Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 1 medium eggplant
- 4 TBs oil
- 2 large tomatoes, diced
- 400g tin diced tomatoes
- 400g tin chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 2 TB tomato paste
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp of salt or more, to taste
- 1 TB paprika
- 1/2 TB cumin
- 2 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp chili flakes or ½ of a fresh jalapeno - this would depend on your spice tolerance level
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- a handful of parsley to taste
- 4 eggs
Directions
- Chop onions finely. Dice eggplant and tomatoes into ½ inch cubes. Place eggplant in a colander, and salt it to draw liquids out. Mince garlic finely. If using a fresh jalapeno pepper, chop ½ a pepper finely.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat - the pan would preferably be either non-stick, or enamel-coated (trust me, you want something that you’re not going to have to scrape eggs and sauce from). When pan is hot, add one TB of vegetable oil, and onion. Saute onion on medium heat for 5 minutes, then lower heat to medium-low and cook for another 5.
- When onions have turned golden, add 2 TBs of oil and eggplant cubes - but do not crowd them! It’s better that you use less eggplant than crowding it, because it won’t result in an even browning. Let eggplant brown for a few minutes, then when the eggplant has soaked up all the oil, add another TB of oil, and toss eggplant to coat. Continue browning eggplant for 10 minutes, turning pieces occasionally to ensure equal coverage, until all have coloured evenly.
- Add chickpeas and spices except sumac and stir thoroughly. Add the spinach, tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Bring mixture to a simmer.
- With a wooden spoon, create wells in the sauce for the eggs then carefully crack an egg into each well. On medium heat, cover pan (this is important!), and let eggs cook between 8 to 10 minutes, testing for doneness after eight (you want the whites of the eggs to set and change from translucent, while the yolk should still be a little jiggly).
- Squeeze the juice of half a lemon or olive oil and sprinkle the eggs with sumac, and serve immediately with a little bit of yogurt and crusty bread, to taste. Don’t forget to sop up the sauce when you’re done.