Mahshi Betinjan

Wash 8 small eggplants, trim off the stems, and carefully hollow out the centers with a corer or a narrow knife, leaving walls about 5 mm thick and taking care not to pierce the bottom.

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and drain well. Finely chop the onion, garlic, mint, and parsley.

Combine the ground beef, rice, onion, garlic, mint, parsley, 1 tbsp olive oil, ground allspice, cardamom, salt, and black pepper.

Loosely fill the eggplants with the stuffing, leaving about 1 cm of space at the top so the rice can expand as it cooks.

Peel the tomatoes and blend them with the remaining water, the remaining olive oil, a pinch of salt, and black pepper until smooth.

Arrange the stuffed eggplants snugly in a heavy-bottomed pot, pour the tomato sauce over them almost to the top, and cover with an inverted plate to keep them from floating.

Bring to a boil, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer over the lowest heat for 35–40 minutes, until the eggplants are easily pierced with a fork and the rice and meat are fully cooked.

Remove the pot from the heat, carefully remove the plate, and let the mahshi rest, covered, for 10–15 minutes; serve hot with the tomato sauce.