Side & appetiser
Kashk-e Bademjan
کشک بادمجان
The pattern above is ornament, not a photograph of the dish.
- Hands-on time
- 25 min
- Cooking time
- 45 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Makes
- 4 servings (Estimated)
- Kind
- Side & appetiser
- Where it is eaten
- Popular national dishes of Iran
- Serving
- 250 g
Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
- aubergines, slender ones if you can get them 700 g
- kashk (fermented whey) 200 g
- onion, finely chopped 2 medium
- garlic, finely chopped 4 cloves
- dried mint 2 tbsp
- walnut kernels, coarsely chopped 60 g
- turmeric 0.5 tsp
- oil 5 tbsp
- salt 0.5 tsp
- black pepper 0.5 tsp
Method
Peel the aubergines, salt them and leave for 20 minutes, then rinse and dry them well with a cloth. The salt draws out the bitterness; drying them is what stops them drinking the whole pan of oil.
Fry the aubergines in hot oil until soft and golden on both sides, then lift them out.
In the same pan fry the onion until deep golden — this is پیاز داغ, and it should go well past pale. Take out half for the garnish. Add the garlic to what remains and fry for another minute with the turmeric.
Make the نعناع داغ separately: warm the dried mint in two tablespoons of oil off the direct heat for no more than 30 seconds. Mint burns almost instantly and burnt mint is bitter through the whole dish. Set half aside for the top.
Return the aubergines to the pan and mash them with a masher or the back of a fork — coarsely, not to a purée. Add the onion, garlic and half the mint oil, with the salt and pepper, and fry gently together for a few minutes.
Loosen the kashk with a little warm water until it pours, keep two tablespoons back for the top, and stir the rest in. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until it thickens and the oil rises.
Spread in a shallow dish and finish with the reserved kashk, the fried onion, the mint oil and the walnuts. Serve warm with fresh bread.
Cook's notes
Frying is the mainstream method and the one here. Grilling or roasting the aubergines instead gives a smokier dish and uses far less oil; several cooks prefer it, and it is the better choice if you are watching the fat.
Kashk varies enormously in salt and thickness between brands. Taste before adding any salt of your own, and thin it with warm water rather than cold, which makes it seize.
The dish comes from Isfahan and is usually served as a starter, warm, with bread. Some households serve the kashk separately alongside the mashed aubergine so each person mixes their own.
We consulted authoritative Persian cooking sources to prepare this recipe. Visit them for more detail and for regional variations of this dish.
Sources consulted:
- Kalleh — طرز تهیه کشک بادمجان مجلسی و اصیل 2026-08-13
- Chetor — طرز تهیه کشک بادمجان و نکات طلایی 2026-08-13
- Ghafari Diet — کشک بادمجان کبابی 2026-08-13
- Niniban — کشک بادمجان حرفهای، دستور مرحلهبهمرحله 2026-08-13
Reviewed: 2026-08-13
Background
This dish belongs to the broader Iranian culinary repertoire and is prepared across the country with family and regional variations. Its cultural identity is tied more to home tables, gatherings, or everyday cooking than to a single local origin.
Nutrition
| Energy | 350 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 10 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Carbohydrate | 28 g |
Where this comes from
Official documentation strongly supports the dish or geographic attribution, but all recipe fields are not traceable to one dish-specific official recipe page.
Record: IR0027 · Evidence: B (Officially supported)
Open the source page https://visitiran.ir/fa/type/persian-foods