Sabich (Vegetable and Pita Sandwich)
Sabich is a popular Israeli sandwich based on what Iraqi Jews ate on Sabbath morning, featuring fried eggplant, boiled potato, and hard-boiled egg. Instead of serving the ingredients on a tray, as was traditional, sabich stuffs everything in a pita.
2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
½ ea. cucumber, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp minced parsley
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp oil
Salt
1 eggplant, sliced into 1 cm rounds
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 pita breads
¾ cup hummus
½ cup tahini
Amba sauce
Put the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and parsley in a bowl.
Take another small bowl and mix the lemon juice, oil, and salt.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss well, leave it to stand for a couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high temperature. When the oil has become hot enough, fry the eggplant slices until they turn golden brown. Place the golden eggplant slices on a paper towel to remove the excess oil.
Spread the hummus evenly in each pita bread
Stuff the pitas with the slices of fried eggplants and the boiled eggs.
Spoon over some of the Israeli salad, drizzle the tahini and amba over the pitas, and serve.
- •Amba is pickled mango that is very popular in the Middle east. It may be difficult to find amba in some stores, but you can use hot sauce instead.