Curried Eggplant Strudel

1 lg Eggplant -- peeled/diced

1/2 ts Salt

1 c Chopped onion

1 tb Olive oil

1 Garlic clove -- minced

1 tb Curry powder

1 ts Ground cumin

1 ts Chili powder

1 c Chopped canned tomatoes

2 tb Sugar

1/4 ts Ground saffron

1/4 c Vinegar

1/2 c Roasted peanuts -- chopped

1 lb Frozen phyllo dough (24

Sheets) -- defrosted 3/4 lb Unsalted butter --

Clarified 1 c Plain yogurt

Toss the eggplant with the salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Wrap in a towel and squeeze out any excess moisture. Set aside. In a skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, curry powder, cumin and chili powder, and cook 2 more minutes. Add the reserved eggplant, tomatoes and sugar. Mix the saffron into the vinegar and add to mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the eggplant is soft. Add a bit of water if the mixture should become too dry. Add the peanuts and cool completely. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a sheet of phyllo on a clean work surface and drizzle lightly with clarified butter. Layer five more sheets, drizzling a bit more butter atop each layer. Brush the top layer with butter. Place a quarter of the filling over the sheets, mounding more of it along one of the longer sides. Roll the sheets up jelly roll-style, starting at the edge with the mounded filling. Place seam-side down on a greased sheet pan and brush with more cla rified butter. Make three more strudels using the rest of the phyllo and the remaining filling and butter. On sheet pans, bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes, moving the pans front to back and top to bottom

halfway through. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Cut the strudel in 1-inch-thick slices and top with yogurt. Per hors d'oeuvre: 64 calories, 1 gm protein, 5 gm carbohydrates, 5 gm fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 2 gm saturated fat, 61 mg sodium Andrew Schloss is a cookbook author whose "Dinner's Ready," written with Ken Bookman, was published earlier this year by William Morrow. The Washington Post 12/20/95