Khoresh Bademjan, also called khoresht e bademjan, or bademjoon (Persian Eggplant Stew with Beef) is a classic Persian recipe loved by all the eggplant fans like my husband, who would gladly have it for dinner once a week without complaining about the repetition! Few days ago I had a request from another eggplant fan, a dear reader, for this khoresh and as luck would have it I had cooked and photographed this recipe just recently. So I decided to to move it up on my list, put the finishing touches and publish it. I want all of my readers to know how much I appreciate the kind comments and the ongoing support that you give me on a daily basis and I enjoy getting requests and would do my best to fulfill them if at all possible.
Bademjan or bademjoon is eggplant in Farsi and khoresh means stew and it is always served with rice. This is the stew that you would see at most traditional dinner parties. Kohresh Bademjan tastes great when it has some tartness to it. This could be accomplished by either of the following ingredients: Fresh lime (or lemon) juice, limoo amani (dried Persian lime), abghooreh (sour grape juice), or ghooreh (sour grapes). Other recipes that also benefit from limoo amani are, Khoresh Gheymeh and Khoresh Ghormeh Sabzi. I also use ghooreh in my Abgoosht recipe.
Fresh sour grapes (ghooreh) and pickled sour grapes are available in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean markets.
I have tried every one of the ingredients that I mentioned above in Khoresh Bademjan over the years, but my favorite is ghooreh. Ghooreh is the young unripe fruit of the Thompson grapes or other similar seedless grapes that is harvested earlier in summer and is very sour. The unripe fruit may be stored frozen, dried (ground), or pickled in special brine. The fresh sour grapes are available in some Middle Eastern markets in early summer. The pickled variety is available year round in these markets also. I have used the frozen sour grapes that I had picked from the grapevine in my yard last summer; they freeze well and keep beautifully for months!
I have used round Indian eggplants in this recipe, but the Italian eggplants work very well also.
Bake the eggplants by following the instructions on the How-To section of my blog. Cook the cubed beef with water, onion, turmeric powder and ground black pepper until tender. Discard the onion.
Fry the sliced onions in a large skillet. Add some tomato paste and saute a bit more. Next add salt and the broth of the cooked beef. Bring the sauce to a boil and add the cooked beef, baked eggplants, frozen sour grapes and the optional saffron. Bring the sauce to another boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
Enjoy Khoresh Bademjan with Steamed White Rice. As an eggplant fan, you will also enjoy my Vegetarian Khoresh Badejman.
- 1 pound cross rib roast or any similar beef, cubed
- ½ large onion, leave whole
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 3 cups water
- 1 large onion sliced thin and fried to golden brown in 3 TBSP vegetable oil (4 ounces fried onions)
- 3 TBSP tomato paste
- 7-10 medium Indian eggplants, peeled and baked (follow instructions for Baked Eggplant) or 5-6 medium Italian eggplants
- 1 cup frozen sour grapes (Do not thaw). May substitute with fresh or pickled sour grapes (drained), 4 crushed limoo amani (dried Persian lime), or 3-4 TBSP fresh lime, or lemon juice, or sour grape juice.
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp saffron powder (optional)
- Add the cubed beef, water, turmeric powder, ground black pepper, and the onion half to a medium stockpot. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low (must maintain a slow boil) and cook covered for 1-1 ½ hours, or until the beef is fork tender. Discard the onion. As an alternative method, if you own a pressure cooker, you may follow your owner’s manual for safety instructions and cook the above ingredients in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes after the pressure regulator starts to rattle. Discard the onion and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
- Meanwhile bake the eggplants in a preheated oven according to the Baked Eggplant instructions on the How-To section of my blog.
- At the same time heat 3 TBSP vegetable oil In a 12-inch nonstick skillet and fry the thinly sliced onions over medium heat until golden brown.
- Add 3 TBSP tomato paste to the fried onions and saute over medium low heat for 5 minutes until aromatic.
- Add the broth of the cooked beef and 1 tsp kosher salt to the skillet and stir to incorporate with the onion mixture and bring it to a boil to make a sauce.
- Add the cooked beef, baked eggplants, sour grapes, and the optional saffron to the skillet and bring it to another boil. There should be about 1½ inches of sauce in the skillet, add extra water if needed but only in small amounts so the sauce is not watered down. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until the sauce has thickened and the beef and eggplants are very tender. Adjust salt to taste.
- Serve over Persian white rice.
You may substitute dried Persian lime (limoo amani) or fresh lemon juice or sour grape juice for sour grapes. This stew tastes best when it is on the tart side and you may adjust it to your taste by adding more or less of these sour ingredients.
