Georgian Eggplant Walnut Rolls (nigvziani badrijani)
A gently spiced filling made with walnuts wrapped in baked or grilled eggplant slices. This is a traditional dish from the country of Georgia. Perfect for serving as an appetizer or canape.
Servings: 20 rolls
Calories: 132kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 kg eggplant or about 4 medium eggplants. (don't worry too much if these are over or under weight)
- 250 g walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon Khmeli Suneli
- 1 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
- 50 ml olive oil for brushing on the eggplant for baking or grilling
- 100 g pomegranate seeds optional
- 2 tablespoon warm water
- 1 teaspoon salt *or to taste
Instructions
- Slice the eggplant lengthways in just under 1cm slices.2 kg eggplant
- Brush the eggplant with olive oil and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 180C for 25 minutes flipping OR grill or bbq until tender (you can also pan fry- but I find that messy). You will need to do this in batches.50 ml olive oil
- In dry frying pan, toast the walnuts until they smell fragrant and toasty. Be careful not to burn them.250 g walnuts
- Once the walnuts have cooled, add the garlic, khmeli suneli, vinegar, salt to taste and blitz in a food processor (or pound in a mortar and pestle)2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp Khmeli Suneli, 1 tbsp white or red wine vinegar
- Add a little water and blitz again until you have a smooth creamy paste.2 tbsp warm water, 1 tsp salt *or to taste
- Taste the walnut paste and add salt, a little more vinegar or more spice mixture according to your tastes.
- Once the eggplant slices are cooled, spread a tablespoon or so (depending on the size of the eggplant slice) of the walnut paste on the short rounded edge of the eggplant and roll it up. Put the rolls seam side down and continue rolling until all the eggplant is used up.
- Serve the eggplant rolls at room temperature with pomegranate seeds sprinkled over.100 g pomegranate seeds
Video
Notes
If you can't find Khmeli Suneli you can make your own.
- 1 teaspoon each
- fenugreek,
- coriander seed,
- dried parsley,
- dried dill
- dried mint
- 4 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon paprika.
- Blend these up in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and put into a little jar to use in this recipe and others.
- Pomegranate Molasses -Add 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses to the walnut mix. Pomegranate molasses is sweet and tangy, so be sure to taste test before adding more vinegar
- Lemon Juice -swap the red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar for lemon juice.
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 297mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 26IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg