Sabich

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, sliced 1 cm thick
• 4 eggs
• 4 large pittas
• 200 g hummus
• 80 g tahini
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cucumber, finely diced
• 3 tomatoes, finely diced
• a big handful of parsley
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp amba mango pickle, or a pinch of amchur
• pickles, sliced

Method

1. Salt the aubergine

   Salt the slices and leave them 20 minutes, then pat dry. They absorb far less oil this way, and sabich lives or dies on the aubergine not being greasy.

   20 min

2. Fry or roast until truly soft

   Fry in the oil, or roast at 220°C, until deeply browned and completely collapsed. Half-cooked aubergine is spongy and squeaky — it needs to be silky.

   25 min

3. Boil the eggs long

   Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, or better, simmer them for an hour with a little onion skin so the yolks turn creamy and faintly brown. Sabich eggs are traditionally slow-cooked overnight, and a hard-boiled egg is the everyday shortcut.

   10 min

4. Loosen the tahini

   Whisk the tahini with the lemon juice, salt and cold water until pourable. It seizes before it slackens.

5. Chop the salad fine

   Dice the cucumber and tomato small and mix with the parsley, a little oil and salt. Fine dice, so it does not fall out of the pitta.

6. Build in order

   Open the pitta, spread hummus inside, then aubergine, sliced egg, salad, pickles, amba and a hard pour of tahini. Hummus first as the base and tahini last over everything — the layering is the recipe.