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Eggplant and Cucumber Salad Sandwich

An earthy combination of fried eggplant, tea-steeped hard-boiled eggs, tahini, parsley, amba (a mango relish), and cucumber salad goes into this vegetarian sandwich, which is based on a traditional Shabbat breakfast of Iraqi Jews. From: Saveur SERVES 4

Peel of 1 large yellow onion
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
7 tbsp. canola oil
1½ lbs. large eggplant,
cut crosswise into ¼"-thick slices
Kosher salt, to taste
2 Kirby cucumbers, unpeeled, finely chopped
1 small tomato, cored and finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
5 tbsp. tahini
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
and mashed into a paste with a little salt
4 pitas, warmed
Amba, for serving
¼ cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves


1. Place tea bags and onion peel in a 4-qt. saucepan with 8 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to lowest setting, add eggs, and cover; let eggs steep until they've darkened in color, about 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12" cast- iron skillet over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering. Season eggplant with salt. Working in batches, add eggplant and cook, flipping once, until golden and very soft, 3–4 minutes. Transfer eggplant to paper towels and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, and olive oil; season cucumber salad with salt and pepper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the remaining lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and 5 tbsp. ice water. Whisk ingredients until creamy and season with salt; set tahini sauce aside.

4. To serve, slice off the top quarter of the pita breads and spread some of the tahini mixture on the inside of each pita. Put about 7 slices of eggplant into each pita along with one egg. Add some of the cucumber salad, top with some of the amba, and stuff some of the parsley into each pita. Drizzle the top of each sandwich with the remaining tahini sauce.