A little love letter
Dear sabich sandwich,
You are a lot of little projects that turn into one very big sandwich. And every single one of them is worth it.
Crispy golden eggplant. Nutty tahini with lemon and garlic. Green, fiery zhoug with cilantro, jalapeño and cardamom. A sweet, spicy mango sauce. A quick tomato cucumber salad, and crunchy roasted chickpeas for good measure. All of it stuffed into a warm pita until it can barely close.
The first bite is chaos in the best way. Creamy, crunchy, sour, hot and fresh all at once, with sauce running down my wrist. You’re not tidy and you don’t pretend to be. For a lazy weekend lunch, you’re exactly what I want, napkins included.
Let’s make this piece of happinessxo, Kimberly
saved you a seatUp close
Sabich Sandwich
Pita with crispy fried eggplant, tahini and fresh herbs, plus a mango amba-style sauce. The Israeli street food classic. Forty minutes, messy in the best way.
Hi, I’m Kimberly. The kitchen is my happy place, and everything that turns out really good there ends up here. Including the little tricks I’d usually only tell my friends. more about me
make the tahini sauce
For the tahini sauce, mix tahini and water in a small bowl until smooth. Press in one peeled garlic clove, add maple syrup and lemon juice, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.make the mango sauce
For the mango sauce, peel the mango and blend the soft flesh in a tall container with a hand blender until creamy, adding a bit of water if needed. Add chili flakes to taste and stir. Set aside.make the zhoug
For the Zhoug, first grind the 3 cloves and the contents of 5 cardamom pods in a mortar. Put this powder in a tall container that fits the hand blender, and add the following: cilantro leaves, parsley leaves, 4 tbsp of cold water, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of lime juice, ½ tsp of cumin, 1 jalapeno without the stem, and 2 peeled garlic cloves. Blend everything into a pesto-like paste and set aside.make the salad
For the tomato-cucumber salad, wash the tomatoes and cucumber well. Cut both into small, even pieces and put them in a medium bowl. Peel the red onion, cut it into thin strips, and add to the bowl. Finely chop a few parsley leaves and add them too. Finally, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of lemon juice and mix well. Set aside.roast the chickpeas
For the roasted chickpeas, preheat the oven to 200°C. Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly under running water and let them drain. In a medium bowl, mix together the spice blend: ½ tbsp of olive oil, ¼ tsp of cumin, ¼ tsp of smoked paprika, ¼ tsp of salt, ¼ tsp of curry powder, ¼ tsp of dried garlic, and ¼ tsp of dried onion. Put the chickpeas in a clean kitchen towel and gently rub them dry, removing any loose skins. Mix the chickpeas with the spice paste in the bowl until they're well coated. Spread the chickpeas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Place the pita breads in the oven for the last 10 minutes.fry the eggplant
Finally, prepare the eggplant slices. Wash and dry the eggplant, then cut it into slices about 1 cm thick. Spread 2 tbsp of cornstarch on a small plate and coat the eggplant slices on both sides, shaking off any excess. Fry the slices in a hot pan with 2 tbsp of avocado oil until crispy on both sides, then let them drain on a paper towel.assemble
To assemble, spread tahini sauce on each piece of bread, add tomato-cucumber salad, then a few eggplant slices, and top with Zhoug and mango sauce. Finally, sprinkle the roasted chickpeas on top. Enjoy your delicious creation!Pairings
Can I make the sauces ahead?
My tahini sauce is too thick. What now?
How do I get the eggplant crispy, not soggy?
What is sabich?
More pieces of happiness
Tell me how it went
A little love letter
Dear sabich sandwich,
You are a lot of little projects that turn into one very big sandwich. And every single one of them is worth it.
Crispy golden eggplant. Nutty tahini with lemon and garlic. Green, fiery zhoug with cilantro, jalapeño and cardamom. A sweet, spicy mango sauce. A quick tomato cucumber salad, and crunchy roasted chickpeas for good measure. All of it stuffed into a warm pita until it can barely close.
The first bite is chaos in the best way. Creamy, crunchy, sour, hot and fresh all at once, with sauce running down my wrist. You’re not tidy and you don’t pretend to be. For a lazy weekend lunch, you’re exactly what I want, napkins included.
Let’s make this piece of happinessxo, Kimberly
saved you a seatUp close
Sabich Sandwich
Pita with crispy fried eggplant, tahini and fresh herbs, plus a mango amba-style sauce. The Israeli street food classic. Forty minutes, messy in the best way.
that’s meHi, I’m Kimberly. The kitchen is my happy place, and everything that turns out really good there ends up here. Including the little tricks I’d usually only tell my friends. more about me
