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    Home » Easy Vegan Recipes » Mains

    Lebanese moussaka – Aubergine and chickpea stew with pomegranate

    26 February, 2010 by Kip 20 Comments

    This recipe for Lebanese moussaka, first publised in 2010, was updated in September 2021. The changes include more precise measurements, the elimination of lemon juice (the pomegranate molasses imparts enough sourness), and the addition of allspice and cinnamon.

    Lebanese Moussaka (Maghmour)

    One of my favourite easy meals, this delightfully rich stew combines two middle eastern staples to create a mouthwatering stew of aubergine (eggplant) and chickpeas. A full-bodied tomato sauce complemented by tangy pomegranate molasses is what makes this dish so unique. It's simple to make, delicious to eat, and makes for a filling meal.

    Lebanese Moussaka (Maghmour)
    Print Recipe

    Lebanese Moussaka (Maghmour)

    This no frills dinner can be served as a main with rice or, more traditionally, room temperature as part of a mezze spread.
    Course: Main Course, Mezze
    Servings: 2 people

    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup olive oil divided
    • 1 large aubergine (about 400-425 grams) cut into ½ inch rounds
    • 1 medium onion chopped
    • 2-3 cloves garlic minced
    • 400 gram tin of tomatoes or 400 grams fresh tomatoes
    • 75 millilitres water
    • ½ tablespoon tomato paste
    • 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
    • ¾ teaspoon salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
    • pinch or two ground cinnamon
    • 400 gram tin of chickpeas, drained or 100 grams dried chickpeas, cooked
    • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
    • Handful of fresh parsley leaves chopped (optional)

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 250° Celcius (475° F). Use some of the olive oil to brush both sides of the aubergine (eggplant) slices and bake for about 10 minutes. Turn the slices over and cook a further 10 minutes. If the aubergine are finished cooking before you complete the next step, remove from the oven and set aside until you do.
    • Heat the remaining oil in a large pan or medium saucepan and fry the onions for 5-6 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water, tomato paste, sugar, salt, allspice, and cinnamon. Simmer for 10 minutes.
    • Add the roasted aubergine and chickpeas to the sauce. Simmer for 20-25 minutes. Stir the pomegranate molasses through just before it's finished cooking.
    • If serving as a main, dish up with rice and/or bread. If you intend to serve this as part of a mezze spread, let the moussaka cool to room temperature first. Garnish with parsley.

    More Mains

    • Vegan cheesy cauliflower with Chinkiang vinegar
    • Thai style vegan chicken rice (khao man gai)
    • Vegan mee gati – Thai coconut milk noodles
    • Instant pot black rice with smoked tofu and tomato coconut purée

    Reader Interactions

    I reserve the right to improve any malicious and trollish comments left below. Please do not comment about nonvegan products or activities.

    Comments

    1. Maija Haavisto

      February 28, 2010 at 12:33 pm

      Sounds tasty. I love pomegranate molasses. I'm almost out of it, but I think I have one tablespoon. But what about spices? No cumin or anything?

      Reply
      • Kip

        March 01, 2010 at 8:34 am

        I think cumin would be a pretty good addition too (it definitely works well with pomegranate molasses), but certainly isn't necessary to add flavour to this dish.

        Reply
    2. donkeylover

      March 09, 2010 at 3:11 am

      so super yum. thanks for this recipe. i made this tonight. 🙂

      Reply
    3. donkeylover

      March 09, 2010 at 5:02 pm

      BTW, I always post your recipes on the weight watchers veg board. your recipes are awesome for folks who are trying to lose weight.

      now if i only hadn't sleep eaten that pint of vegan pomegranate chip ice cream.....

      Reply
      • Kip

        March 10, 2010 at 12:24 pm

        Is that the Purely Decadent stuff? When I'm in the states I eat a tub of that a day and the pomegranate chip is one of my favourites!

        Glad you like the recipe. Pomegranate molasses is one of the most amazing discoveries of my life and this is one of my favourite uses. Thanks for passing my stuff along, too!

