Lebanese Cuisine

Eggplant dip (baba ghanouj)

Cuisine: Lebanese Prep time: 35 min(s) Cooking time: 10 min(s) Servings: Serves 10 Created by Katia Faraj

It’s quite nerve-wracking to just pop a whole eggplant directly on a gas flame, but without the smoky flavour you get as the eggplant sizzles, you wouldn’t have a true baba ghanouj. This is a foolproof and creamy recipe for this beautiful dip.

Ingredients

3 medium eggplants
1 ½ tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
1–2 garlic cloves
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sweet paprika
finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
finely diced tomato

Preparation

Grill the eggplants whole over a gas flame, turning with tongs until the skin is evenly blistered and the flesh is soft. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes to cool.

Peel the eggplants and leave to drain for 15–20 minutes.

Place the eggplants in a food processor with the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt and process until well combined and creamy. You may wish to add extra tahini, lemon juice or salt to taste.

Scoop into a serving bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the oil into the well and sprinkle paprika, parsley and tomato on top. Makes approximately 3 cups.

SBS cook’s notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55–60 g, unless specified.

Lebanese Restaurants

Displaying 10 of 134 Lebanese Restaurants.

Restaurant Suburb
1. El Bahsa Newtown
2. No No's Red Hill
3. Abla's Carlton
4. Almazett Caulfield North
5. Dunyazad Balwyn North
6. Kanzaman Richmond
7. Samsara Mt Waverley
8. Summerland Bankstown
9. Almustafa Glebe
10. El-Manara Lebanese Restaurant Lakemba
   
01 Jun 2013 02:14 AEST
Mick
My business
Interesting website
I have tried to play the clip 5 times and watched 5 different adds! This website sucks.
04 Mar 2011 06:26 AEST
Nicole
Tokyo
Yummy!
This is one of my favorite Mezza recipe. Always ask for it in lebanese restaurants :)
20 Jan 2011 10:30 AEST
Melanie
Aldinga Beach, SA
Very delicious!!
I have never had much luck in the past with cooking anything with eggplant in it, so have chosen to avoid it. Not anymore!! This is a very tasty recipe and I can see this being a hit at parties and part of my lunch box for work. Great recipe - thank you :)
27 Dec 2009 04:02 AEST
ryck
chatswood
cooking the eggplant
there is no way to give specific times for cooking the eggplant without knowing how you are cooking it and how powerful the flame is. on a gas-powered BBQ, at the very lowest setting, it usually takes around 60 - 90 mins to get a well cooked eggplant while checking it every 10 mins or so. increase the heat, but check the eggplants sooner or they will burn. i prefer not to puncture the eggplants and try to preserve their juice, which i keep and add to the dip for a softer, creamier texture.
31 Jul 2009 03:22 AEST
sarita
bibra lake wa
question
how long approoximately should you cook the egglplant over the flame for?? thanks
01 Jun 2009 11:34 AEST
Alan
Donvale
Better than deli offerings!
Fantastic taste ... it was smoky even though we grilled it rather than flamed it. Letting the eggplant drain after skinning is important ... the amount of liquid that drains is surprising. And we also increased the tahini, garlioc and lemon quantities by 25% and halved the salt. Keeps well in the fridge but not the freezer.
31 Mar 2009 04:19 AEST
Mary
Burlington
Very nice
This was lovely!
24 Oct 2008 04:26 AEST
Raewyn
Bassendean, W.A.
Authentic and easy
I've always loved this dip, but never knew how to get that smokey flavour into the eggplant until I saw the great method demonstrated on Food Safari. I've made this heaps of times since then, served with warm Turkish Pide (bread) and everyone I've served it to, just can't get enough - delicious. Stores well for a couple of days in the fridge too.

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