Baba Ghanoush...Aubergine again, a dip or a bread spread....



Or just as something you would dig your fingers into.
Another yummy way to have Aubergines, or what we call Eggplant or Baingan.

Now that the season for my favorite soups is over, I am digging my fingers into some luscious dips.

This Baba Ghanoush is a very flavorful creamy dip that can be had cold or even chilled on your toast, Chapati or Tortilla chips. So if you have this Baba Ghanoush in your fridge it can be used for a starter as well and can well carry on to be a part of the main meal...

I had bought a huge Aubergine, very fresh and used half of it for a curry one day. This half of the Aubergine was decided for this Baba Ghanoush and I though of taking pictures to show how to roast a halved Aubergine (Eggplant or Brinjal) on gas flame.


Just tear off a suitably sized Aluminium foil and cover the open cut surface of the Aubergine like this. Keeping the skinned parts uncovered.


Now place it over the grill plate placed over direct gas flame.

Turning the Aubergine half in all directions, keeping the foil covered surface down to the flame too.

Poke a pointed knife or a skewer to check if the Aubergine is cooked through. Softer flesh indicates it is cooked.


Remove the foil, peel off the burnt skin and the Aubergine is ready to be used in the Baba Ghanoush.


Let's move on to see the ingredients and how precisely they are pureed to make a creamy smooth dip.

ingredients...

300 gm Aubergine preferable a round variety (the half used here was this big)
3/4 cup of roasted sesame seeds
2-3 cloves of garlic
salt to taste
yogurt (dahi) 1/3 cup Or lemon juice to taste
extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
red chilly powder to taste
chopped parsley or cilantro or celery leaves to garnish

I had fresh celery in the garden so that was the natural choice.



procedure...

Peel off the burnt skin from the grilled Aubergine, chop or mash lightly and keep aside.

Pulse the roasted sesame seeds in a smaller size mixie jar or whatever machine you use, till the sesame is powdered. Add the cloves and red chilly powder to the jar and pulse again to make the garlic minced finely along with the sesame powder. This step wise addition is to make sure the sesame gets powdered finely and there are no pungent bits of garlic in the final dish.

Add the grilled and chopped Aubergine, the yogurt or lemon juice if using and salt to taste to the blending mix and pulse one more time till it gets smooth and creamy.

Pour in a serving bowl, drizzle Extra virgin Olive oil over it, sprinkle red chilly powder as garnish and the chopped fresh herb. Whatever herb is the choice of the day. I used Celery leaves as these were the freshest available from the garden.


Having such bread spreads would be a fun way o eat healthy. And stick to it.

Comments

  1. yummy!! bookmarked. will make it soon

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  2. hmmmmmmmmmm well other then the Aubergine everything is coooooooollll .. now a fan of Aubergine :(

    Bikram's

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  3. interesting, i have made dip from chickpeas...might try this one out...

    plus, you are featured on my blog!!

    http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in/

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    1. Thank you Sush. It's always great to know someone likes your recipes and they become family favorites too :-)

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  4. OMG, how did I miss this post.... We love baba ghanoush, have never tried making at home, will try it very soon, and am sure would be a regular, could you suggest some interesting uses of baba ghanoush, though I can have it just like that... Have been prowling through ur blog for sometime, must say aapka blog ek khajana hai.....:)

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    1. We like it with all kinds of breads , chapatis n even parathas and crackers too. Try placing it next to a salad bowl, I have liked it with carrot and cucumber sticks too.

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  5. Nice one....we love baingan in any form...though bhartha is fav. but as u said lick it with your finger, that's how much I love baingan in mish-mash & pureed kind of dishes....yesterday night dinner only made a sauce kind out of it.....will try this recipe also some time...thanks...

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  6. & btw like your new profile pic :)

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    1. Thank you Spice :-)
      Roasted eggplants is my fave too..any form.

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  7. Sangeeta this is so simple. I never had this dish as I did not have Tahini paste. I even have a choolah for roasting mangoes and egg plants in coal fire. So now Instead of begun poda (albeit with smoky flavour) I can have this delicacy. BTW I once made some egg plant pickle. though it was heavy on masalas and oil it tasted fantastic.

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