This distinctively Persian dish combines the rich flavour of baked eggplant with tangy, sour kashk, one of those unusual ingredients that can initially be a little challenging for Western palates. But I urge you to give this dish a go – anyone who loves the lusciousness of eggplant will enjoy the combination.
A bit like an intense and rather cheesy sour cream, kashk is made from whey – the liquid that remains after making butter, yoghurt or soft cheese – that is then sun-dried and rolled into hard little white chalky balls that can last for years. Kashk is pounded to a powder and dissolved in water before use. Outside Iran, depending on where you live, it is possible to find liquid kashk in specialist Iranian stores, and this is what we use in the following recipe.
If you can’t find kashk, make a simple sauce by heating half a cup each of thick yoghurt and sour cream with the garlic over a very low heat. Don’t allow the sauce to boil, though, or it will split.