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Baba Ghanoush
Baba Ghanoush – smoky aubergine dip
Baba Ghanoush is a truly moreish dip with a seductive, smoky flavour laced with garlic and tahini and just enough lemon to make it sing. I can’t fault it. This recipe will show you how to make the very best, gorgeous, Baba Ghanoush you will ever taste.
It just makes you keep coming back for more
Baba Ghanoush is just one of those dishes that makes everyone come back for more. It’s great as part of a mezze or as snacks for a gathering.
Where did Baba Ghanoush originate from?
The story goes that it was first made for a priest who was so overwhelmed by its wonderful flavours that he simply fainted. It then became known as the Father’s indulgence and translated that becomes Baba (Father) Ghanoush..
Charing the skins gives you that wonderfully, seductive, smoky flavour.
Traditionally the aubergine is cooked directly on the flame of the cooker. But the juices tend to run out as it cooks and this can leave a bit of a clean up job. So you can to cook them under a hot grill which still chars the skins if you choose. I personally think giving the cooker a bit of a clean is a small price to pay for the wonderful smoky flavour you get charrng the aubergines directly on the flame.
You could cook them just in the cooker if you prefer. But but you won’t get a smoky flavour using this cooking method.
Ingredients
- 2 large aubergine
- 6 cloves of garlic peeled
- juice of 2 lemons
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp ground cumin seeds
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 tbsp fresh coriander finely chopped
- sea salt
- olive oil
Method
This is how to make Baba Ghanoush
Rinse the aubergine. Don’t cut off the stalks or the leafy bits – this is what you will use to turn them as they cook over the flame.
Slit the skins
Cut 3 deep slits in the skins of each of the aubergine . This serves 2 purposes. It ensures that steam doesn’t build up in the aubergine as it’s roasting, resulting in it exploding. It also allows the garlic to be cooked.
Pop in the garlic
Push the garlic cloves deep into the slits – this allows them to be cooked at the same time as the aubergine without any danger of being burned. – A hit of raw garlic in a dip isn’t good.
Massage with a little oil
Pour about 1/2 tsp of the oil into the palm of your hands and then rub it onto the skin of the aubergine. This will help with the charing.
Turn on 2 gas hob burners and set them to a high flame
Put the aubergines directly onto the flames. You need to keep an eye on them constantly and keep turning them.
The skin of the aubergines needs to char and blacken all over. The flesh inside needs to go lovely and soft, as it roasts over the flame and begin to collapse, this makes the very best Baba Ghanoush.
Let them sweat
When you’re satisfied that they are fully chared, remove the aubergine from the flame. Put them into a small plastic bag for a couple of minutes whilst they cool down. This allows them to sweat, which will make it easier to remove the skin.
Peel off the blackened skin.
When they’re cool, peel as much of the skin off as you can – if little slithers of the blackened skin remain don’t worry too much, this will just add to the flavour..
Never be tempted to rinse them.
*Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to rinse the aubergines under water, because this will wash away the lovely smoky flavour you’ve spent time building up.
Look out for the garlic.
Pay special attention that the garlic cloves, which you inserted into the slits and were roasted in the cooking process, are taken out. Take them out and mash them well before adding them back to the aubergine.
Mash them with a fork.
Put the peeled, cooked aubergine into a bowl and mash it with a fork.
You could do it in the food processor but Baba Ghanoush is meant to have a slightly chunky texture which would be lost if it was processed.
Add the other ingredients
Add the lemon juice, tahini, ground cumin, smoked paprika, mashed garlic and fresh coriander and mix well.
Season your Baba Ghanoush
Season with the sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add extra lemon juice if necessary.
Drizzle olive oil over your Baba Ghanoush before serving
Spoon your Baba Ghanoush into a wide, shallow serving dish. Then, using the back of a spoon form a groove in a spiral pattern on the surface. Drizzle olive oil over the top. This will then settle in the groove that you’ve just formed.
Serve your deliciously smoky Baba Ghanoush with warm flat breads
Baba Ghanoush and warm, flat breads are a marriage made in heaven. Flat bread is perfect for scooping up this wonderful dip and it just keeps you coming back for more.
Obviously there are alternatives. You could serve it with bread sticks or crackers. A selection of crudités , such as cucumber, carrot, tomato and cauliflower would also be really good, if you choose.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. I look forward to hearing about how you got on with it.
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Herb salad
Herb Salad – Egyptian salata Baladi
Herb Salad – Egyptian salata baladi is wonderfully fresh. It’s made with herbs, salad vegetables and red onions. Using fresh herbs instead of lettuce brings so much additional flavour. It also has many health benefits.
Fully ripened by the sun – the flavours are incredible
Fruit and vegetables are generally seasonal in Egypt. They are allowed to fully mature in the fields, ripened by the sun and arrive at the market within hours. As a result, the flavours are incredible.
Do yourself a favour
I would suggest that buying the best tomatoes you possibly can, makes all the difference when it comes to this salad. If you buy ecconomy tomatoes which have been grown in a greenhouse, in artificial conditions, that have never felt the warmth of the sun and never even had their roots in the soil and have just been fed on liquid fertilizer, then they’re not going to have any real flavour. So, please do yourself a favour buy the best you can.
