Winters may be saying its goodbye but its chillness still persists in the evenings. These cold evenings still send everyone into a craving for hot coffee, soups and other warm delicacies. Need-less to say, with all these fantasies come challenges, especially when your picky husband does not like eating vegetables. You struggle to find new and interesting recipes and cooking methods to make him eat Baingan, Karelay, Tenday, Kadu.

Each time while buying the grocery,I am tempted by these beautiful purple Eggplants (baingan). The amazing taste of bagara baingan coupled with boiled rice mesmerizes me. However, since Ali is not so fond of eating baingan, I have to figure out a different way of making the vegetable for him to like and eat it. Recently on Pinterest, I came across a wonderful casserole dish made with Eggplant. I decided to make it in the hope that Ali would appreciate its different presentation style and taste which is fairly distant from our conventional eggplant cooking style. Since the eggplant was complemented by a reasonable amount of meat and white sauce, I was sure he would like it.

Moussaka (mu- sa-k), in Arabic means chilled however unlike the Arabic nomenclature, the dish is Greek and is cooked with eggplant (Aubergine), meat, cheese and béchamel sauce (white sauce). Texture wise, it stands between shepherd pie and lasagna as it is prepared in layers and baked to golden perfection. The classic is made with beef mince but I used chicken. It’s a trio of flavors. The bottom layer is made of baked eggplant topped by a layer made of chicken mince and tomato. The top layer is made of white sauce with cheese and bread crumbs. Moussaka tasted great and Ali appreciated and enjoyed it a lot. I baked personal sized servings and served with chili cheese garlic bread as a side. My sister ate it next day and it tasted even better. She loved it too!

Ingredients:

Eggplant
  • Eggplant/ Aubergine /Baingan – 3 medium, cut into ¼ inch thick slices
  • Salt – ¾ teaspoon
  • Oil – 1 tablespoon
Mince Filling
  • Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 2 cloves, crushed
  • Chicken Mince – 3 breast pieces, minced finely
  • Tomatoes – 3 large, finely blended
  • Worcestershire sauce – 2tablespoon
  • Sugar - 1 tsp
  • Salt – ¾ teaspoon
  • Oregano - 1 teaspoon
  • White pepper – 1 teaspoon
Béchamel Sauce /   White Sauce
  • Butter – 2 tablespoon
  • Flour – 3 tablespoon
  • Milk – 2 cups
  • Cheddar Cheese – ½ cup
  • Salt and White Pepper – ¾ teaspoon
Topping
  • Bread Crumbs – 3 tablespoon
  • Preparation time : 35-40 minutes
  • Cooking time : 30 minutes
  • Number of servings (yield) : 4

Instructions:

 For the Eggplant

  • Preparation of eggplant is very important. The challenge is to remove excess water before using it, otherwise while baking the eggplant the base will become all watery.
  • For this, wash the eggplant thoroughly, slice them lengthwise and season with some salt on top. Leave them for minimum 30 minutes.
  • The process is called sweating. Drain the water and then dry with a kitchen towel.
  • Pre heat the oven at 200 C.
  • Spread the eggplants onto the greased baking tray (place a foil sheet on the baking tray), brush a dash of oil and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until soft.
  • Remove from oven and set aside to cool.  (you can grill the eggplants also instead of baking)
  •  For the filling: heat oil in a fry pan add onion and garlic. Sautee until it becomes translucent.
  • Add chicken mince and cook. Add tomato puree, and all the rest ingredients. Bring to simmer, then cover and cook until done.

 For the white sauce:

  • Melt butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add flour, use a whisk to mix it well.
  •  In a minute or so the flour will change color. Add a cup of milk and whisk to combine. It will thicken it simmers.
  •  Then add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth and silky.
  • Remove from the flame, add the cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

Assembly Line:

  •  Layer the slices of eggplant in the bottom of your baking dish (I made individual serving, you can make in one larger Pyrex dish also).
  •  Top it with the mince filling (I divided the filling into three servings) and top it again with an eggplant layer.
  • Pour the white sauce on the top. Add a good amount of sauce on top.  Sprinkle some bread crumbs on the top
  • Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

  • In a mixing bowl add two cloves of chopped garlic,
  • 2 tablespoon grated cheese,
  • 1 green chili
  • 1 tablespoon butter and a pinch of salt.
  • Mix it evenly. Spread it over pita bread / bread slice / French bread and toast in oven toaster for 8 - 10 minutes or until golden.

Fatima Ali

I am trained to be an IT professional. I served National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) for six years after graduating from the same university. As long as I can remember, cooking good food has been my passion and it makes me happy. My cooking lessons were a bit unusual though. Back in the day when digital did not mean much, my father would record cooking shows (knorr ka kitchen, kaukab khuwaja and Zee Khana Khazana – Chef Sanjeev Kapoor) for me to watch endless times later on, before trying the recipes out. I would make brownies and cold cake almost every day while my mother was asleep. This was my way of surprising her every evening. My mother cooks amazing food too and I have tried many of the recipes written in her recipe book. I draw inspiration from a number of chefs from televised cooking shows such as Late Chef Farah, Chef Rahat, Chef Mehboob, BBC Food, Masala TV, Chef Shai, Chef Sharmeen, Master Chef Australia and my ultimate favorite Chef Shireen Anwer. I would not be as good a cook I am now without passive guidance from each one of these.