Healthy Vegan Version of Moussaka - Egyptian Oven Baked Eggplant With Tomato Sauce

Not only Egypt is famous for the pyramids of Giza, but also for its plant-based dishes -that mainly comprise legumes, grains, leafy greens, and vegetables- such as Koshary, Falafel, and Moussaka, which is the hero of this instructable. Moussaka’s main ingredient is deep-fried eggplants, but because we want to make the best use of the food we eat, we can replace the deep frying method with grilling, air frying, or oven baking, which I will show you how In this recipe, so let's start!

To make this dish we only need these simple ingredients:

• For oven-baked eggplants:
• 3 medium size eggplants.
• Olive oil.
• Salt.

• For garlic vinegar tomato sauce:
• 400 grams of tomato juice.
• 3 tablespoons of vinegar.
• 6 medium cloves of garlic, sliced.
• 1 or 2 hot chilies- to taste.
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder.
• 1/2 a teaspoon of coriander powder.
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste.

• For serving:
• Baladi bread.
• 1 Lime.

To prepare the eggplants for baking:

• Wash the eggplants well.
• Peel them.
• Slice them into thick slices.
• Chop up the slices into medium cubes.
• Remove parts that have lots of seeds while you are chopping.
• Put the eggplant cubes in a strainer that has a bowl under it.

In order to get rid of excess water that the eggplants retain, follow these steps:

• Add a tablespoon of salt to the eggplants.
• Mix them well.
• Let them strain for around half an hour.

During those 30 minutes, check and get rid of the excess water before it reaches back to the strainer, after that, put the eggplants under running water to rinse the salt away. when they are completely rinsed turn off the tap and wait until there is no more water coming out, then dry the eggplant cubes well with paper towels.

Now it's time to bake our eggplants:

• Brush a flat tray with olive oil or line it with a baking sheet.
• Lay out the eggplant cubes on the tray.
• Add a generous amount of olive oil on top.
• Mix the eggplants and oil well with your fingers to make sure every cube is coated with oil.
• Spread the cubes all over the tray.
• Put the tray in a preheated oven on 220°C for around 10 minutes then turn it off.
• Turn on the oven grill and wait around 5 minutes for the top to turn golden brown.

To make sure the eggplants are baked on both sides, take the tray out of the oven and flip the cubes to the other side then put the tray back in the oven under the grill until that side is also golden brown.

While the eggplants are in the strainer we can prepare sauce ingredients:

• Chop the tomatoes into quarters in the blender.
• Blend them until smooth.
• Strain the juice with a strainer to get rid of skins and seeds.
• Slice the garlic.

To make the garlic vinegar tomato sauce:

• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in the pot.
• Add the sliced garlic and stir until golden.
• Add 3 tablespoons of vinegar.
• Let the mix infuse for a minute.
• Add the tomato juice.
• Add:
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder.
• 1/2 a teaspoon of coriander powder.
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste.
• 1 hot green chili (optional).
• Simmer the sauce until thickened.

After the sauce is thickened add the oven-baked eggplants to it and let it simmer again for a few minutes.

And now it's time to serve our healthy meatless dish with baladi bread and lime slices.

Bon Appetit or as we say in Egypt "Bel Hana Wel Shefa" which literally translates as

"Eat with joy and health!"