A Delicious Turkish Appetizer: Baba Ganoush
Turkish cuisine is one of the richest cuisines on earth. Turkish people love to make use of any kind of vegetable they find, and make a whole new dish of it. The most incredible part of it is that they achieve to make even the easiest meals which taste like Haute Cuisine dishes. This is what they call here “el lezzeti”, meaning one’s “hand taste”, which unintentionally brings the dish to a higher level. Casual magic, isn’t it?
Eggplant is generally more popular in Eastern cuisine than in the West and you may not have explored all the ways it can become a part of delicious homemade meals. Eggplant happens to be one of the most prominent vegetables in Turkish cuisine, making it an important part of the culinary culture. There are tons of different recipes you can find with eggplant.
In this fast paced lifestyle, people don’t like to waste their time cooking. They like to come up with easy and quick meals that won’t eat a lot of their time. Especially when you are on vacation, the last thing you want to think of is making dinner. But on the other hand you also don’t want to constantly spend money on restaurant food, which is much more costly. Those staying in a rental house or AirBnB, having a little place to cook meals, will realize this is the perfect meal to go. Best of all, it neither requires a lot of time nor money!
Ingredients
- 1 Eggplant
- 1 Lemon
- 2 tbsp yogurt
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
- First, take your eggplant and poke a couple holes in it with your knife. This will enable the air of the eggplant to come out, otherwise your eggplant may explode!
- Next, put your eggplant on the stove, directly touching the flame, and keep turning it, in order for it to get cooked evenly. You can also replace this process by cooking your eggplant in a 200 degree Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes.
- To check if it’s ready, poke it with a knife. If it feels soft it means it’s ready to go!
- Take your eggplant off the stove and put it into a bowl, and cover it. Let it sit for a couple minutes. This will help you to peel the eggplant more easily.
- Peel your eggplant, and roughly chop it on your cutting board, until you get a mushy texture. Transfer it into a bowl, and set aside.
- Next, smash your garlic until you get a paste-like texture.
- Now it's time to bring these all together. Put your smashed eggplant into a pan, on low heat. Add a bit of olive oil, and add your garlic. Let it cook for a while, then add 2 tbsp of yoghurt, stir well. Then add 2 tbsp of tahini, and keep stirring. Season it with a bit of salt and pepper. Don’t let it cook too much otherwise it will lose all its juice and dry out.
- Next, turn the heat off, and add the juice of one lemon. Stir it well, and your dish is ready to be plated.
- I like to spread it evenly on a plate, and add a drizzle of olive oil, garnishing it with some chopped nuts, some greens like basil or parsley, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Voila! Your dish is ready!
I like to have it as a dip with a piece of crunchy toast. But you can eat it with anything you would like, it's totally up to you.
Afiyet Olsun (Enjoy your meal)!
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