Tahchin
INGREDIENTS
2 medium eggplants, sliced into thick rounds
1 onion, finely diced
2 cups barberries, sorted through, soaked, and rinsed
3.5 cups basmati rice
2 cups plain whole milk yogurt
2 eggs
kosher salt
fine grain salt
pepper
saffron
sugar
unsalted butter
olive oil
METHOD
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Slice eggplant into thick discs
Place sliced eggplant onto cutting board and season with fine grain sea salt. Allow eggplant to sweat for 5-15 minutes or until you see water droplets on the surface.
While eggplant sweats, finely dice the onion and then place in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté until onion becomes golden and caramelized.
When eggplant is ready, use a paper towel to dry the water droplets and then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a silicon brush to generously season each disc with olive oil. Season with fine grain sea salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes and then broil each side for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown.
While eggplant bakes, sort through barberries and remove any bad ones. Then, place 2 cups in a sieve and place the sieve in a large bowl. Fill with water and soak for 20 minutes. Then rinse barberries 2 times with water.
Once onions are caramelized, add in barberries and ~1 teaspoon sugar. Season with salt and add saffron powder for color. Turn the heat off.
Once you have removed eggplant, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place rice in a large stainless steel pot and fill with tap water.
Use your hands to swirl the rice around and then drain the water. Add fresh water to the pot, swirl rice, and rinse again. Repeat one more time until the water runs more clear.
Next, add enough water into the pot so that the rice is completely covered plus more (about 2 inches above the rice).
Add 2-2.5 tablespoons of kosher salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and a splash of vinegar to the rice. Stir.
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once the rice comes to a boil, lower the heat so that the rice is simmering and cook for a couple more minutes or until the rice has just lost its crunch (keep tasting a few grains to check for doneness).
While the rice comes to a boil and cooks, butter/oil a 9 x 13 pyrex dish.
Drain the rice into a colander.
In a bowl, combine yogurt, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and saffron powder (you want the mixture to be orange, not yellow)
In a large bowl, mix about 1/2 of the cooked rice with enough of the yogurt mixture so that it is moist and well-coated.
Pour this mixture into the pyrex and use a flat spoon to press down and push the rice to cover the sides of the dish.
Next, arrange the eggplant on top of the bottom rice layer.
Use a spoon to coat the eggplant with some of the yogurt mixture.
Add about 1/3-1/2 of the barberry-onion mixture on top of the eggplant (reserve the rest to garnish the tahchin once it comes out of the oven)
Mix the remainder of the rice with the yogurt and then add to the dish. Press down firmly.
Drizzle olive oil over the top rice layer (~1/4 cup) and then dot with butter.
Wrap with foil and bake in the oven for 3 hours or until the bottom of the tahchin is golden brown.
To serve, flip the tahchin onto a platter and garnish with the reserved barberries.
