Baba Ghanoush is a traditional Middle Eastern dish that is so beloved it traveled the ancient world from India to Morocco. While recipes will vary the basics of this fantastic dish remain. Roasted eggplants, olive oil, tahini (kind of a sesame butter), garlic, and lemon juice. The base for this dish is fire roasted eggplant. To get these eggplants just right you need a lot of heat, not the kind of heat your oven can pump out but the heat of your grill.
In ancient days eggplants were dropped right into the fire to cook. While you could just set them down into a pile of burning coals you will find it a little easier to simple heat up your grill (gas or charcoal) as hot as it will go and put in the eggplants to cook. Pierce the side with a barbecue fork a couple of times and let the eggplants cook.
For the sake of the recipe lets assume we are using one pound of eggplants here.
As the eggplant cooks the meaty flesh inside will begin to give up its moisture. Eggplants may seem dry but they hold a lot of water. It is this water that contains the bitter flavor of the eggplant. By roasting the eggplants as hot as you can you will let this liquid drain out through the holes we punched in the sides.
Because they are dense, eggplants can hold a lot of heat and will continue cooking after they are removed from the heat so we don't need them completely heated through, just mostly. Once the skin is crispy and burnt (and loose) remove the eggplants from the heat.
Let the eggplants rest and cool down. You don't want the eggplant flesh too hot because it will make it hard to work with and it will cook the other ingredients. As the eggplants cool down they will collapse and loose more of the bitter liquid. Let them cool to a comfortable temperature before you do anything else. If you put them in a covered bowl the steam will lift of the skins.
Once the eggplants are cool enough to work with peel of the skin. This skin is not very tasty since it is now charred and burned. You can pick off the skin with your hands easily. Make sure you remove it all.
Give the eggplant flesh one last squeeze to remove the last of the bitter liquid and you are ready to make Baba Ghanoush.
The ingredients for our Baba Ghanoush are:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 plus 1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini
1 pound eggplants, roasted
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Tahini is a sesame paste similar to peanut butter, but with sesame seeds instead of peanuts. You can find it in many stores. It is typically put with Middle Eastern foods. If your local grocery store doesn't have it, try a Middle Eastern food store.
Put all the ingredients (except the 1 tablespoon of olive oil) into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Pour Baba Ghanoush into a bowl or serving dish and top with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
Baba Ghanoush is typically treated like a dip. Serve it with fresh cut vegetables, chips or pita pieces (toasted pita bread cut into small pieces).
