Halim Bademjan Recipe in 6 Steps+Benefits

As you can see from the name of this dish, its main ingredient is eggplant. Halim Bademjan is one of the traditional and old Iranian dishes that is also eaten as breakfast.

Halim Eggplant has different recipes and is prepared with different ingredients in different cities in our country. It is still mostly prepared in Isfahan, Shiraz, and Kerman and served with curd and bread.

Traditionally, red meat is used to make this dish, but chicken meat can also be used.

To prepare a smaller or larger amount of eggplant puree, multiply or divide the ingredients. Follow Halim Bademjan’s cooking tutorial with Meals Cook site.

How to make halim bademjan? (Halim bademjan recipe)

We want to explain the recipe for a food that is a combination of meat and vegetables. Of course, sometimes Halim bademjan is a completely vegetarian food. Don’t be surprised because you can use rice and lentils instead of meat. 

However, this food, prepared with meat, is more popular among Iranians, but replacing meat with lentils and rice is not a new issue for many people.

People who cannot eat red meat due to certain diseases such as gout or Parkinson’s can pour lentils into this food. At the same time, this method is economically more affordable. With the number of ingredients in this recipe, you can prepare this food for 6 people.

For: 6 people

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 180 minutes

Ingredients:

Instruction:

1.cooking rice

Some people use lentils instead of rice to make this food. This is a good idea, but it darkens the mild color of the eggplant. The use of rice makes the mild color of eggplant beautiful and transparent.

To make Isfahani halim bademjan, you need to wash 2 glasses of rice well. Then cook it with 4 glasses of water. The rice should be cooked until it becomes mushy, like shole zard.

2.Cooking meat

In the second step, cook the meat with onions and spices. Do not add salt to the meat before it is fully cooked so it will not be hard and slow.

After cooking meat, measure its taste. It is better to use lamb neck or head meat, which is a little fatter.

3.Eggplant frying

In the meantime, peel and slice the eggplants add salt, and wait 30 minutes. Then wash and fry the eggplants. This removes the bitterness of the eggplant, and the eggplant absorbs less oil during frying.

4. Combine the eggplant ingredients

Now separate the cooked meat from its water. Then mash the meat with the fried eggplant with a manual or electric meat grinder.

5. Add the meat and eggplant mixture to the rice

Add the meat and eggplant mixture to the cooked rice that has been completely drained and mix well and mix again.

The more you mix this mixture, the smoother and tastier it will become. It’s not bad to know that Isfahan people knead kashke bademjan with their palms.

They call this work “kaf mal,” and they believe that the eggplant becomes more elastic by rubbing it with their palms. The meat of the neck also makes this halim more elastic.

6. Add curd, garlic, and onion

Halim bademjan is a delicious food with curd, so after mixing the ingredients in this food, you should add curd and mix well. Put the eggplant puree on a low flame for another 10 minutes and stir well.
This will bring out the raw taste of the curd and make your food fit better. In the last step, add half of the saffron, fried onion, and fried mint, decorate with the rest of these ingredients, plus the fried mint, and then serve it.

Halim bademjan is served with : Barbari Bread, Sangak Bread, Sabzi Khordan.

Notes for Halim bademjan:

• You can decorate the food with chopped walnuts, dry rose, fried garlic, fried onion, and fried mint.
• To make this halim, it is better to use neck or lamb meat.
• If you use lentils to prepare this food, cook them separately in 2 to 3 glasses of water. Then add the rice to it, and after the lentils and rice are fully cooked, combine it with the other eggplant ingredients.
• Pour some oil into a deep, small pan to make a fried mint. Then, after the oil heats up, add 2 tablespoons of dry mint and turn off the flame after a minute. Note that the color of dried mint should not turn black. Because, in this case, its taste may become a bit bitter and affect the taste of the food.
• Haleem bademjan is also prepared in other cities such as Kermanshah, Kerman, and Shiraz, and its cooking method is slightly different from Isfahani halim bademjan.
• The meat used to prepare this food should be a little fatty. This makes the food tastier.
• Many people use grilled eggplant to make Haleem Bademjan. This will make your food more nutritious and less oily.
• Try not to stir the rice while cooking this halim. This prevents the rice from sticking.
• You can use a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process.
• Traditionally, a manual meat grinder is used to beat haleem bademjan. It is said that this makes the meat tender. At the same time, the meat may lose its elasticity after being pounded by an electric beater or mixer.

Halim bademjan cooking in different cities

In some regions of Kermanshah, Haleem Bademjan is also called “Ash Bademjan,” and beans such as lentils, white beans, and chickpeas are used to make it. Of course, to make this style of halim bademjan, some of the meat is pounded separately and put on the bottom of each dish.

They put one or two slices of unmashed eggplant in each dish for each person and then pour other beaten ingredients on top of these ingredients for all the people and serve.

The way to prepare Shirazi halim bademjan is similar to Isfahani with the difference that the Shirazis add lentils and rice half and half to this food and add some chopped walnuts to this halim.

The recipe for Kermani halim bademjan is also the same, but instead of rice, the Kermani people pour equal amounts of white beans and lentils into this food. Like other Kermani curd dishes, which are not few, they use local curd to cook it.

Halim bademjan in English means eggplant halim.

Benefits of halim bademjan

Halim Badmjan is an excellent example of Nooni food for lunch, but if you have an early dinner, don’t forget this food because this food contains many nutrients such as rice, eggplant, garlic, etc. It is a complete food you can prepare for dinner or lunch.

The presence of curd, a type of rich dairy product, can be useful in improving the health of your bones and teeth. Also, the presence of garlic in this food makes you have rich antioxidants in this food.

2. May Benefit Brain Health

Another antioxidant called nasunin can protect cells from damage that can lead to premature aging and disease. It reduces inflammation in the brain and can improve blood flow and signals between synapses, which are places of connection and communication for nerves.45 This can make eggplant an important food for protecting against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

sourced: https://www.health.com/

FAQ:

1. Can eggplant be poured in halim bademjan without frying?

Yes, put the eggplants on the flame spreader and reduce the heat so that it is evenly cooked.

2. Is it possible to eat halim bademjan with bread?

It is a bread dish but can also be eaten with rice.

3. Can we freeze Haleem?

No, Freezing Halim will lose its freshness.

Did you like this recipe?

• Please share your experience about cooking this Persian dish.
• If you are looking for vegetarian food, I suggest you this dish.
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