Khoresh-e Gheimeh Bademjan

A documented variant of gheimeh, the central-Iranian split-pea-and-lamb stew long tied to nazri (votive food given away during Muharram). Adding fried eggplant turns the everyday stew into a more festive dish; the eggplant version appears across modern Iranian cookbooks and is grouped under the broader khoresh-e bademjan family. Tomato (and tomato paste) entered Persian stews only after the fruit reached Iran in the 19th century, so the red-sauced modern form is comparatively recent; older split-pea stews leaned on dried lime and saffron alone.

A rust-red stew, glossy with tomato and oil. Beneath the surface: small lamb cubes and yellow split peas cooked to just-tender. On top, a layer of fried eggplant gone soft and almost creamy, with browned tomato wedges between. The dried lime drives the flavor — sour with a faint bitter edge that cuts the richness of the eggplant. Spooned over saffron rice, mounded high.

The eggplant is salted to sweat out bitterness, then fried until golden and added only in the final stretch so it holds its shape instead of melting into the gravy. The split peas go in late as well — about the last forty minutes — or they collapse to mush. Dried limes (limoo amani) are pierced two or three times with a fork before going in whole: unpierced they float without releasing sourness, crushed they turn the pot bitter from the seeds.