Baba ganoush
Baba ganoush differs from hummus not only in its ingredient but in how it is cooked. The aubergine is not roasted but charred over an open flame until the skin blackens. The smoke goes into the flesh, and that smoke is the dip's main flavour. The second condition: the flesh has to be drained, because aubergine is over 90 per cent water.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Charring the aubergines 35 min
- Draining 20 min
- Mixing 10 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneChar the aubergines over a flame
Set the whole aubergines directly on a gas burner and turn them for 20–25 minutes, until the skin is charred black and the vegetable has collapsed and gone soft through the middle. It is the smoke from the burnt skin that separates baba ganoush from plain aubergine purée.
Ingredients: 1000 g aubergines
Skin charred black, the aubergine collapsed.Rest, then scoop out the flesh
Wrap the hot aubergines in foil for 10 minutes — the steam lifts the skin off the flesh. Then split them lengthways and scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Do not rinse it: you would wash away the very smoke the previous step was for. A few black flecks of skin can stay.
Ingredients: 1000 g aubergines
Drain the flesh in a sieve
Put the flesh in a sieve over a bowl and leave it for 20 minutes. Several tablespoons of brown, faintly bitter liquid will run out. Without this the dip is watery and separates in the fridge.
Ingredients: 1000 g aubergines
The brown liquid runs off — the dip will be thick.Crush the garlic with salt and lemon
Crush the garlic with the salt to a paste and cover it with the lemon juice for 5 minutes. The acid softens the raw edge of the garlic, which can otherwise dominate everything in an uncooked dip.
Ingredients: 80 g tahini · 1 pcs lemon · 2 cloves garlic · ½ tsp ground cumin · 60 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp salt
Mix with a fork, not a blender
Combine the drained flesh with the tahini, the lemony garlic, cumin and yogurt, mashing with a fork. A blender gives a uniform, gluey paste; a fork leaves the fibres that show this is an aubergine and not something from a tube.
Ingredients: 80 g tahini · 1 pcs lemon · 2 cloves garlic · ½ tsp ground cumin · 60 g Greek yogurt · 1 tsp salt
A fork keeps the fibres — a blender makes glue.Spread and pour on the oil
Spread on a flat plate, run a spoon around to make a channel at the edge and pour the oil into it. Scatter pomegranate seeds and parsley. Serve at room temperature — cold dulls the flavour and stiffens the tahini.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil · ½ pcs pomegranate · ¼ bunch parsley
Before you start
Without a gas hob
Char the aubergines under the oven grill heated to full power (about 250 °C), on the top shelf close to the element, turning every few minutes until the skin blackens and the flesh is soft — about 30–40 minutes. The result is a clear step down — for more smoke, add a few drops of liquid smoke or a pinch of smoked paprika to the finished dip.
The tahini matters
Good tahini is pourable and slightly bitter; bad tahini is thick, gritty and rancid. Stir the jar right to the bottom before using — the oil always rises, and the paste at the base alone would be unspreadable.
Two days in the fridge
In a sealed container in the fridge the dip keeps for up to two days; the flavour settles and deepens overnight. Take it out half an hour before serving and add a little more lemon if needed — the acidity usually mellows overnight.