Freezing the fresh sour grapes - Discard the stems. Pick through the unripe grapes and only freeze the perfect green ones. Add to a colander and wash with cold water. Allow all the water to drain for couple of hours. Add the sour grapes to a zipped freezer bag and freeze on a flat surface. Do not thaw, just use frozen when needed.
I’m an eggplant fan and love it in any form they come. But, khoresh bademjan is the best! I really appreciate the use of fresh sour grapes here, and the khoresh is perfectly simmered. I look for these round, adorably cute eggplants and never find them. Do they taste just like Japanese eggplants?
These are the Indian eggplants. Unlike the Japanese variety that has very few seeds with softer flesh and almost sweet taste, the Indian eggplant has some seed and the taste and texture is more like the Italian eggplants but it holds its shape better after cooking.. I have been lucky to find it in some specialty grocery stores and Asian markets.
Hello I have a comment and I’m confused years ago I was in Orange County California in a little hole-in-the-wall Persian restaurant and I had the bademjan
Without yellow split peas without sour
Grapes but it did have a wonderful flavor of cinnamon mild it almost had a sweetness to it it was the most amazing dish I have ever had I am so confused my daughter had it is well now when I ask a Persian anyone I can find they say there is no such thing but in the past there were Persians who said there was I wish I knew someone who had the recipe without the yellow split peas without the sour grapes yet had a touch of cinnamon does it or does it not exist did I happen to find a restaurant owned by Persians that made their own type and they were the only persons to have ever made this or is there an actual recipe if you could help me I would be so grateful
Dear Nita,
If you prefer you may leave out the sour grapes in my recipe. If you are interested in another khoresh bademjan recipe that has split peas, you may also leave it out without compromising the taste of Khoreh Bademjan. The dish that you’re describing sounds delicious but I have never had khoresh bademjan with cinnamon and sweet flavor; however you may add some cinnamon in the sauce with the fried onions. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
I always put cinnamon in my bademjan as well as tumeric. The flavors balance one another and add a lot to the dish. I think it is how they make it in the North of Iran, because that’s how my mom always made it for me.
hello, I know what you’re talking about 😀 I grew up in a Persian family and my mother used to add cinnamon in the sauce and we don’t use yellow split peas, we use smashed red lentils. think as every restaurant and household, everyone has its own little variations of that dish. (my grandmothers tastes very different than my mothers). so just do as you like 🙂
Hi Mariam, that is so true! We learn how to cook from our families and there are different versions of every recipe. That is how some amazing variations are created. I agree with your comment, that everyone should only use the recipes as guidelines and then add their own twist to it. Thank you for your comment!
you right ,you do not need any of above just tomato paste and dash of cimmon powder
I think you had fessen joon in California
Hi, if I wanted to make this recipes vegetarian. Do Ifoolow all the steps wiyhout using the beef?
Hello Jasmine; yes basically, but I would add these steps for a tastier vegetarian stew:
Thinly slice 1 1/2 large onions and fry in butter instead of oil. Add 1 tsp ground turmeric and saute for a minute. Add the tomato paste and saute for another minute.
Use 1 1/2 cups (or a bit more if needed) vegetable stock instead of 3 cups of water and make a sauce then add the baked eggplants and sour grapes and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until tender and flavorful.
You may also add 2-3 halved fresh Roma tomatoes at the same time that you’re adding the eggplants to the above sauce, if you like. Let me know how these suggestions work for you!
Hello Homa! Khorest e bademjan is one of my favs and Ive made it many times. I want to make it for a dinner party but will be at work all day. Is it possible to adapt this for a crockpot?!
Hello Nazanin; the eggplants may be baked a day or two ahead of the party and stored in the fridge: http://persianmama.com/baked-eggplant/ Also fry the onions a day or two in advance and refrigerate them. On the day of the party, add the cubed beef, water, turmeric powder, ground black pepper, and the onion half to the slow cooker and cook on low setting for 7-8 hours or high setting for 4-5 hours. The meat should be fork tender at the end of this time; discard the onion half. The rest of the recipe starting at step #4 will take about 1 hour which is about the same time that it will take to steam your rice. Since the slow cooker keeps the moisture in, if needed, cook the khoresh a few minutes longer without the lid to thicken the sauce. Have a great party and let me know if you have further questions.
