Musa'a/Musaka - meat version

This is a dish that probably originated in the Levant/Egypt.  Its an aubergine and tomato based dish and comes in many variations, but essentially contains aubergine and tomatoes.  The word musaka comes from the Arabic word  مسقعة‎ meaning 'chilled'.

The version of this dish you may be familiar with is the Greek version which has minced meat, tomatoes and aubergines with white sauce and cheese on top.

I love making the Lebanese version, which has chickpeas in it, but today I am making a Turkish inspired one, that has mince meat in it.

Ingredients

3 large aubergines

8 - 10 medium/large tomatoes - sliced into disks

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

500g of minced lamb/beef/chicken

2 onions/4 small onions

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2-3 cloves of garlic - for the mince

2-3 cloves of garlic for the layering

4 teaspoons of garam masala/baharat

2 teaspoons of dried chilli flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Slice the aubergines in to 2cm disks.  Deep fry till golden and put aside.  (if you don't want to fry them, you can drizzle with oil, place on a baking tray and bake in the oven till golden).

Finely slice the onions, heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions till they soften.  Add the crushed garlic and a teaspoon of cumin seeds.  Now add the mince, salt, pepper and chilli and cook till the meat browns.  Add the garam masala and about 1/2 a glass of water.  Cook till the water has evaporated

To assemble the dish, layer half of the aubergines in a baking dish. Top with a layer of tomatoes.  Then add the meat to the next layer.   Top this with a final layer of tomatoes. I like to add some thinly sliced garlic over this final layer of tomatoes. Add another layer of the remaining aubergines. 

Open the tins of tomatoes, add some salt and pepper.  I also like to add a little chilli and cumin to the tinned tomatoes.  Pour this over the dish and drizzle with some olive oil, bake in an oven (at about 190C) for about 40mins - hour, or until the sauce has turned a dark red colour.   Serve with boiled rice.  Sahtein/bon appetit!