Merza Ghasemi with Pork Chops

When I say Merza Ghasemi I use that term loosely because that has beaten Eggs in at the end and doesn't have the Chilli Herbs and lashings of Lemon juice that I have used, However it is based and inspired by the recipe by www.sabrinaghayour.com. It is a Persian dish and last night I found myself cooking just for me so I wanted something quick and easy but with bags of flavour and this is what I settled on.

I started off by putting an Aubergine in a roasting tray and dry roasted at 200c for an hour, Sabrina says  don't prick it, I did, just once as I had visions of it exploding in the Oven making a huge mess to clear up. I don't think it was needed but there you go.

Once it was cooked took it out the oven and scooped the flesh out of the skin which it did remarkably easily.

In a Skillet I added some Olive Oil and put to a medium heat and added a finely chopped clove of Garlic, The idea is to cook the garlic but not colour it, then I added a tsp of Turmeric and the flesh of a chopped Tomato, A tbsp of Tomato Puree a whole chopped fresh Chilli then put the Aubergine into the pan stirring everything together added a handful of Parsley and Mint and the juice of a whole Lemon. Season well.

It worked beautifully with the simple Griddled Pork Chops and had a fresh vibrant flavour, I will definitely make it again.