Salata aswad

Ingredients

• Aubergines800 g
• Peanut butter — unsweetened150 g
• Lemons2
• Garlic3 clove
• Tomatoes2
• Onion1
• Hot chilli1
• Oil for frying200 ml
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Dice the aubergines, salt them and leave them twenty minutes to draw out the bitterness.

   22 min

2. 2

   Pat the cubes dry with paper; wet ones spit in the oil.

   6 min

3. 3

   Fry the aubergine in batches to a dark brown crust and drain it on paper.

   22 min

4. 4

   Pound the garlic with salt into a paste in a mortar.

   5 min

5. 5

   Let the peanut butter down with lemon juice, the garlic and water to the body of soured cream.

   8 min

6. 6

   Chop the tomatoes, onion and chilli fine and mix them with the cooled aubergine.

   10 min

7. 7

   Pour over the peanut dressing, toss it and let it stand fifteen minutes.

   17 min

About the dish

The aubergines are fried to a dark crust rather than stewed. The name means "black salad", and the colour comes precisely from the frying.

The peanut butter is let down with lemon juice and water to the body of soured cream. Thick, it sits in a lump and will not coat the aubergine.

The salad is served at room temperature rather than cold. Chilled, the peanut butter stiffens and the flavour closes up.

Worth knowing

• — Fry the aubergine in batches. All at once it releases its juices and stews instead of browning.
• — Use peanut butter without sugar or palm oil. A sweet one turns the salad into a dessert sauce.
• — Add more acid than seems right. Peanut mutes lemon, and on tasting the dressing should be noticeably sour.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

380 kcal

Protein

10 g

Fat

30 g

Carbs

18 g

More from Sudan

• Sudanese ful — Ful beans cooked soft and mashed in the pot, with sesame oil, cheese and egg.
• Asida with mulah — A stiff porridge of sorghum or wheat, served with stewed meat in a dried okra sauce.
• Gurasa — A thick Sudanese pan bread, served with meat stew or sauce.