I am sure you know so far that I have spent three great years in the Middle East. I especially loved Abu Dhabi mainly because of it’s beautiful and really welcoming people! I found that for me, it was the only place I could call home when indeed I was away from home. There is a real community feeling in Abu Dhabi which I wasn’t lucky – so far I would like to wish – to find anywhere else I have lived. I have made some real friends there and that always brings back lovely, warm memories.
I have to mention the food too though! And I don’t mean the Westernised food that poor Emirati had to accept in their country but their lovely local Arabic food which I believe has Levantine influences. If you ever find yourself in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, try and visit Lebanese restaurants or local restaurants which aren’t that tourist pleasing to the eye. You will find food that is extra tasty and delicious but a lot of the times healthy as well!
One of the dishes I loved in the Middle East was baba ganoush! It’s an unbelievably healthy dish that can be served as a meze with some bread or vegetables to dip, or as an accompaniment for grilled meat or even as a sauce in falafel or different wraps! Endless possibilities really!
Baba ganoush is a creamy dip made with roasted eggplants, garlic, tahini paste, lemon juice and olive oil! It is extremely easy to make but requires a bit of patience when preparing the eggplants. So that’s it! It’s only drawback is that you have to wait for 1 hour and 30 minutes for the eggplants to get roasted. The rest are super speedy and easy.
So, let’s get cooking my darlings!
INGREDIENTS
2 medium eggplants
1/2 tsp salt
2 small lemons
2 garlic cloves minced
3 tbs tahini paste
1/4 tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp yogurt
2 tbsp chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Pre-heat the oven at 200ºC. Place the eggplants on a wire baking tray and pierce holes into the eggplants with a fork. Don’t overdo the piercing about 1/4 inch deep or so. Bake the eggplants for 65-75 minutes. Half way through, turn them over. Egg plants are done when easily pierced.
Step 2
Remove them from the oven and place them immediately in a bowl and cover with foil. Allow for the eggplants to steam, approximately for 30 minutes. It gives them the chance to cool a bit too.
Step 3
Remove the skin from the eggplants and put the flesh in a sieve placed over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and let it drain for 15 minutes. Squeeze as much water as possible from the eggplants and discard it.
Step 4
In the bowl of a food processor, add the lemon juice, tahini paste and garlic. Pulse a few times as this will help the tahini paste loosen up. Add the eggplant, cumin and olive oil and pulse a bit more to achieve a smooth, thick consistency. Stir in the yogurt and pulse once more.
Step 5
Serve in a bowl and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top.
♥ The more you roast the eggplants the more smokey flavour the baba ganoush will have. Let the eggplants roast as much as possible
When preparing the flesh of the eggplants, if you find they have too many seeds then discard them as they will make the dip bitter.
SECRET: Prepare the baba ganoush the day before eating. This helps the flavours go into a relationship and then get married 🙂
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