Name: Aubergine-Wrapped Fingers
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp pine nuts; 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; chopped mint leaves, to sprinkle; Greek yogurt, to serve; Arabic Bread, to serve; a pinch of crushed chilli flakes (optional); ¼ tsp ground allspice; 500 g/1 lb 2 oz/2 cups passata (sieved tomatoes); 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander/cilantro leaves; 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses; ¼ tsp ground cardamom; 250 g/9 oz minced/ground lamb or veal; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 aubergines/eggplants 5 tbsp olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
1 hr 30

Appears in

The Jewelled Kitchen

By Bethany Kehdy

Published 2013

About

These are the Middle Eastern versions of involtinis. Known as lisan el qadi in Arabic, they literally translate as “tongue of the judge”. Long, thin slices of aubergine/eggplant are rolled to wrap the meat. Their name was possibly inspired by the fact that Iraqis are so fond of meat that a noble judge would always expect his food to be served with meat rather than rice.