As a young’un in Iran, I HATED eggplant’s texture. I’d really get sick even thinking about its soft texture. FFWD, almost 40 years later, Zereshk Polo (only my mom’s version though), Khoresteh Bademjoon, Chelo Kabab, and Khoreshteh Ghormeh-Sabzi are my favorite Persian foods (reverse order). With Khoreshteh Bademjoon, I like it a bit more sour, and add a little fresh squeezed lime juice to taste, and saffron.
Thank you for sharing your recipe with us.
Hi Ali, I know exactly what you mean; it is funny how we start appreciating the delicious dishes that we used to refuse to eat as children; partly because our palate becomes more sophisticated and in part because we start craving all the nostalgic aromas and flavors of home! I also like the khoresh bademjoon to be on the sour side; a squeeze of lime is a great idea. Thank you for sharing your comment 🙂
Hi Homa,
Continuing our tour of your khoresh recipes, I made this for Sunday dinner with brined sour grapes I bought online and Asian eggplants. I peeled the eggplants to improve the husband appeal (he does not like eggplant). He actually ate some of the eggplant – first time ever! Peeling really helped the eggplants disappear into the stew a bit, which was good in our case. I never peeled eggplant for anything before. The real success story was with the toddler though. We could not get the spoon to her little mouth fast enough. She must have been Persian in a former life because she just goes nuts for khoreshes.
In other news, I got something that looked like a tahdig this week using a method described in this super dated Persian cookbook I have (c. 1960s, makes lots of references to housewives) with just butter, water, and moving my dutch oven around the burner at intervals. It came out all in one golden crispy piece when I inverted the pan! Everyone was impressed. So maybe I get make acceptable Persian rice without buying new equipment.
Ran out of energy for the pudding – maybe I’ll make that later this week.
Hello Allison, I’m delighted that you’re trying different recipes from my blog and that khoresh bademjan was a success! Your little girls has a very sophisticated palate who is going to grow up enjoying a variety of cuisines 🙂
Chinese eggplants are one of my favorites, and one of the most tender varieties. I also use Italian or Indian eggplants for this khoresh, and they seem to hold their shape better. I peel the eggplants in most recipes, but keep it on in the recipes like dolmeh bademjan (stuffed eggplant) where I need the support of the skin. Your tahdig sounds amazing; keep doing whatever that works for you. Thanks for your comment 🙂
I used sour grapes I bought online the last time I made this and served it for a dinner party. Every single guest picked around the grapes and tried not to eat them!! Ha! I liked them a lot myself but my family is not adventurous at all.
My husband was also freaked out by the appearance of dried limes when I bought a bag online. So how did I make my khoresh sour this evening, you may be wondering? I crushed the limes and removed seeds per your instructions while he was outside and had them disappeared into the pot by the time he came in!
Baby and toddler enjoyed dinner. Husband still working on eggplant. He ate some and is pleased with himself. He does not know he also ate the scary lime!
Haha, I love it; whatever that works 😉 The other souring agent that you could use in this khoresh, instead of sour grapes, is the sour grape juice (verijuice), or as we say in Farsi, ‘abghooreh.’ It’s really nice that your husband is teaching himself to enjoy eggplants; once he does the sky’s the limit, with all the possible Persian recipes 🙂 My love to the little ones.
Would it be okay to add some of the meat spice mixture to this recipe? We love your gheymeh recipe, and the tastes of the II (hot spice) mixture. Or is that the wrong flavor for this khoresh?
Martin, I think you should definitely try the spice that you like so much! I would reduce the turmeric to 1/2 tsp at the beginning to cook the meat, and then add 1/2 tsp of the spice II when you add the rest of the ingredients and see how you like it.
Thanks. My wife and I are becoming Persian food addicts. We have kashke bademjan at least three times a week. I make a batch with five Chinese eggplants (the Italian eggplants can have such hard seeds) and always have it in the fridge. Koubideh every week or so and now I am working through the wonderful world of khoresh. I even bought a new non-stick stockpot so our tahdig will be perfect. It really makes a difference.
These dishes are so much better than even at a good Iranian restaurant. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. That’s the case for all cooking. But by making some of the dishes with your wonderful tutorials, it becomes obvious where the restaurants have to cut corners.
Thanks, Homa, for everything.
Dear Martin I must say, I’m impressed! How delightful to read this nice comment about your love of Persian cooking; I’m thrilled that my recipes play a part in your successful cooking quest! Chinese eggplants are also my favorite for making kashke bademjan. I agree, non-stick is the way to go; may your tahdigs be crispy golden and plenty for everyone at your table 😉 Thank you so much for writing to me and please keep in touch.
I’m both happy and honored that you and your wife have embraced the Persian cuisine. My brother and I have been in America since we were pre-teens. But still love Persian food. My only regret is that my five year old daughter prefers McDonald’s chicken nuggets to my mom’s Persian cooking.