        Reply
        • donkeylover

          March 10, 2010 at 1:25 pm

          yep! i love that stuff. i had to make an executive decision to only have it in the house on special occasions because i became WAY out of control. 🙂

          Reply
    4. ChefWanabi

      March 22, 2010 at 2:46 am

      Nothing but raves from us & the leftover taster at my wife's school, except...leftovers? Looking at the volume of ingredients, I decided to use 2 large eggplants (sorry, we're still living in the U.S.) and doubled everything else; we (2) had 2 bowls each for dinner and had only about 1 cup left over. If 1X the recipe "serves 2 as a main", it leaves me feeling somewhat - gluttonacious?
      As an aside, since I had to make the PoMolasses for this, I was wondering: Lemon Meringue Pie is one of my strong points; any guesses or experience with substituting that molasses as the "tartening agent" instead of those citrus fruits?

      Reply
      • Kip

        March 22, 2010 at 11:47 am

        Glad you liked it and thanks for the rave review. I'll review the recipe when I'm back home to check quantities.

        I love the idea of a pomegranate base for a pie! I'm going to experiment when I'm back home next week. Maybe a combination of the molasses and lemon juice, as they go so well together?

        Reply
    5. Eileen Maxey

      February 09, 2013 at 12:27 am

      I have been working on this recipe for some time now. I find that the addition of extra garlic, and olive oil keeps it rich. Allspice, mint and a scosh of cinnamon really gives this some depth of flavor. Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
      • Kip

        February 09, 2013 at 1:48 am

        Thanks for the added tips!

        Reply
      • Elias Guerrero

        April 03, 2016 at 2:22 pm

        I used everything you mentioned except for mint and allspice which I did not have on hand. I went overboard with the chickpeas so will fish out to make with pasta but we loved it. Lemon juice and pomegranate syrup is wonderful, I like to experiment so I threw in a smidgen of Sumac. Turned out fabulous. I may have overcooked the eggplants, it was my first time.

        Reply
    6. Ayda

      September 08, 2015 at 7:54 pm

      without onions? interesting..

      Reply
    7. Mirella

      October 21, 2015 at 11:19 pm

      What would you serve with?... Taa!

      Reply
      • Kip

        October 22, 2015 at 1:53 am

        Hi Mirella,

        I would go simple with fresh pitta bread or with couscous. You also can't go wrong with a basic salad with a lemon and good quality olive oil dressing.

        Reply
        • Mirella

          October 22, 2015 at 10:38 pm

          Thanks, I've just had it now absolutely amazing! 🙂

          Reply
          • Kip

            October 23, 2015 at 3:13 am

            Glad you liked it and thanks for reporting back 🙂

            Reply
    8. Chris B.

      March 26, 2018 at 2:13 pm

      Hi Kip,
      Hope this isn't a silly question, but do you drain the tins of chickpeas and tomatoes before adding them to the pot?

      Reply
      • Kip

        March 27, 2018 at 10:29 am

        Yes, I drain them. I'll add that to the recipe to avoid confusion in future. Thanks!

        Reply
    9. I reserve the right to improve malicious and trollish comments.

    Trackbacks

    1. Urban Vegan Tester: Chickpeas with Tomatoes, Eggplant and Kale | Recipe by The Messy Vegetarian Cook says:
      1 January, 2011 at 9:04 pm

      [...] claimed a firm place on the make again list. Aubergine and chickpea are two of my favourites, and in combination they wow me to kingdom come, so I knew straight away this would be a winner. AKPC_IDS += [...]

      Reply
    2. Steph’s Veggie Moussaka | The London Diaries says:
      28 March, 2014 at 8:52 am

      […] moussaka recipe in our repertoire.  My moussaka is based on the brilliant version over on Messy Vegetarian Cook (a brilliant site all around!) but, ever experimental, I’ve changed a few bits.  We loved […]

      Reply

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    Name's Kip. Some things about me: vegan, Thai food enthusiast, comfortably chaotic and disorganised, information lover, Londoner, cookbook collector, clumsy AF, rarely takes a serious photo, has never been on a diet. This is not a wellness blog.

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