Sabich — pita with fried aubergine, eggs, tahini and amba
Tel Aviv's street-food pita, inherited from Iraqi Jewish cooking: deeply browned, meltingly tender fried aubergine, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, crisp salad, pickled cucumbers, creamy tahini sauce, tangy amba and a touch of green zhug.
Ingredients for two
| 400 g | Aubergines 1 large or 2 small aubergines, cut into 1 cm rounds |
| 100 g | Sunflower oil, for frying or as a neutral oil For frying the aubergines (or use olive oil); some stays in the pan |
| 220 g | Eggs 4 medium eggs, weighed without shells |
| 200 g | Potatoes 2 small potatoes, 1 per person; the starch in the Iraqi version, recommended for dinner (optional) |
| 160 g | Pita breads 2 large pitas, 80 g each |
| 60 g | Tahini (raw sesame paste) 4 tbsp tahini, made from 100% sesame |
| 60 g | Water Ice-cold, for loosening the tahini |
| 60 g | Lemon 1/2 lemon, yielding 25 g juice: 20 g for the tahini sauce, 5 g for the salad |
| 10 g | Garlic 2 cloves: 1 small clove grated into the tahini sauce, 1 for the zhug |
| 180 g | Tomatoes, vine or round 1 large tomato, cut into 5 mm dice |
| 100 g | Cucumbers 1 small cucumber, cut into 5 mm dice |
| 10 g | Flat-leaf parsley A small handful, chopped |
| 60 g | Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers 3 small cucumbers pickled in vinegar (melafefon hamutz), thinly sliced |
| 35 g | Amba (fermented mango condiment) 2 tbsp, 1 per pita; 20 g for a subtle flavour |
| 30 g | Hot green chillies 2 chillies, deseeded, for the quick zhug; or 10 g harissa (1 tsp) (optional) |
| 15 g | Fresh coriander A small handful, for the zhug (optional) |
| 10 g | Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp, to bind the zhug (optional) |
| 10 g | Fine salt 5 g for the cooking water, 2 g for the aubergines, 1 g for the tahini sauce, 1 g for the salad, 0.5 g for the zhug, 0.5 g for the eggs |
| 0.4 g | Ground black pepper 2 pinches, for the salad |
Method
- Cut the aubergine into 1 cm rounds, spread on a tray, salt both sides with 2 g salt and leave to draw out moisture for 15 minutes. At the same time, put the 4 eggs and peeled potatoes in a saucepan, leaving small potatoes whole and halving larger ones. Cover with cold water, add 5 g salt and bring to the boil over a high heat. As soon as it boils, reduce to a simmer. Remove the eggs after 8 minutes and immerse in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, changing the water once, then roll the shells on the worktop and peel. Cook the potatoes for another 10–12 minutes, until a knife tip enters without resistance, then drain.
- While the aubergine releases its moisture, make the tahini sauce: mix the 60 g tahini with 1 small grated garlic clove, 20 g lemon juice and 1 g salt. Gradually whisk in the 60 g ice-cold water: the mixture thickens at first and seems to split, then becomes smooth and creamy again. It should coat a spoon without running like water.
- Cut the tomato and cucumber into 5 mm dice, add the chopped parsley, remaining 5 g lemon juice, 1 g salt and the pepper, then leave the salad to drain in a sieve over a bowl. Thinly slice the pickled cucumbers. For the quick zhug, chop the deseeded chillies, coriander and 1 garlic clove very finely and mix with the 10 g olive oil and a pinch of salt; use 1 tsp harissa instead if needed.
- Thoroughly pat the aubergine slices dry with kitchen paper. Heat the 100 g oil in a 28 cm frying pan over a medium-high heat: a slice should sizzle vigorously on contact. Fry in 2 batches, without overlapping the slices, for 3–4 minutes on each side, until deep brown and the centres give way under the spatula. Drain on kitchen paper; if the pan is dry for the second batch, add 1 tbsp oil.
- Empty the oil from the pan and warm each pita in it for 30 seconds on each side, or directly over a gas flame, until supple and only lightly marked. Immediately open a pocket along one-third of the edge.
- Spread 1 tbsp tahini sauce inside the base of each pita, then layer in the potatoes in 5 mm slices, aubergines, eggs sliced or quartered and seasoned with a pinch of salt, drained salad, pickled cucumber slices, a dab of zhug, 1 tbsp amba and the remaining tahini sauce. Serve immediately.
Lighter version
- Sunflower oil, for frying or as a neutral oil : 50 g
In step 4, replace frying with roasting: preheat the oven to 210°C fan while the aubergines release their moisture. Toss the dried slices with the 50 g oil in a mixing bowl, rather than brushing them, arrange in one layer on a tray and roast for 25–30 minutes, turning halfway through. The surfaces should be golden and the centres soft enough to mash with a fork. If they are still pale after turning, cook for another 3–5 minutes rather than taking them out dry.
In step 5, turn off the oven, wrap the pitas together in foil and put them in the residual heat for 3 minutes, until warm and supple, without a crust.
Half the oil and the oven instead of the frying pan: the aubergine is less meltingly tender, but the sandwich is still delicious.
On your plate
Recipe
1218 kcal · protein 33 g · carbs 77 g · fat 84 g
Quantities per person
- 200 g Aubergines
- 50 g Sunflower oil, for frying or as a neutral oil
- 110 g Eggs
- 100 g Potatoes
- 80 g Pita breads
- 30 g Tahini (raw sesame paste)
- 30 g Water
- 30 g Lemon
- 5 g Garlic
- 90 g Tomatoes, vine or round
- 50 g Cucumbers
- 5 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 30 g Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers
- 17.5 g Amba (fermented mango condiment)
- 15 g Hot green chillies
- 7.5 g Fresh coriander
- 5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 5 g Fine salt
- 0.2 g Ground black pepper
Cooking tips
The egg in traditional sabich is beitza chuma, a haminado egg. The day before, cover the eggs with water, add the skins of 2 onions, 1 tsp oil and a pinch of salt, and simmer covered for at least 2 hours, or cook in the oven at 100°C for 6 hours. Leave to cool in their cooking water; the whites turn brown and the yolks creamy and fragrant. The recipe's 8-minute eggs are the evening shortcut. In either case, serve them sliced or quartered and season with a pinch of salt when assembling. Fried aubergine keeps in the fridge for 2 days and can be eaten cold; the hard-boiled eggs can also be made a day ahead. If the pita is overfilled, serve the components on a plate: grilled pita cut into quarters, aubergine, egg, potatoes, salad, pickled cucumbers, tahini sauce and amba side by side. Keep the components separate and assemble at the last moment, as a filled pita does not reheat well. Make matbucha the day before for a starter, or serve cumin carrots.
Tel Aviv sabich with Iraqi roots (Oved in Givatayim, Frishman): fried aubergine, egg, potato, salad, tahini sauce, amba, pickled cucumbers and zhug.
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