Badrijani nigvzit - Georgian aubergine rolls with walnut filling

Badrijani is the Georgian rolled eggplant dish we've been missing our whole life, wrote Lucky Peach on its Facebook page yesterday. I don't really know about rolled eggplant/rolled aubergine dishes in particular, but as far as eggplant dishes in general go, Georgian rolled aubergines are pretty wonderful. They're pictured on the top left corner above.

My recipe is pretty minimalist, as far as the seasoning goes. I've served them as part of a bigger Georgian spread (see f. ex. here), where the famous Georgian spice blend khmeli-suneli was used in various dishes. That's why I like my badrijani nigvzit (badrijani = aubergine/eggplant, nigvzit = walnuts) seasoned just with herbs, onion and vinegar. But feel free to use garlic instead of onion and to add some ground coriander or cumin seeds - or a generous spoonful of khmeli-suneli - to the walnut mixture to make it more flavoursome. Even chilli powder could be added, if you're fond of spicy dishes.

This great appetizer is low-carb, LCHF (low carb, high fat), gluten-free, vegan, Paleo etc. For more Georgian recipes, see my Georgian Flickr album or browse my Georgian recipes here.

Badrijani nigvzit aka Georgian eggplant rolls with walnut paste
(Pähklitäidisega pommurullid e. badrižani)

Serves 6 as an appetizer

2 slender eggplants/aubergines
sea salt
olive oil

Walnut filling:
250 g walnuts
2 onions
fresh dill, cilantro/coriander and parsley, chopped
3-4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:
pomegranate seeds

Cut the aubergines into long thin slices, lengthwise. Sprinkle with salt and let stand in a colander for 20-30 minutes. Drain the liquid, pat the slices dry with kitchen paper.

You can cook the aubergine either by frying or by baking. To fry them, heat some oil on a frying pan and fry on moderate heat until golden on both sides. To bake them, place into a 220C/450F oven and bake for about 20 minutes,  turning once.

To make the walnut filling, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast at 180C/350F for about 10 minutes, until they're aromatic and golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.

If you dislike the taste of raw onion, fry the chopped onion in olive oil until translucent.

Place all the filling ingredients into the food processor and blend until coarse and combined. Transfer into a bowl and season to taste - the filling has to be just a wee bit vinegary.

Place a spoonful of the filling onto one end of the aubergine slice, then roll into a cigar (alternatively, spread a thin layer of the walnut paste over the whole length of the aubergine, then roll up).  Place onto a serving tray, and do the same with rest of the aubergine slices and the filling. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs.

More aubergine/eggplant recipes on Nami-Nami:
Grilled aubergine with feta, golden raisins and mint
Armenian aubergine stew
Ottolenghi's roasted aubergine with saffron yoghurt
Nasu dengaku (miso-glazed aubergine)
Aubergine curry with tomatoes, coriander and Nigella seeds
Sautéed aubergine (Melanzane al funghetto)
Israeli roasted aubergine and feta spread
Moussaka, deconstructed

More badrijani recipes on food blogs:
Karen @ Rambling Spoon
Gill @ Gill Stannard
kahviaddikti (recipe in Finnish)
Christina Nichol @ Lucky Peach

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In praise of Georgian food

The Washington Post muses on March 3rd, 2015, whether the Georgian food might be the next big thing. It certainly deserves much more attention, if you ask me. There was this incident almost ten years ago, when Kuidaore's Joycelyn began her cookbook meme (memes were a big thing in the early days of food blogging) wondering whether she really needs a Georgian cookbook. I left a long comment insisting she does :)

I've been a fan of Georgian food as long as I remember. The food is so flavoursome and colourful, providing plenty of textures and variety. The picture here is from the chapter dedicated to the cuisine of Georgia in my third cookbook, "Nami-Nami. Maailma maitsed 1" that was published in October 2013 (see my blog post here).  Doesn't it look really appealing and appetising?



There are 99 photos in my  Georgian album over on Flickr, most with links to the Estonian-language recipe. However, there are plenty of excellent Georgian recipes here on Nami-Nami as well for you to browse, helping you to get familiar with the "next big thing". Enjoy!

Georgian-style green beans with herbs and garlicky yogurt or mtsvane lobios borani (pictured at the bottom right, below) is a wonderful side dish (#glutenfree #lowcarb).



Beet salad with walnuts and garlic, pkhali, is a potent vegetable salad that brightens up any festive table (#glutenfree #Paleo):



Cucumber and tomato salad with fresh cilantro/coriander is a delightfully different way to serve the summer favourites, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Chicken in a cold walnut sauce, satsivi, is another winner from Georgia (pictured in the front, below). Georgian cuisine is rather unique in that they use walnuts a lot as a the main ingredient, not just to give some extra flavour or texture. Here the walnuts and mixed with spices and fried onions to form a wonderfully aromatic sauce. (#glutenfree #lowcarb #Paleo)



Creamy mushrooms with spices and herbs, is a great way to cook and serve those rather bland-tasting cultivated white mushrooms (#glutenfree #lowcarb):



Walnut and egg salad,  are here pictured on crispy toasts (#glutenfree #lowcarb):



If you can get hold of the salty Suluguni cheese, then it's excellent when fried in butter:



Yet the most wonderful way of using the Georgian Suluguni cheese is to make a Georgian cheese pie, khatchapuri. There are lots of different versions about that Georgian cheese bread. I've got three recipes in my cookbook, but the recipe you find here on the blog is the simplest one, Imeretian khatchapuri.



Chicken with herbs and tomatoes, chakhohbili (pictured at the centre, below), was the first Georgian recipe to appear here on Nami-Nami, and still finds its way to our table quite regularly (#glutenfree #lowcarb #Paleo)



So, which Georgian dishes have you eaten? Which one would you cook first from this selection here on Nami-Nami?

© 2007 Nami-nami foodblog, nami-nami.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at may be guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright.