If you have never heard the term baba ganoush, you might wonder what it is. Put simply, Baba ganoush is a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dip similar to hummus. Instead of chickpeas, you use roasted eggplants as a base for the dip.
Unlike hummus, which is often mild and creamy, baba ganoush can play its sour punch of lemon, a bite of garlic, and its rumbling low tones from cumin pretty transparently. And as it is based on eggplants, it is very digestible.
Bake the eggplants to make baba ganoush
The base of the whole dish are roasted eggplants. When giving them enough time in the oven, they develop a subtle smoke aroma. For this to happen, the water in the aubergine needs a way out.
Take a fork and poke holes all around the eggplant's skin. A thumb-wide gap between the pokes will do. Put them in the oven at around 410° F / 210° C and let them bake until they are wrinkly and almost black. This usually takes around half an hour.
When done baking, take them aside to cool down. You can cut them in half and fold them open to allow more moisture to escape from the inside.
preparing baba ganoush
Scrape the inside of the eggplant out of its skin using a spoon. Blend it with tahini, cumin, garlic, lemon juice, and some salt. If you want it a bit more smokey, try adding smoked paprika powder.
Try blending at low to medium speed for about 5 seconds to get a chunky blend. To make it soft, blend longer. I recommend chilling your baba ganoush before serving. Especially during hot summer days, a cold kick accompanies the freshness of the lemon well.
For decoration, you can use fresh parsley, lemon slices, olives, or pomegranates. Top it up with more spices and olive oil.
What to serve with this dip?
You can surely integrate baba ganoush into any buffet. But if you want to serve it as a main, you should bring finger food for dipping. Cut crisp vegetable sticks from carrots, cucumbers, and bell peppers. Toast bread slices, bring crackers, flatbreads, or tortillas.
You can cut fresh parsley for a tasteful decoration. Add pomegranate, fig, or olives as a topping.
Baba Ganoush
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 3 eggplants large
- 1 garlic
- 2 tsp cumin
- 100 g tahini
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 lemons
- salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 410° F / 210° C. Use a fork to poke holes into the eggplants all around, so that moisture can escape during the baking. Bake the eggplants around 30min or until really dark and wrinkled. Let the eggplants cool down.
- Cut the eggplant in half and remove its contents with the help of a table spoon. Add the eggplant together with the rest of the ingredients in the blender. For a chunky spread mix no more than 5 seconds on low to medium speed. Baba ganoush blent smooth makes a great experience as well.
- I recommend to chill the Baba Ganoush a bit before serving.Decorate with spices, herbs or more. Enjoy!
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Nutrients per serving
