Baba Ganoush & Mutabbal (Roasted eggplant dip)
2 Mediterranean roasted eggplant recipes, one with tahini and one without. Both very different, but both delicious!
Ingredients
For mutabbal/moutabal (Roasted eggplant dip with tahini)
- 1 large eggplant/aubergine/brinjal about 500 grams
- 1½ tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small garlic
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- 2 tbsp roasted walnuts
- 1 tsp jaggery or any unrefined sugar with a molasses-y taste
- 1 tsp pomegranate molasses optional
- 1½ tbsp yogurt optional
For Baba Ganoush (Roasted eggplant dip without tahini)
- 1 large eggplant about 500grams
- ¾ tbsp pomegranate molasses check notes for substitutions
- 2 tbsp walnuts crushed/chopped
- 2 tbsp onions chopped
- ¼ cup tomatoes chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small garlic
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Roasting eggplant
- Roast eggplant directly over a gas range or on a grill/coal or broil in the oven at 450F/230C for 40 minutes until the insides are cooked through and very soft. Roasting over a direct flame or over coal gives the most smoky flavor as the skin gets charred.
- Transfer eggplant to a bowl and cover it and let it cool down for at least half an hour.
- After half an hour, remove eggplant onto the chopping board. Discard the liquid collected in the bowl.
- Remove the skin from the eggplant and discard.
- If the eggplant has many clusters of seeds, remove and discard them as they can leave a tingling sensation on tongue in some people. P.S- There is no need to remove all the seeds, remove the big clusters.
- Using a knife, finely mince the eggplant. NOTE: 1 eggplant of about 500 grams yields approximately 1 cup of minced roasted eggplant.
Preparing mutabbal
- Dry roast the walnuts.
- De-skin the garlic, add salt on it and crush garlic into a smooth paste (to avoid biting on raw pieces of garlic).
- Add the crushed garlic paste, tahini, lemon juice, crushed walnuts, jaggery, pomegranate molasses into the mashed eggplant and mix well till the mixture turns silky.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, add olive oil on top. Optionally, aleppo pepper, sumac, cumin powder can be added on top as a garnish.
- Serve with pita, crackers, roti or vegetables.
Preparing baba ganoush
- Crush garlic into a smooth paste to avoid biting on raw garlic.
- In a bowl, add minced roasted eggplant, chopped tomatoes, onions, parsley, crushed walnuts, garlic paste, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and salt.
- Mix everything very well with a spoon or fork.
- Adjust seasonings to your liking and serve as a dip with pita.
Video
Notes
- Outside of the Levant region, where both these dips originated, moutabal(dip with tahini) is often called baba ganoush.
- Adjust the quantity of tahini, salt, sweetener and lemon juice to suit your taste buds.
- To make a classic mutabbal, skip adding pomegranate molasses, walnuts and jaggery.
- It is important to use lemon for the best flavor, do not substitute with lime.
- Tahini - make your own by lightly toasting tahini and blending it till it turns to a paste and releases oils. Depending on the blender, you may need to add some oil to help with the blending.
- Pomegranate molasses - for sweetness, add molasses or an unrefined sugar with a molasses-y flavour. For the acidity, add an extra squeeze of lemon or tamarind extract.
- In Syria, yogurt is added to Moutabal. Equal amounts of tahini and yogurt can be added. Adjust seasonings accordingly.
- Cumin powder, Aleppo pepper powder/paprika, sumac can be used as a garnish.
- Some regions simply do not add pomegranate molasses in baba ganoush and only use lemon juice for acidity. This is a good option if pomegranate molasses is hard to find.
- Chopped peppers like red bell peppers(capsicums) can be added.
- Some regions roast red bell peppers and tomatoes before adding them into baba ganoush.