How funny is the name baba ganoush? It cracks me up just saying it. Baba ganoush. Doesn’t it give you the giggles?
Baba ganoush.
Apparently it means “pampered daddy” or something like that. Despite its rather comical/badass name, it’s a very delicious dip made with brinjals or aubergines or eggplants, depending where and how you learnt your English.
Ingredients
2 large eggplants 130g tahini (sesame paste) 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed 1/8 teaspoon chilli powder 1 tablespoon olive oil a half bunch of flat-leaf parsley or cilantro leaves
#1 – First, prick each eggplant a few times.
#2 – Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 190C for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft. They should look like this. Remove from oven and let cool.
#3 – Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp with a spoon.
#4 – You will be left with the skin like this. Can throw these away.
#5 – Throw the scraped pulp in a blender or a food processor.
#6 – Add tahini. I got my tahini from a grocer, you can try at any expat friendly supermarket.
#7 – Followed by lemon juice. Yes, yes, I use lemon juice from a bottle! Of course, juice from a fresh lemon is way better :)
#8 – Don’t forget the garlic cloves.
#9 – Chilli powder for some kick.
#10 – And cilantro leaves. I guess you could omit this if you can’t stand parsley/cilantro. That said, maybe you should just omit making baba ganoush altogether? LOL
#11 – Taste and season with salt and lemon juice, if necessary.
#12 – Baba ganoush, DONE!
Serve it drizzled with olive oil. It’s wonderful with crackers, melba toasts, toasted pita chips or even toasted sliced bread. Very flavoursome and quite healthy. In my case I made it to eat with kebab wraps. Delicious!
# – Lovely in wraps too.
If you want to make kebabs, I have a recipe here. Happy cooking!