Btw, as adults, my brother and I fight over tahdig, just as we did as kids. My mom does this trick where she puts thin slices of potatoes on the bottom of the rice pan to make the tahdig this delicious potatoey goodness. So feel free to experiment. Fusion food is always best!
Hi,
Do I need to close the meat (fry it a bit in a pan) before boiling it?
Hi Keren; you could brown the meat before adding water, if you like; I have not in this recipe.
What a delicious recipe. Just like my momma Shadi makes it. Dorud bar shoma, PersianMama!!
Thank you dear Mahan; you just made my day with your comment. My regards to your family and your momma Shadi 🙂 Please keep in touch!
Hi Homa,
Could I make this with Lamb instead of Beef? Would you cook the lamb the same way?
Thanks,
Juliette
Hi Juliette; yes you could, and the cooking method is the same for cubed lamb and beef in this khoresh.
Hi Homa,
Thank you for your amazing recipes! I’m trying this one tonight and couldn’t find any sour grapes. Should I use green grapes regular from the store or leave them out altogether?
Thanks!!
Thanks very much for your supportive message. To answer your question, just leave them out, and use fresh lime (or lemon) juice, or dried Persian limes (limoo amani) instead of the sour grapes. The sour grapes in the recipe are the tiny unripe grapes that are very sour, and the regular grapes will nor work for this purpose. Please keep in touch and have a great day 🙂
Hi again,
This khoresh is now one of our favorites. In addition to using some of the meat advieh II, my other modification is often using goat instead of beef. I hope that isn’t too much of a variation.
I do have another question. How thinly should “thinly sliced” onions be? I’ve experimented with everything from 1 mm to 6 mm. Too thin and they really become like jam, but I think 6 mm (1/4″) is too thick. A food processor lets me slice them very consistently, and quickly, but what thickness would you recommend?
As always, thanks.
Hi Martin; the type of meat is a personal preference, and the goat meat is deliciuos; glad you’re enjoying this recipe! You’re right 1/4 of an inch is a bit too thick, so just slice them a tad thinner. The uniformity of slices is really important, but also the temperature should be started at med high until the edges turn golden, then reduced to medium until the slices are golden. If you’re making a large batch of fried onions, you should even lower the temperature to mid low towards the end. Hope this helps: http://persianmama.com/how-to-fry-onions-for-persian-cooking/
Thanks. I went with 3 mm (about 1/8″) and it came out wonderfully. My wife doesn’t like it as sour as is authentic, so I cut down on the sour grapes (about 1/4 cup) and sneak in a couple limoo omani. She’s gradually adapting so we’ll get there. I use the small Indian eggplants (we have a marvelous Indian market close by — such fresh veg and so cheap!) and they come out meltingly delicious, without absorbing a lot of oil. I brush them with oil and bake, as you suggest. It’s the same method I use with Chinese eggplants for kashk-e-bademjan, which we have several times a week. It may be unnecessary, but I always salt and disgorge the eggplants, even Indian and Chinese. I know they’re not very bitter but old habits die hard.
Thanks again for all your inspiration and help.
PS. The meat advieh II not only tastes wonderful, but it makes the kitchen smell so inviting!
By the way, making a large batch of fried onions is stress-free since I started using my remote barbecue thermometer. I place the probe in the oil and can go about by business while they fry by keeping the remote read-out with me. As long as the oil is below 220, I know that the onions are still rendering out water and the heat can be on medium high. When it reaches 220, I turn the heat down. When it gets to 240-250 it’s time to go back to the stove and attend to the final stage. They are done at around 260. I find these remote cooking thermometers very valuable.
Good for you Martinm going all the way to frying onions scientifically and with perfect temperature, lol! Yes, I have also been frying onions in batches for years; it’s so efficient. I might just invest in a remote cooking thermometer 😉
As soon as I finished the book, The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali (a must-read!) I looked up a recipe for Khoresh Bademjan. It’s on the stove now, along with a pot of saffron rice (and some skimmed off for me to make Tahdjig for myself). Smells to-die for but was missing something. After having read the comments here I added a pinch of cinnamon. Exactly what it needed – and it’s perfect!
Signing up to get all your posts, persianmama:-).
Dear Rayna; great to hear from you! So glad that Marjan Kamali’s wonderful writing has inspired you to try my Khoresh Bademjan! It is lovely that you’ve made this recipe more to your taste with a pinch of cinnamon. I think you will find many favorites here. Please keep in touch and enjoy!