Baba Ghanoush (بابا غنوج)



Baba ghanoush is one of my favorite appetizers to order at a middle eastern restaurant. It is creamy and has a smoky flavor. In many middle eastern homes, the eggplants are put directly onto the open flame of a gas stove and grilled that way until the skin is charred on all sides. I do not have a gas stove, and also, my home’s fire detector sometimes goes off when I make toast, so torching a whole eggplant directly on a flame would definitely set off the alarm. The eggplants can be baked, but I am not convinced that baking the eggplants would impart that distinct smoky flavor.

I convinced my husband to grill the eggplants and to add a piece of apple wood to the charcoal in order to impart a good amount of smoke. I also had my husband grill the garlic, to add a little extra flavor (also I’m not a huge fan of raw garlic). The baba ghanoush turned out amazingly smoky! 

*A word of warning to those planning to serve this dish to vegetarians and/or American Muslims: hickory and apple wood are two of the more popular woods used for flavoring bacon. When we grilled the eggplants with the apple wood, the vegetarians in my family found it difficult to eat the baba ghanoush because it reminded them too much of bacon. The second time we made baba ghanoush, my husband did not add any wood for smoking. The baba ghanoush was not as smoky, but the vegetarians enjoyed it a lot more.

I adapted this recipe from Fada’ Abu Hasan’s recipe on Mowdoo3.com


Servings: 8Prep Time: 25 minCooking Time: 30 min


INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 medium eggplants (or 2 lbs of eggplant), washed and dried (the smaller the eggplants, the fewer the seeds, making your baba ghanoush creamier)
  • 1 small head/ ½ a large head of garlic
  • 3 Tbsp tahini
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp chopped parsley leaves
FOR SERVING
  • Parsley or mint leaves, chopped
  • A drizzle of olive oil
  • A pinch of ground sumac


PREPARATION


  1.  Cut off the bottom (root end) of a small head of garlic and wrap the head in a piece of aluminum foil
  2. Put the eggplant and wrapped garlic directly on a hot grill with a piece of smoking wood to give it a smoky flavor
  3. Allow to cool, unwrap the foil, and squeeze the garlic flesh out of the garlic paper
  4. Remove the eggplants from the heat, allow to cool, then peel off the skin
  5. Line a colander with a paper towel and place the skinless eggplant flesh in the colander and let it drain for 20 minutes
  6. Put the eggplant in the bowl of a food processor
  7. Add the garlic to the food processor by removing the foil and squeezing it out of the garlic paper
  8. Add the salt
  9. Pulse the eggplant, salt, and garlic a couple of times
  10. Add the tahini and lemon juice (add more or less to taste) and pulse until everything is mixed well (the more you pulse it, the creamier and smoother/saucier it will become)
  11. Finally, add the 1 Tbsp of chopped parsley leaves to add some color. Pulse a couple more times to mix

TO GARNISH:

  1. Put the baba ghanoush in a serving dish and pull the back of a spoon in a circle, creating a moat. Poor a bit of olive oil into the spoon-impression/moat
  2. Sprinkle some ground sumac over the baba ghanoush
  3. Sprinkle some chopped parsley or mint leaves over the baba ghanoush


OPTIONAL:

* Put the eggplants directly onto the flame of a gas stove at medium high, turning them regularly until they are grilled on all sides
* Preheat the oven to 425 F, cut the eggplants in half length-wise and place them cut-side down onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. (Put the wrapped head of garlic into the oven next to the eggplant). Bake for 30 minutes or until the skin is shriveled and crispy
* This recipe can be made with raw garlic

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