Baba Ghanouj
Updated Feb. 13, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2pounds eggplant, preferably small eggplants
- ¼cup lemon juice (more to taste)
- ¼cup sesame tahini, stirred if oil has separated out
- 1 to 2tablespoons plain yogurt, as needed
- 2garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- Salt to taste
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
187 calories; 12 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 623 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare a hot gas or charcoal grill. Pierce the eggplants in several places with a fork or the tip of a knife, and place over the hot coals. Grill, turning regularly, until soft and blackened all over. If you don’t have a grill but do have a gas stove, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover the top of your stove under the burner grates with foil to facilitate cleaning. Turn on your oven fan (so the smoke alarm won’t go off), and roast the eggplants directly over the flame, turning often until charred and softened. Small, thin eggplants will cook through this way, but larger eggplants must be finished in the oven. Wrap in foil, and place in the hot oven for 20 minutes until thoroughly softened. You can also roast the eggplant under a broiler until charred and softened. The flavor of the baba ganoush will not be as smoky.
- Step 2
Place the eggplant in a colander in the sink, and allow to cool and drain. Peel and discard the black skins, cut off the stems, and let the eggplants sit in the colander to drain for another 15 to 30 minutes.
- Step 3
Purée the eggplant in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the lemon juice, yogurt, tahini and garlic. Add to the food processor, and blend with the eggplant. Add salt to taste.
- Step 4
Mound the purée in a bowl or on a platter, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with pita bread.
- Advance preparation: This dish can be made several hours ahead. The flavors are best on the day it’s made, as the garlic, lemon juice and eggplant become more pungent over time.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.
Private Notes
Comments
This recipe is excellent. It uses slightly more tahini than others, and it works just fine. I had the bitterness problemmany times, and also occasional watery results, so I asked a classy Lebanese restaurant/deli. They prepare the eggplants the day before and drain them (peeled) in a colander (placed in a bowl) with a small plate and weights on top overnight. An astonishing amount of dark juices that contain the bitterness come out, and you will have a perfect result every time.
I slice the garlic into halves or quarters, make small slices in the skin of the eggplant, and push pieces of garlic into the eggplant prior to roasting. Then roast as above with the garlic in the eggplant. The roasted garlic adds a nice grarlic flavor without the sharpness of fresh garlic.
Piercing eggplant first is no joke. I ignored this and mine exploded, luckily on a gas grill with the lid down and not in my oven. 60 years cooking and still learning from mistakes!
Only used 2 tbsp of Tahini and it was very eggplanty. Overdid the garlic but the flavor and consistency was really nice.
Grilled the eggplant by cutting in half, rubbing with olive oil and placing face down on the grill instead of cooking whole. Flip when the face is a little charred, then a little longer off the direct heat. It takes much less time this way. My tongue is quite sensitive to eggplant seeds, but when the eggplant is cooked this way the entire seed pods can be pulled out like clusters of fish eggs. Then proceed per recipe.
@csanders there are female and male eggplants. The females have a large, long "scar" on the blossom end and have more seeds. the males have a smaller, button "scar" on the blossom and and have fewer seeds.
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