Necklaces of Eggplant/Aubergine and Kebab

Name: Necklaces of Eggplant/Aubergine and Kebab (Maldhouma)
Yield: Makes 6 or 7 servings
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon each black pepper, ginger, cumin, and allspice; 1 lb (450 g) ground/minced meat. If lean, add 2 tablespoons oil.; 22 small eggplant/aubergine discs, 1 in/2.5 cm thick; 1 small onion, grated; 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs; ¼ cup (½ oz/15 g) parsley, chopped; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 garlic clove, grated; ½ teaspoon sugar or honey; ¼ cup (½ oz/15 g) fresh basil, coarsely chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried basil; 3 heaped tablespoons (one 6 oz/175 g can) tomato paste, diluted in 3½ cups (860 ml) hot water or 1 cup (250 ml) tomato sauce diluted in 2½ cups (590 ml) hot water; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon salt

Maldhouma

Preparation info

Makes
6 or 7
servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

A pretty dish in which kebab patties and eggplant discs are arranged alternately so that they look like a threaded necklace: hence the name maldhouma (the threaded). Small eggplants, about 2in/5cm in diameter are needed here. The long Japanese eggplants would be ideal for this purpose.

Ingredients

22 small eggplant/aubergine discs, 1 in/2.5 cm thick

Asia
Iraq
Main course

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6.
Soak eggplant discs in salted warm water for 30 minutes, then drain. Brown in a small amount of oil, or broil/grill them after spraying or brushing them with oil, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine k