The Art Of Cooking – Sabich

• by: Jom Semah

Sabich is one of my favorite street food! Whenever I go to Israel I have to visit Oved’s Sabich, to enjoy this delicious Iraqi Jewish Pita sandwich.
The ingredients inside the Pita bread are a mix of classic Iraqi ingredients combined with Israeli ones, and together they blend into a perfect taste.
There are a lot of components in the Sabich which actually take time to prepare but it is definitely worth it.

Ingredients:

Israeli salad:
1 Cucumber
2 Tomatoes
1 Large onion
1 Lemon
Parsley

Sabich:
Large Pita bread
Hard-boiled eggs
Large eggplant
Hummus
Salt
Oil to pan fry with

The Sauces:
Amba sauce
(Amba sauce is a very important ingredient but hard to find at local grocery stores. It is a spicy pickled mango sauce, and maybe in the future I will write a recipe. But a good substitute could be the mango chutney.)
Tahini sauce (This is the sauce not the paste, one can make it simply by mixing the tahini, lemon juice, and minced garlic. Season with salt to test.)
Harissa (If you like spicy food!)

Making the eggplant:
First cut the eggplant in large slices and lay them flat on paper towels.
salt generously and wait for about 15 minutes.
There will be a lot of moisture rising out of the eggplant.
Remove the moisture with a paper towel and flip them and do the same process on the other side.
Once the sliced eggplant is done “crying” removes all the moisture from them.
In a skillet fry the sliced eggplant with oil on a low fire until golden brown on both sides.

Making the hard-boiled eggs:
Hard-boiled the eggs and let them chill afterward. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and place them in a box full of water with some tea bags and cover the box.
Let the hard-boiled eggs marinated in the fridge.

Making the Israeli salad:
Dice the cucumber, tomato, and onion and mix them in a bowl. Add chopped parsley and lemon juice.

Create the Sabich!:
Make sure the Pita bread is warm. When reheating Pita bread in the oven make sure to make it wet first, this will keep the Pita bread soft.
Open up the Pita bread and smear a thick layer of hummus on both insides.
Cut the hard-boiled eggs in slices and fill the Pita bread with the hard-boiled eggs and eggplant.
Then add the Israeli salad on top and the sauces!

Once again, this Pita sandwich has a lot of components, but all of them matter and make a perfect Sabich.
So, I hope you will try it out yourself!
Beteavon!

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