Sheikh Mahshi is a traditional Indian recipe (from north India and based on a Persian original) for a classic dish of aubergines stuffed with a mix of left-over meat, rice, aubergine flesh, onion and tomato that's steamed in butter to finish. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Sheikh Mahshi.
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This is a North Indian dish that has its roots in modern-day Iran, but which arrived in India via the Zoroastrian exoduses.
Remove the stem and then trim off the stem end and a small piece of the base from the aubergines (reserve the stem end). Take a potato peeler and peel each aubergine lengthways in alternate strips (so that you have one strip with no skin, followed by a strip with skin, etc).
Take a long-handled spoon and, starting from the stem end of each aubergine, remove as much of the core of the vegetable as you can, without weakening the shell. Perforate the outside many times with a fork then place in a bowl of salted water and soak for 15 minutes. Drain the aubergines, then melt half the butter in a pan, add the aubergines and fry until nicely browned all over. Remove the aubergines and set aside. Add the meat, garlic, cumin and turmeric to the butter remaining in the pan and fry briskly for 2 minutes then turn into a bowl and mix with the onion, tomato and parsley.
Use this mixture to stuff the aubergines and replace the stem end. Place the remaining butter in a large pan an heat to melt. Add the stuffed aubergines and 4 tbsp water. Zest the lemons and squeeze out their juice. Add the juice and zest to the pan. Bring to a simmer, ad a tight-fitting lid and cook gently for about 20 minutes, or until the aubergines are tender all the way through.
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