Eggplant and Tahini (Moutabbal)
Moutabbal is a smoky eggplant and tahini dip, also known as baba ghanouzh, and it starts with charring the vegetable until the skin blackens and the flesh collapses. That scorched, slightly bitter softness is the whole point, and the lemon, raw garlic and sesame paste are balanced around it by taste rather than by fixed measure. Some cooks mash it by hand, since blades can crack the seeds and release bitterness.
Instructions
Roast the whole eggplant over an open flame, turning it often with a fork, until the skin wrinkles and chars and the flesh shrivels and turns completely soft. On an electric stove, split the eggplant lengthwise, set it cut side down on a cookie sheet, and bake on the top rack of a hot oven for 30 to 45 minutes.
Move the soft eggplant to a bowl and slash it once or twice so the bitter juice drains out. Let it rest until it is cool enough to handle. Some cooks cool it inside a brown paper bag.
Cut off the stem and peel away the skin. Scrape the flesh into a food processor or blender, add the garlic, tahini and lemon juice, and process until combined.
Taste often, since the right amounts depend on the size of your eggplant and your own preferences. Adjust with more lemon, tahini or garlic, and add salt to taste.
If you have no machine, mash the eggplant by hand. Flatten the garlic with a broad knife and mince it fine, or pound it with salt into a paste in a mortar, then work in the other ingredients. A large mortar and pestle can handle everything.
Serve at room temperature, drizzled with olive oil. Garnish with a black or green Mediterranean olive, or with sprigs of cilantro or parsley.
Make it personal.
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