Don-Style Eggplant
Don-style eggplant is homemade eggplant caviar in the southern Russian Don tradition: roasted flesh run through a meat grinder, combined with tomato paste, slow-cooked onion, vinegar, and fresh green onion. The result is a thick, aromatic spread with a pronounced tang.
Eggplant reached the southern steppes by way of the Ottomans and took well to the warm Black Sea and Azov climate. Along the Don and in the Ukrainian Azov region, cooks traditionally turned it into exactly this kind of caviar and sharp homemade pickles, dishes that keep well and serve as a handy cold appetizer.
Tips and Substitutions
Don’t rush the onion: it’s the slow 15-20 minutes that bring out a sweetness to balance the acidity of the vinegar and tomato. For a deeper smoky flavor, roast the eggplants over an open flame or under the broiler until the skin chars. You can replace the tomato paste with crushed fresh tomatoes, but then cook it longer to evaporate the extra moisture. Add the green onion and raw garlic at the very end; heat strips them of their freshness and bite.
Serve the spread chilled on a crust of bread or on lettuce leaves as an appetizer. In a covered container in the fridge it keeps easily for 3-4 days, and after a day the flavor actually grows more pronounced.
Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 301 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Roast the eggplants in a hot oven, let them cool, peel off the skin, and chop very finely with a knife or run them through a meat grinder. Mince the green onion and garlic.
Finely chop the onion and cook it for 15-20 minutes in a deep skillet along with the oil, tomato paste, salt, and pepper, adding a little water.
Stir the eggplant together with the onion, season with vinegar, and add the garlic and green onion. Serve on bread or on leaves of any lettuce.
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