Sabich | Stuffed into Pita

I received two books as gifts recently: Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Israeli Soul by Michael Solomonov. These are exceptional cookbooks with a strong sense of place, filled with passion, vibrancy and flavors. Among the iconic dishes, sabich or sabih stands out in the way it captures the essence of Israel.

Sabich (pronounced saa-beek) is the story of Israel stuffed into a pita. Multifaceted, complicated and messy. There are so many elements in it: fried eggplant, boiled egg, salad of diced cucumber, tomato, and several big-flavored sauces. Somehow, it comes together in a sandwich which is one of the most exciting street foods you can come across.

“Do you know how it feels to hold that warm overfilled sandwich in your hand? It feels like a beating heart.”

… from Israeli Soul by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook

With all that background, history and traditions, it’s hard not to be inspired to do all I can — let the sabich achieve its fullest potential. Still, it’s an ambitious plan to make the eggplant, the salad, a whole host of sauces and, on the same day, bake the pita bread too. Who’d think making street food can be such a huge undertaking!

Once I mix the dough, it’s just a matter of giving it time to rest and rise. I halved the recipe to shorten the time it’d take to roll out the dough and bake the pita bread. (Ottolenghi says don’t bother with the supermarket pita if you can’t get fresh pita. Use toasted white bread instead. I can’t have that!) Meanwhile, I start prepping the eggplants and make the sauces.

Sabich, by all accounts, is about the eggplants. Here is a new trick I’ve picked up from this recipe. First, peel the eggplant skin lengthwise with alternating strips of black skin and white flesh. The eggplant turns into a zebralike form of life. Then sprinkle salt on the eggplant slices to remove some of the water. Afterwards, I grill the eggplant slices until golden. These eggplants turn out just amazing.

Accordingly, I went through the steps in making the Tahini sauce and the Zhong. Since I was at it, I didn’t want to skip the amba or the savory mango pickled sauce. I learn how sabich without amba is not sabich, although Ottolenghi makes it an optional ingredient.

In the final analysis, I have to agree with the notion that amba brings balance to the relationship. While all the disparate components sing their own tune, they have to work together eventually — like the US women soccer team. Imagine the spectacular outcome when they do. On its own, the titillating, spicy and fruity mango sauce is irresistable. I can’t have enough of it.

At the end of a marathon cooking day, I can sit back and enjoy the sabich. Wonderful bites full of unexpected flavors. Creamy, crunchy, squishy bursts of goodness. Even better, I have the leftover Tahini sauce, Zhong and amba. All I need is some fresh pita bread; I can’t wait to get the real deal of this incredible street food again soon.

Print Recipe

Sabich with Tahini, Zhong (Chili) and Amba (Mango) Sauces

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants (about 1 2/3 lb / 750g)
• About 1 1/4 cup / 300ml sunflower oil
• 4 slices rustic white bread, toasted, or fresh and moist mini pitas
• 4 free-range eggs, hard-boiled and cut into 3/8 inch/ 1cm-thick slices or quartered
• Salt and black pepper
• FOR THE TAHINI SAUCE:
• 100g tahini paste
• 80ml water
• 20ml lemon juice
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• FOR THE SALAD:
• 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 3/8 inch / 1cm dice, about 1 cup / 200g in total
• 2 mini cucumbers, cut into 3/8 inch / 1cm dice, about 1 cup / 120g in total
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1½ tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• FOR THE ZHONG:
• 1 1/4 oz / 35g coriander, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 oz / 10g parsley, coarsely chopped
• 2 green chillies, coarsely chopped
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ⅛ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp water
• FOR THE AMBA or savory mango pickled sauce (optional):
• 2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon crushed Aleppo pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt
• lemon juice

Instructions

1

Using a vegetable peeler, peel off strips of eggplant skin from top to bottom, so they end up like a zebra, with alternating black-and-white stripes. Cut both eggplants widthwiss into 2.5cm-thick slices. Sprinkle them on both sides with salt, then spread them on a baking sheet and let stand for at least 30 minutes to remove some water. Use paper towels to dry them.

2

Heat the sunflower oil in a wide pan. Carefully – the oil spits – fry the eggplant in batches until nice and dark, turning once, for six to eight minutes; add oil if needed as you cook the batches. When done, the eggplant should be completely tender in the centre. Remove from the pan, leave to drain on kitchen paper, then sprinkle with salt.

3

To make the zhoug, put all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste.

4

For the tahini sauce, put the tahini paste, water, lemon juice, garlic and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Mix well, and add a little more water, if needed, so its consistency is slightly runnier than honey.

5

Make the salad by mixing the tomato, cucumber, spring onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6

To serve, place a slice of bread, or pita on each plate. Spoon a tablespoon of tahini sauce over each, then arrange overlapping slices of eggplant on top. Drizzle over some more tahini, without completely covering the eggplants. Season each egg slice, and lay on top of the eggplant slices. Drizzle more tahini on top and spoon over as much zhoug as you like – be careful, it's hot! Serve the salad on the side; spoon a little on top of each sabih, too, if you like. Store any leftover zhoug in a sealed container in the fridge – it will keep for a week at least.

7

To make the mango amba:

8

Combine all the ingredients except the salt and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mangoes have broken down and the mixture has reduced by half, about 20 minutes.

9

Let the amba cool, then taste and add salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/15/yotam-ottolenghi-sabih-recipe