Russia/Ukraine: Aubergine Caviar (БАКЛАЖАННАЯ ИКРА)

So while I maintain that the Ukrainian or Russian cuisine is not particularly vegetarian-friendly (so be it, no complaints here), this one is one of my all time favorite dishes. We call it aubergine caviar, or “ikra” and it can be served as a side, as a main, or as a garnish. I personally just eat it with a nice piece of toasted rye bread, but you go nuts and let your palate be your guide.

Ok so. This recipe will take your about 40 minutes from start to finish. I would also let this cool a bit before eating. I actually prefer it at room temperature, or just over, which is hugely convenient as it makes for a brilliant leftover stash.

What you’ll need

Technically, this recipe isn’t going to be ruined by lack of precision of vegetables, but below are rough estimates of how much of each you’ll need:

2 aubergines (you can do 3 if you are super keen)
2 sweet bell peppers
6 medium tomatoes
1-2 onions
5 cloves of garlic
Dill
Parsley
3 Bay leaves
Salt/black pepper
Olive oil

Sunflower oil, unfiltered, is much more commonly used in Ukraine. However, because it is a massive pain to find in London and because I have largely moved fully on to olive oil, I go with that and find it delicious.

Step 1

Start by dicing up everything into similarly sized cubes. You can start with aubergine as it is the first thing that will go into the pan and this will speed up the process for you and save you from having to wash a bunch of extra dishes.

Start with the aubergine

Time to put aubergine and some olive oil into a hot pan.

Now, the aubergine will first seem very dry and will soak up all the oil immediately. Make sure not to add too much, because in a few minutes it will release all of the moisture and you’ll end up with a heavily oily mess. Just keep stirring it and make sure it isn’t sticking/burning. I add some oil as I go along and see how the vegetable behaves.

Once it starts to become translucent you can start adding your other ingredients.

Add bellpeppers

Once your aubergine looks the way is does in the photo to the right, you can add the bell peppers.

At this point you can also cover the pan with a lid. This will keep in all of the moisture and really cook through your veggies.

Add onions & Garlic

After about 5 minutes, you can add the onion and the garlic.

Keep stirring! Keep covered when not stirring.

Add the tomatoes!

Once the onions are translucent, you can add your tomatoes.

This is also a good time to add some pepper and bay leaves.

Time for Fresh herbs

Once the veggies are all starting to blend, it is time to add in your fresh herbs. This being the dill and the parsley.

Some people choose to add these all the way at the very end to keep the herbs fresh in the mix, but I usually do it a bit earlier to allow the flavors to mix in more.

Cook until the mix is blended and is very soft like a paste.

If you’re cooking covered and find that there is too much liquid (this can sometimes happen because of watery tomatoes) then just raise the heat and cook, stirring frequently, uncovered until the moisture is evaporated.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Remember to let this one cool a bit before serving.