Nothing quite like marrying age-old African and Middle Eastern ingredients in one salad recipe. These dukkah eggplant baked slices are so well complemented by the hearty Israeli couscous and succulent pomegranate arils. A wonderful combination!
Cut the eggplant lengthwise into quarters. Using a basting brush, coat each slice with 1 tsp of olive oil each. On a plate, spread out the dukkah spice. Place the coated eggplant on the dukkah spice and coat evenly. Brush a sheet pan with 1 tsp of olive oil. Place the dukkah eggplant slices on the sheet pan and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add ½ cup of Israeli couscous and bring down to medium heat. Boil for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain in a colander, run under cold water briefly and set aside to cool and dry.
Cut the pomegranate in half. Using a wooden spoon and over a medium mixing bowl, tap the back of the pomegranate to remove the arils.
Chop the chives finely.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the Israeli couscous, chives and season with salt and pepper. Mix until well combined.
Salad Dressing
In a small mixing bowl, add the yoghurt, pomegranate molasses and olive oil.
Mix until well combined.
Place the dressing in a small serving bowl to serve on the side of the salad.
Assembly
Drain the pomegranate arils of any juices.
Add ½ the pomegranate arils to the couscous. Fold a couple of times but do not toss or stir as the pomegranate will stain the couscous.
Place the couscous mixture in a heap to one side of the plate.
Place the baked dukkah eggplant slices to the other side of the plate.
Sprinkle the salad with the remaining pomegranate arils.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve.
Notes
If you can’t find the large eggplant, the longer skinny eggplant/brinjal variety will do just fine. Just cut it in half lengthwise.
Any dukkah spice mix will work for this recipe. Pistachio dukkah, although not as popular, is a delicious seasoning. If you’re up for it, you can make your own dukkah spice mix. Go back to the post to see some various recipes for some inspiration.
Pomegranate molasses substitute is hard to find. It truly is one of a kind. However, as we are already using fresh pomegranate, you can use lemon or lime juice or find pomegranate juice and add some sugar.
You can replace chives with flat-leaf parsley or coriander.