Georgian Stuffed Eggplants

In anticipation of my move to Tbilisi for nine months, I decided to make a traditional Georgian dish - eggplants stuffed with walnuts and garlic. In Georgian, it is called "badrijani nigvziani," which literally means "eggplants with walnuts." My mom really liked it. I thought it was pretty good for the first time, too.

Here is the recipe:

1. Take two average sized eggplants, wash them and cut them into long slices of 5-7 mm (0.2-0.28'). If you make them too thick they will not roll easily, if you make them too thin they will tear and not hold the stuffing.

2. If you don't like the bitterness in the eggplants' skin, soak them in well-salted water for about 20 min. After soaking, put them onto paper towels to remove excess water. This is a completely optional step the bitterness should go away in the process of baking.

3. Using a baking sheet, put the sliced eggplants flat on parchment, sprinkle them with your favorite vegetable oil on both sides and send them to be baked in the oven for about 10 min at 375-400F (200C). While the eggplants are baking, make the stuffing.

There are recipes where at this step, the eggplants are not baked but sauteed or lightly fried in a pan in a vegetable oil until slightly brown, 1-2 min on each side. This would make them even softer to roll (and probably tastier as well) but if you go with this method, you'd need to drain the excess oil from the eggplants using the paper towels.

4. For the stuffing, combine in a mixer or blender that can handle nuts the following ingredients:

1 cup of walnuts;

3-4 cloves of garlic (I went with way more than that because just like Italians I believe that there's no such thing as too much garlic), and

spices - 1 table spoon of Khmeli-suneli spice blend that would make this dish uniquely Georgian. Because I was short on it, I've only added about a teaspoon of Khmeli-suneli, and enhanced it with paprika, fresh parsley, and dill to taste. Traditionally, Khmeli-suneli spice blend includes Coriander seeds, Fenugreek (both blue fenugreek and seeds), Dill, Basil, Marjoram, Parsley, Mint, Bay leaf, and Red pepper). You can substitute it with French Herbes de Provence, or Indian Masala spice blends, or any other spices you like.

5. Blend all ingredients well. Make sure that there are no large pieces of nuts in the mixture. If it is too dry or oily, add a little bit of water, Greek yogurt or mayo to give it a paste consistency. Fresh lemon juice can be good, too - whatever you really like.

6. After the eggplants are done, take them out of the oven or the frying pan and cool them a little.

7. Put about 1 Tbsp of the nut and garlic stuffing onto the eggplant "tongue" and roll it up. I used the toothpicks to keep them together but if you just put the loose end of it on the bottom of the plate they should stay in shape under their own weight.

This is basically it, you can eat them like that once they are completely cooled. Eggplants taste much better when cold.

8. Since I don't like the strong taste of raw garlic, I sent the eggplant rolls back to the oven, for another 10 min of baking at a lower temperature of 320F (160C).

You can use this dish as a starter for parties or dinners. It will definitely spark a good conversation. Hope you enjoy it if you make it. Let me know how it tasted to you if you do.