Bādhinjān Maḥsī (Eggplant Dressed with Pomegranate & Nuts)

Ingredients

• eggplant
• salt
• aromatic spice blend
• cloves
• pomegranate seeds
• good vinegar
• walnut kernels
• almond kernels
• hulled sesame
• sesame oil

Instructions

1. Trim and lightly parboil eggplant in salted water, then dry and cut into small pieces; season with salt, aromatic spices, and cloves.
2. Pound good pomegranate seeds finely, macerate in good vinegar, strain out the dregs, and mix the flavored vinegar into the eggplant.
3. Coarsely pound walnut and almond kernels with hulled sesame and toast them.
4. Heat a little sesame oil in a copper pot; when boiling, add the nuts and sesame, stir once, then tip over the eggplant with the oil.
5. Pack into a glass jar, dust the top with finely ground cloves, and use after some days.