Syrian · appetizer

Makdous (Baby Aubergines Cured with Walnut and Chilli)

Name: Makdous (Baby Aubergines Cured with Walnut and Chilli)
Prep time: 47 min
Total time: 360 h 47 min
Cuisine: Syrian
Ingredients: eggplant — 1000 g; salt — 60 g; walnut halves — 200 g; garlic — 24 g; aleppo pepper — 30 g; salt — 5 g; red bell pepper — 150 g; olive oil — 460 g; water — 3000 g

Makdous (Baby Aubergines Cured with Walnut and Chilli) reads richness 5.4, salinity 5.2 and nutty 5.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Syrian appetizer, about 360 hr 47 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 5.5 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 4.2 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.4 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 4.1 / 10
Rich & Fat — 7.0 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 5.4 · Salinity 5.2 · Nutty 5.2 · Allium 4.4 · Earthy 3.7 · Sweetness 3.5 · Fruity 2.3 · Umami 2.2 · Bitterness 2.1 · Herbaceous 1.8 · Heat 1.5 · Sourness 1.1 · Citrus 1.1 · Warm Spice 1.0 · Floral 0.7

What's in it (9)

eggplant — 1000 g
salt — 60 g
walnut halves — 200 g
garlic — 24 g
aleppo pepper — 30 g
salt — 5 g
red bell pepper — 150 g
olive oil — 460 g
water — 3000 g

Time & effort: about 360 hr 47 min (47 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 40.5 kcal, 0.7 g protein, 3.3 g fat, 2.2 g carbs

Dietary: Vegan — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

Use the small dense purple aubergines sold by Middle Eastern grocers in late summer; a full-size aubergine has too much water and will go to mush in the jar. Trim the calyx but leave the stalk.
Bring the water to a boil and blanch the aubergines for 5 to 7 minutes, until a skewer meets slight resistance at the centre. Undercook rather than overcook. Drain.
Cut a deep slit down one side of each, not all the way through, and rub the coarse salt into the cavity. Stand them cut side down in a colander with a weighted plate on top and leave to drain for 24 hours in a cool place. Getting the water out is the whole preservation; a wet makdous ferments and spoils.
Mix the walnuts, crushed garlic, Aleppo pepper, red pepper and the fine salt into a coarse, oily paste.
Press about a teaspoon of the paste into each aubergine and close it around the filling. Pack them upright and tightly into a sterilised jar, layer by layer.
Pour over the olive oil until the aubergines are covered by 2 cm and there are no air pockets — tap the jar on the counter and top up. Any aubergine above the oil line will mould.
Leave in a cool dark place for 2 weeks before eating, checking after a few days that everything is still submerged. They keep for months. Serve at room temperature for breakfast with bread, labneh and tea.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Beans Poriyal (Dry Green Beans with Coconut) — Indian · Tamil Nadu
Mchicha (Amaranth Greens in Coconut Milk) — Tanzanian
Vegetable Korma with Coconut Rice — Indian
Misal Pav (Sprouted Moth Beans with Goda Masala and Kat) — Indian · Maharashtra
Ifisashi — Zambian

Keep reading: what richness, salinity, nutty mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.