Ingredients: Brinjal (Baingan / Eggplant), cup Cheddar cheese - grated, cup Whole Wheat Bread crumbs, grams Button mushrooms - chopped, cloves Garlic - chopped, cup Homemade tomato puree, teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera), - to taste, pepper powder - for seasoning, sprig Parsley leaves - chopped, tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour - or corn flour or (corn flour + ragi flour), 1/2 cups Milk, cup Britannia Cream Cheese, - to taste, pepper powder - for seasoning, Vegetarian diet
Instructions: To begin making the Eggplant Moussaka with Mushroom Sauce, we will first prepare the eggplants. First cut the eggplants into 1/2 inch thick slices. Sprinkle some salt and keep it aside in a colander for about an hour.After an hour, dry the eggplants using a kitchen towel. The next step is to cook the eggplants.Preheat a skillet on medium heat, grease the pan with oil and place the sliced eggplants in the oil and cook them until browned and soft on both sides. Once cooked, place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.Cooking the eggplants on the skillet, gives it a soft texture as opposed to baking them in the oven. If you plan to bake your eggplants, make sure you cover them with an aluminum foil so it does not dry out.Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a baking dish with oil and keep aside.In the next steps we will make the mushroom sauce and the bechamel sauce, the two most important sauces for the moussakaTo make the mushrooms sauce, heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and mushrooms and stir fry them until the mushrooms begin to release the water. Add the homemade tomato puree, the salt, cumin and black pepper. Give the mushrooms sauce a brisk boil until the mixture thickens. Once you have a thick sauce, turn off the heat and keep aside. Stir in the chopped coriander leaves.For the bechamel sauce, add all the ingredients into a saucepan and cook the sauce until it thickens. Once the sauce is thick, turn off the heat and keep the sauce aside.Our final step to make the moussaka is to assemble the dish and bake it in the oven.In a greased baking dish, sprinkle some breadcrumbs, this will help absorb the extra juices that come out when baking the moussaka.Place a layer of cooked eggplants at the bottom, pour some mushroom sauce over this later. Next layer it with eggplants again and pour the bechamel sauce over. Finally sprinkle it with cheese on the top.Bake the moussaka in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese melts and turns golden brown. Once done, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before you serve.Serve the Eggplant Moussaka with a Crusty Garlic Bread and a salad by the side.