Khoresh Bademjan — Eggplant Stew with spinach

Name: Khoresh Bademjan — Eggplant Stew with spinach
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 115 min
Total time: 140 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: persian
Ingredients: 550 g halal-certified lamb shoulder; 25 ml olive oil; 150 g onion; 2 g ground turmeric; 4 g salt; 1 g black pepper; 850 ml water; 600 g eggplant; 300 g tomatoes; 25 ml lemon juice; 100 g fresh spinach

Khoresh Bademjan — Eggplant Stew with spinach. Independently written modern Persian halal variation, with broad culinary inspiration from Najmieh Batmanglij, Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple,…

550 g halal-certified lamb shoulder
25 ml olive oil
150 g onion
2 g ground turmeric
4 g salt
1 g black pepper
850 ml water
600 g eggplant
300 g tomatoes
25 ml lemon juice
100 g fresh spinach

Cut lamb into 2 cm pieces and finely chop onion. Cut eggplant into 2 cm pieces and roast on a lined tray at 200 °C for 20–25 minutes until tender. Dice tomatoes; add them with roasted eggplant and lemon juice at the start of the final simmer. Wash and chop the spinach.
Heat oil, soften onion for 6 minutes, then add lamb and brown for 6 minutes, turning. Add turmeric, pepper and water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 60 minutes.
Add the named stew ingredients and the variation ingredient. Cover and simmer another 30–45 minutes until the lamb and vegetables are tender; add a little hot water if needed. Add the measured salt near the end.
Remove any whole dried limes before serving. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes to thicken if needed. Divide into four portions; rice is an optional accompaniment and is not included in this formula. Cool leftovers in shallow containers and refrigerate at 4 °C within 2 hours.
Photo: مانفی — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khoresh_bademjan.jpg Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 Resized and converted to JPEG; no crop. Eggplant stew illustration; the recipe specifies halal-certified lamb and added vegetables.