Probably the best vegetarian sandwich I’ve ever eaten. The sabich was brought to Israel by Iraqi jews fleeing persecution in the 1940s and 1950s; originally, a humble salad dish of fried aubergine, boiled potatoes and eggs, made portable by placing it in a fluffy pita bread: the sabich sandwich was born. In this tweaked version, I think I have created the most delicious and nutritious version of this Mizrahi classic.
Vegetarian Sabich S'wich
Probably the best vegetarian sandwich I've ever eaten. The sabich was brought to Israel by Iraqi jews fleeing persecution in the 1940s and 1950s; originally, a humble salad dish of fried aubergine, boiled potatoes and eggs, made portable by placing it in a fluffy pita bread: the sabich sandwich was born. In this tweaked version, I think I have created the most delicious and nutritious version of this Mizrahi classic.
PROTEIN CHOLINE FOLATE VITAMIN-C MANGANESE COPPER SULFORAPHANE LYCOPENE
Ingredients
serves 2
- 1 medium aubergine
- Olive oil for frying
Aubergines
- 7 ripe cherry tomatoes
- A few sprigs of fresh parsley
- 5cm section of cucumber or alficoz
- 1 small dill pickle
- 1 small red onion
- Olive oil for dressing
- Lemon juice
- Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Israeli salad
- 100g finely shredded cabbage
- 1 tbsp cider apple vinegar
Slaw
- 2 7-minute boiled eggs
- 4 tbsp hummus
- 4 tbsp tahini sauce
- 2 pitas or flatbreads
- 4 tbsp mango chutney(amba)
- 4 tbsp zhoug
the rest
NOTES*
Do not confuse tahini sauce for tahini. To make tahini sauce; take 5 garlic cloves, 100g tahini & juice of ½ lemon. Blitz to a fine puree while adding 7-10 tbsp of cold, filtered water - to the desired consistency. Add a pinch of ground cumin, salt to taste and transfer to a squeezy bottle.
Although Iraqi Amba and Indian mango chutney are distantly related; Amba is far more sour, as it is made from green unripe mangoes, it is also spicier. Amba is not available here, so, until I make some, I'll be using good old Indian - which pairs wonderfully with the chilli bite of the zhoug.
The zhoug recipe in the link is great - but here's a Middle Eastern alternative. Remove the stems and seeds from 4 big jalapeño peppers, blitz in a processor. Add 5 garlic cloves, 20g fresh parsley, 20g fresh coriander, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground cumin & ½ tsp ground coriander. Blitz to a smooth puree while slowly drizzling in 100ml of good olive oil - creating an emulsion. It will keep for 5 days in the fridge.
Method
Wash the aubergine and cut it into 5mm slices - I prefer them thin. Lay the slices out and sprinkle with salt, flip them over and salt the other side. Leave them for a good 10mins which will draw out some of the water content. Heat a large heat-bottomed skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil. Pat each aubergine slice with a paper towel and lay them side by side in the skillet. Gently cook on both sides till golden brown.
For the slaw, cut the cabbage as finely as you can either by hand or using a mandolin. Then toss the shredded cabbage with the cider vinegar and season with salt.
For perfectly boiled eggs, put a pan of water on to boil - lid on. When it starts to boil, gently lower in the fresh eggs and once the water starts to boil again, cook them for 6 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove them pan from the heat and place the eggs into bowl of cold water - or, as I do, pour away the boiling water from the egg pan and fill the same pan with cold water. Once cool enough to handle shell the eggs and carefully halve them.
For the salad, cut the cherry tomatoes, cucumber and red onion and transfer them to a bowl. Add some sliced pickle and chopped parsley. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and freshly ground pepper.
To build your sabich s'wish, warm the flatbread in skillet before placing it on a plate. Take 2 tbsp of hummus and, using a spoon, swirl to cover the flatbread. Lay the fried aubergine slice out and cover with a little shredded cabbage. Spoon over the salad and top with the egg. Squirt over the tahini sauce and finish with a couple of tablespoons of mango chutney and zhoug.
JAMx
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