Sensing a trend here? I don’t know about anyone else but sometimes I get on a flavor kick and this time it’s Morocco. The blend of spices, the end of winter, the texture of the food in my mouth — not sure what it is but we’re really enjoying the experimentation.
I had some eggplant jam a few weeks ago and have been dying to try it and yesterday was the day. It was a good thing really because we had intended to have thick juicy beef filets for dinner. I’d bought the meat, cut the steaks really thick and sat them on the counter to bring to room temperature. I went to the sofa with my iPad to send some Twitter messages and then went back into the kitchen. I put the grill pan on the stove to heat to sizzle and then turned around to get the steaks. No steaks.
Small dog who has learned to jump was very damp around his mouth and looking VERY guilty. Damn well he should! I’d been looking forward to my steak all day long. “Bad dog!!” didn’t make me feel one bit better.
But then…
We’d had a big dinner the night before and we’d had lunch so why not a dinner of dips with my fancy dancy eggplant jam and the other dips in the fridge? Dinner was sorted. I’ll admit that rather than tossing away the baked potatoes and asparagus, we ate those too. Not very Moroccan but good.
Eggplant jam originates from Morocco but until recently had fallen out of favor with the younger generation. The Jewish community in Morocco has kept the dish alive and its popularity is now spreading around the world and I can see why. It’s absolutely delicious and it keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It’s sweet and tangy and goes well with heaps of dips.
I put the pizza stone in the oven. Then I brushed some pita bread with olive oil on both sides and cut it into triangles with my pizza cutter. Once the stone was hot, I put the “chips” on just until they started to turn brown and crunchy.
That was all dinner required. Making the eggplant jam was really easy. Start by peeling and chopping the eggplant. I like the little ones but I think any eggplant would work.
Then chop the onion and garlic and cook these three ingredients in batches because it looks like a lot but it reduces as it cooks.
When all the ingredients are soft, place all the batches back into the pan and add the paprika, cumin, turmeric and chilli and cook for only 30 seconds.
Then add the vinegar and brown sugar and stir well. Reduce the heat and cook til most of the moisture has evaporated. Stir in the salt and pepper to taste and the fresh herbs.
Eggplant jam is best at room temperature but it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It won’t last that long at my house.
Place the jam in a bowl and sprinkle with chopped parsley or coriander (cilantro) and serve with pita bread, pita chips or anything else you want to use as a shovel. heh
- 750 grams peeled eggplant chopped
- 4 cloves garlic very finely diced
- 1 onion finely diced
- Oil for frying
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 long red chilli finely diced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 100ml white vinegar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
- 1 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
- Peel eggplant and chop into small pieces
- Prepare garlic and onion and dice very finely
- Combine eggplant, garlic and onion
- Cook in batches in a pan til soft
- Add paprika, cumin, turmeric and chilli and cook for 30 seconds
- Add vinegar and brown sugar and stir well to combine
- Reduce heat, stirring often, til most of the moisture has evaporated
- Stir in salt and pepper to taste and chopped herbs
- Transfer to serving bowl
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley or coriander (cilantro) and a dusting of paprika
- Serve at room temperature with pita bread
My friend makes this jam although I never got the recipe from her so am happy your posted it. She makes it for one of the holidays. It’s yum!!
That’s the second awesome eggplant recipe I’ve seen today. The first was by foodwanderings above…lol. You ladies are winning me over! 🙂 Not sure why I’ve never cooked it much, but it looks like things must change. Delish 😉
That looks fantastic!
I am definitely going to give it a try as soo as I get some egg plant.
I have been addicted to home made pita chips of late, now I have something new to help feed my addiction.
Good stuff!
Yum! Those 3 words, Moroccan eggplant jam, sound divine together and the recipe is simple enough too! Love it! Now I want some :-/
Oh, my goodness! The eggplant looks delicious along with the other two dips!
What an interesting and delicious looking jam. Love your step by step illustrations and photos (beautiful hands too! :))
ooo this is a savory dip! i love eggplant. i’m sure i would love this! 😀 thanks maureen 🙂
I love dips and eggplant so this is a sure winner! Great photos!
Wow, I love the idea of a savory jam! I have never done something like this before but you bet I am now going to give your recipe a try! Beautiful and delicious
If it was Indian I would call it “chutney”. It looks absolutely irresistible! I love eggplants and the combination of the spices seems to make it a perfect dip!
I’m fairly picky about eating eggplant (it’s a texture issue), but this sounds delicious. Great recipe!
