Egyptian moussaka
Middle Eats · ♥ 919 likes · 24.1K views · 11 min video
Read about ground beef in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 2½ kg aubergines
Three steps make good fried aubergines: peel them to remove the bitter skin, salt them to draw out liquid, and dry them so they do not splatter.
Slice the top and bottom off each aubergine, peel it top to bottom, and slice into circles about one and a half centimetres thick.
- 3–4 tbsp table salt
Place the slices in a bowl with 3 to 4 tablespoons of table salt, mix well, and set aside for an hour until a puddle of dark liquid collects.
Salting, washing and drying
Squeeze the stacked slices by hand, wash the salt off under running water rubbing each surface, squeeze again, then press between paper towels.
- 2 whole green chillies
Poke a few holes in the green chillies so they do not burst in the oil.
- vegetable oil
Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan about one and a half centimetres deep and turn the heat to high until it shimmers.
Fry the slices about eight minutes on the first side, flip with tongs, then six to eight minutes more until golden and browned all over.
Drain on a baking sheet lined with kitchen roll, adding another layer of roll between batches.
- 12 cloves garlic
- 1 whole brown onion
Peel the garlic by slicing the root off and crushing with a knife. Dice the brown onion.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Heat a pan on medium-high with a tablespoon of olive oil, add the diced onion and sweat five minutes until softened and translucent.
- 2 cloves garlic
- 500 g minced beef
Add two crushed garlic cloves, stir, and cook another three minutes until just starting to brown, then push to one side of the pan.
Press 500 g minced beef into the empty part of the pan to about burger patty thickness, turn the heat to high and cook three to five minutes until browned on one side.
Break the beef into a few pieces, flip, cook three more minutes, then break it down to clumps about the size of chickpeas and stir the onions back in.
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Season with three quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper and cook a couple more minutes.
- 1 tbsp oil
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1 whole green chilli
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan on medium-high, add the minced garlic and a green chilli and fry about 30 seconds until fragrant and softened without browning.
Add the cumin and four tablespoons of white vinegar to deglaze, fry 30 seconds, then add two tablespoons of lemon juice.
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 400 g chopped tomatoes
- 400 g crushed tomatoes
- 200 ml water
Add the chopped tomatoes, the crushed tomatoes and 200 ml water and bring to a boil.
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Lower to a simmer 20 to 40 minutes until thick and chunky enough to see the base of the pot through the sauce, then season with two teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of black pepper and set aside to cool.
Mix two thirds to three quarters of the tomato sauce into the beef, keeping the rest aside.
Combining meat and sauce
Lay aubergine slices in a single overlapping layer across the bottom of a deep baking dish, plugging gaps with smaller pieces until level.
Layering the moussaka
Spread half the meat sauce over the aubergine and level it, add the second aubergine layer and the fried chillies to one side, then the rest of the meat sauce.
Add the final aubergine layer, overlapping in a spiral for a decorative top, and compact it lightly by hand.
Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the top, wipe splatters from the dish, and bake at 180 degrees Celsius or 350 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes to one hour until the tomato sauce has darkened and dried.
- green peppers
The dark parts are caramelized tomato sauce, not burnt. Let it cool 30 minutes before serving, with rice or pita bread.