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Bonjan Salat

A Tajik salad of lightly browned eggplant slices topped with a spiced tomato sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Eggplant and tomato work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 651 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Bonjan Salat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggplant

  1. Slice the eggplants crosswise into 1 1/2 inch thick pieces.

  2. Sprinkle them with 2 teaspoons coarse salt and let stand for 15 minutes.

  3. Rinse the eggplants under cold water to remove bitter taste.

  4. Rinse and dry well on a towel.

  5. Heat the oil in a skillet and lightly brown eggplant slices over moderate heat for 3 minutes.

  6. Remove the eggplant slices and put them into a serving bowl.

  7. Let the eggplant slices cool.

Make the sauce

  1. Put the tomato sauce, pepper, chile, cinnamon, mint and 1/2 teaspoon salt, if wanted, in a pan.

  2. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

Assemble and serve

  1. Pour the sauce over the eggplant.

  2. Refrigerate until ready to use.

  3. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

156Calories
6 gProtein
2 gFat
36 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Corn Oil1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Mint2 tbsp fresh (3g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Eggplant + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together651 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Eggplant + cinnamontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together62 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Eggplant + peppertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggplants
Form the main body of the salad, becoming tender and absorbing the sauce when cooked.
Corn oil
Carries heat for browning the eggplant slices and adds richness to their surface.
Tomato sauce
Provides moisture and acidity that coats the eggplant and forms the base of the dressing.
Ground cinnamon
Adds warm, aromatic sweetness to the tomato sauce.
Dried mint
Adds a fresh, aromatic herbal note to the sauce.
Hot red chili flakes
Adds heat and pungency to the sauce.

The step that matters

Salting and rinsing the eggplant. Salting draws out moisture and bitter compounds, and rinsing removes the salt and bitterness. Drying well before frying matters because excess water would steam the slices instead of letting them brown.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (eggplant, corn, tomato, sauce, pepper, cinnamon):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against eggplant, corn, tomato, sauce, pepper, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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