Salads are served with EVERY meal
Salads are an important part of Egyptian cuisine. And this herb salad is served with just about every meal in Egypt; breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Salad is served in small individual bowls and eaten with a teaspoon. Everything needs to be very finely chopped, so you get a mixture of all the ingredients when you take a mouthful. The red onion is the exception for this rule. The onion is slices finely into half moons and the individual layers, seperated.
Ingredients
- ½ red onion – cut in half and thinly sliced into 1/2 moons
- 3 ripe red tomatoes – finely chopped
- 1 Arabic cucumber or ½ English cucumber – finely chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh mixed herbs – flat leaf parsley, coriander, mint & dill – finely chopped
For seasoning
- White vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Making this herb salad – Egyptian Salata Baladi couldn’t be simpler
Marinate the onion in a little white vinegar for 10 minutes to reduce the harshness of its flavour.
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl just before serving. Season at the same time with
lemon juice, salt, pepper and a little olive oil.
Serve in small individual bowls.
This herb salad is packed with flavour and it’s incredibly good for you.
In recent years I have become a fan of The Doctor’s Kitchen. Dr Rupy Aujla educates us in the benefits of eating food which promotes good health and healing. He talks about ” eating the rainbow”. Telling us how the vibrant colours in fruits and vegetables signify high levels of nutrients that can improve our health and increase our energy levels. This salad does just that. I do hope you enjoy it.
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Nightingales Tongue Soup
Nightingale’s Tongue Soup – Lisan al Asfor
Nightingales Tongue Soup – a firm favourite in Egypt
Nightingales Tongue soup is known as Lisan al Asfor in Egypt and it’s a firm family favourite in nearly all Egyptian homes. I can truly say that I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love this soup.
Not a single song bird is harmed in the making of this soup!
Don’t worry regardless of its name, Nightingales Tongue Soup isn’t a soup that involves the demise of dozens of songbirds! It is, in fact, made with a pasta which is the shape and size of rice. It’s also apparently the size and shape of nightingales’ tongues. This pasta is known as orzo in the UK.
If chicken’s on the menu, you can bet that Nightingales Tongue Soup will be too
In Egypt, Lisan al Asfor, Nightingales Tongue Soup is nearly always served when chicken is on the menu. Chicken is never simply served roasted in Egypt. Instead, they first boil the chicken to cook it. They then fry it in butter until the skin is wonderfully crispy and a glorious golden colour. In the process a really, good stock is made. This wonderful stock is then used for making this delicious soup.
For this recipe I have included shredded chicken and herbs which makes it extra special and makes it a much more substantial dish which could be served as a lunch or supper dish in its own right. But in all honesty, it’s usually served without these extras and is still delicious.
It’s also just as good made with vegetable stock. And if you also omit the butter, its great for our vegan friends.
*To make this soup without adding chicken, just fry off the rice pasta, then add the stock, it’s that simple.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 2 chicken pieces – still on the bone and with skin
- a little vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves – grated
- 1 spring onion finely sliced (optional)
- 2 carrots – grated (optional)
- 3 stock cubes – grated
- 750ml boiling water
- 1 bay leaf
For the base soup
- 1/2 cup rice pasta (orzo)
- 3 cups of stock from the chicken
- zest and juice of a lemon
- 3 tbsp butter
- a small bunch of flat leaf parsley – finely chopped
- lemon wedges , for garnishing
Method
To cook the chicken
In a large pan, heat about 3 tbsp. of vegetable oil, over a medium heat.
Brown the chicken
When the oil is sizzling, add in the chicken and fry until the chicken begins to brown.
Add the veggies and let them sweat
Add the carrots and spring onion (if using), and garlic, and cover the pan with its lid to allow the vegetables to sweat down until they are just tender. This will only take about 5 minutes.
Simmer for 20 minutes
Add in the stock cubes, hot water and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cook this for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Using a slotted spoon remove the chicken from the pan and let it cool a little.
To make your Nightingales Tongue soup
In a large pan, heat about 3 tbsps. of vegetable oil.
Fry the orzo til golden brown
When the oil is sizzling add the rice pasta (orzo) and fry it until it becomes dark golden brown – stirring frequently.
*Frying the rice pasta seals it – if it’s not fried enough the starch from the pasta will leach out and your beautiful soup will turn to glue.
Add the stock and simmer for about 15 minutes
Then add 4 mugs of stock. Simmer the soup for 15 more minutes.
Season, and remove the bay leaf.
Shred the chicken and add to your Nightingales Tongue Soup
Take the cooled chicken, remove the skin, and take the meat off the bone. Shred the meat into small, bite size pieces then add it back to the pot along with any juices from the chicken plate.
Add the trimmings and season
Add in the butter, the chopped herbs, lemon zest and lemon juice and adjust the seasoning.
Serve with wedges of lemon.
How to serve Nightingales Tongue Soup
In Egypt, soup is served almost as a side dish. It isn’t served as a starter or as a separate course to a meal. So, small bowls will be laid out along side all the other meat, rice and vegetables.
Nightingales Tongue Soup is an absolute favourite and I do hope you try it.
Let me know how you get on with it.
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