What a great recipe for eggplant! I will make it this weekend, if I find great looking eggplants in the farmer’s market
(fingers crossed)
I’m seeing a trend alright, and I’m liking it. This recipe is just wonderful.
this is a must try for me. I do a similarly flavored tomato jam and just know I will love this one too. GREG
Love this recipe – I’ve made this a few times since coming back from Morocco. It’s especially amazing with a chilli/capsicum style dip and lots of varieties of olives and soft goat’s cheese. Another great Moroccan style dish is to slice eggplant thickly, add similar spices to your recipe and roast it. Yum!
This recipe looks amazing. I love eggplant! Wonder what kind of a wine paring would be ideal for this particular spread?? Very nice pictures too.
I’m impressed that you cut your own steaks. No wonder your pup hangs around… 🙂 Thanks for another take on eggplant, Maureen — a “dip dinner” sounds light and wonderful!
looks like fun times over here – love this recipe…..
Mmmm now that is what I’m talking about! I think this egg plant could compliment very well with my moroccan chicken 🙂
I have never thought to make such an interesting combination…eggplant and garlic, wow it must be amazing. Although I don’t find here in my country some of the ingredients I shall try to prepare something following your recipe. Kisses Maureen.
I absolutely love eggplant!! I love it in anything and everything so I’m sure I’ll love this dip as well. I actually haven’t tried Moroccan food before but I’ve got a scoopon lined up so we’ll see how that goes 🙂
I love the idea of eggplant jam. Sounds amazingly flavorful.
This sounds amazing! I make a lot of arabic food. I’m excited to add this in!
Eggplant jam sounds very interesting. It bet it packs a flavor punch – yum!
I’ve been away and I just get back to this scrumptious dish! I so love Moroccan food but this is one thing I have never made. I rarely cook eggplant because I find it difficult to cook and don’t often find yummy things to do with it. This sounds divine! Baba ganoush I love so I think I would love this jam!
Thanks for stopping by my place. I love the eggplant jam and it inspires me to eat more of the purple blob!
Thanks again….
Maureen, I made it on Saturday evening, AWESOME!
Unfortunately my photos turned out pretty pathetic – what is it with brownish food that makes it impossible to take a nice photo? at least for me, I definitely need to get better
anyway, thanks for a great recipe, we have just a tiny bit left, I am not sure I’ll share with hubby 😉
Dear Maureen, This looks so interesting I know that I would be a big fan of this. I do enjoy eggplant and these jams look wonderful. Blessings, Catherine
I’m in love!
all those spices and flavors…heaven
I could eat Moroccan flavors just about every day! This jam looks SO GOOD.
Eggplant jam! How delicious~~~~~! I can honestly eat this jaam with pita chips for dinner. =P I love all the spices to cook this. YUM!
What a unique, delicious sounding recipe! Would love to try this!
Oh no- I can just see the sweet doggy’s guilty little face. I’m glad your dinner turned out well in spite of his jumping. 🙂 The eggplant jam looks delicious– it sounds so good with all of the different spices and flavors– tumeric, cumin, and brown sugar? Yum! I must try this!
This looks so tempting! I love the exotic flavors from all the unique ingredients.
Reminds me of a caponata, an Italian eggplant dish which I love….and I can’t believe the dog ate the steaks!!!!! Unbelievable.
I’m personally not the biggest fan of eggplants, however this recipe and its photos make it look sooooo appealing!! yummmm
There are times when I’m really happy that our cat is now to old to be able to reach the kitchen counter… She has been known to run away with things in her mouth she shouldn’t have! Having said that; I love the moroccon kitchen and this jam looks quite interesting!
Bad dog for stealing the steak! Good dog for inspiring Maureen to make this jam! Sounds delightful. Definitely making this.
p.s. your tale of woe reminds me of my sister telling off one of her neighbours for feeding her cats hen they’d be asked not to. “Hey lady, they hopped onto the bbq and helped themselves to a chicken fillet each” was the indignant reply!
Pass me a variety of shovels, please. I want to dip into this heaven! Love the flavours and the Moroccan touch is a great idea to bring in more warmth here at the end of summer.
Delicious Jam Maureen! I love eggplant.. can’t wait to try it. 🙂
This sounds so delicious! I like learning about fun, easy dips like this:-) Perfect treat for a party for sure! Hugs, Terra
Yummm! I have extra eggplant- now I know what to do with them!
Oh, ever since the bottle of Moroccan eggplant jam my friend gave me was empty, I was hoping I’d find a recipe to make some! This looks so perfect and easy, I will give this a try as soon as I get the groceries done 🙂
Pearl you must make this eggplant jam. It’s so good you won’t be able to leave it alone. I know I can’t. 🙂