Azerbaijani Badimjan Dolmasi Bites with Grilled Eggplant and Walnut

Lay the eggplant slices on a rack, salt both sides generously, and let them sweat for 30 minutes. Blot them completely dry. This pulls out bitter moisture and, more importantly, keeps the slices from soaking up oil like a sponge on the grill.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise 1/4-inch thick
• 1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for grilling
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• Fine sea salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Lay the eggplant slices on a rack, salt both sides generously, and let them sweat for 30 minutes. Blot them completely dry. This pulls out bitter moisture and, more importantly, keeps the slices from soaking up oil like a sponge on the grill.
2. Brush the dried slices lightly with olive oil and grill them over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deeply marked and completely pliable. An underdone slice will crack when you roll it, so err toward soft.
3. Let the grilled slices cool on a platter while you make the filling — rolling hot eggplant tears it.
4. Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, shaking often, until they smell nutty. Let them cool before grinding or the oils turn the paste greasy.
5. Pulse the walnuts, garlic, coriander and cayenne in a food processor until finely ground but still slightly textured. You want the character of chopped nuts, not walnut butter.
6. Add the cilantro, dill, pomegranate molasses, vinegar and olive oil and pulse just to combine into a thick, spreadable paste. Season aggressively with salt and pepper — the eggplant is bland and this filling has to carry both.
7. Spread a heaped teaspoon of filling across the wide end of each eggplant slice and roll it up snugly. Set the rolls seam-side down on the serving platter so they hold their shape.
8. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. These are genuinely better cold and rested, when the walnut paste has firmed and the flavors have married.
9. Before serving, drizzle with olive oil, scatter the pomegranate seeds over the top, and finish with a few cilantro leaves.
10. Azerbaijani cooking sits at a crossroads of Persian, Turkish and Caucasian traditions, and the walnut-and-pomegranate combination is its clearest signature. Pomegranate molasses — narsharab — is made along the Kura river valley and functions in this cuisine roughly the way lemon does in the Mediterranean: it is the default acid. Badimjan dolmasi is a fixture of the summer mezze table in Baku, made in large batches when eggplants flood the markets in August and eaten cold over several days. The rolls travel well and improve overnight, which is exactly why they became a picnic and celebration food.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 310 kcal
• Protein: 6g
• Fat: 26g
• Carbohydrates: 18g
• Fiber: 7g
• Sugar: 9g
• Sodium: 340mg