little of the chickpea flour batter in the bottom.
11. Add your spinach and herb mixture and spread around the dish.
12. Top off with the rest of the batter.  
13. Place in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes
14. Serve with a garnish of herbs

On my radio: Şövkət Ələkbərova - Ay Qiz