Baba Ghanouj

By Martha Rose Shulman

Updated February 12, 2024

  • Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
5(1,967)
Comments
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Baba ghanouj is a signature grilled eggplant purée found across the Middle East, enriched with tahini and seasoned with lemon juice and lots of garlic. The dish has a smoky, pungent flavor. Don’t forget to pierce the eggplant before you put it on the grill or over a gas flame on the stove. If you can, for the best consistency, use a sesame tahini that's slightly runny. Also, as tahini sits, the oil separates, so the mixture should be stirred before it’s used.

Featured in: Tahini: The Taste of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine

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Ingredients

Yield:About 2 cups

  • 2 pounds eggplant, preferably small eggplants

  • ¼ cup lemon juice (more to taste)

  • ¼ cup sesame tahini, stirred if oil has separated out

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons plain yogurt, as needed

  • 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

  • Salt to taste

  • Extra-virgin olive oil

  • Chopped flat-leaf parsley

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

18 grams carbs; 1 milligram cholesterol; 187 calories; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 12 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 623 milligrams sodium; 5 grams protein; 9 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare a hot gas or charcoal grill. Pierce the eggplants in several places with a fork or the tip of a knife, and place over the hot coals. Grill, turning regularly, until soft and blackened all over. If you don’t have a grill but do have a gas stove, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover the top of your stove under the burner grates with foil to facilitate cleaning. Turn on your oven fan (so the smoke alarm won’t go off), and roast the eggplants directly over the flame, turning often until charred and softened. Small, thin eggplants will cook through this way, but larger eggplants must be finished in the oven. Wrap in foil, and place in the hot oven for 20 minutes until thoroughly softened. You can also roast the eggplant under a broiler until charred and softened. The flavor of the baba ganoush will not be as smoky.

  2. Step 2

    Place the eggplant in a colander in the sink, and allow to cool and drain. Peel and discard the black skins, cut off the stems, and let the eggplants sit in the colander to drain for another 15 to 30 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Purée the eggplant in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the lemon juice, yogurt, tahini and garlic. Add to the food processor, and blend with the eggplant. Add salt to taste.

  4. Step 4

    Mound the purée in a bowl or on a platter, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with pita bread.

Tip

  • Advance preparation: This dish can be made several hours ahead. The flavors are best on the day it’s made, as the garlic, lemon juice and eggplant become more pungent over time.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,967 user ratings
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Comments

Alexandra

This recipe is excellent. It uses slightly more tahini than others, and it works just fine. I had the bitterness problemmany times, and also occasional watery results, so I asked a classy Lebanese restaurant/deli. They prepare the eggplants the day before and drain them (peeled) in a colander (placed in a bowl) with a small plate and weights on top overnight. An astonishing amount of dark juices that contain the bitterness come out, and you will have a perfect result every time.

David

I slice the garlic into halves or quarters, make small slices in the skin of the eggplant, and push pieces of garlic into the eggplant prior to roasting. Then roast as above with the garlic in the eggplant. The roasted garlic adds a nice grarlic flavor without the sharpness of fresh garlic.

Greg Pyke

Piercing eggplant first is no joke. I ignored this and mine exploded, luckily on a gas grill with the lid down and not in my oven. 60 years cooking and still learning from mistakes!

Lindsey

I added an extra clove of garlic and used a cheesecloth to squeeze out the extra juices from the eggplant. I will make this many, many more times to come.

Charles

I was taught in Egypt never to puree babaganoush; break it up aggressively with a couple of forks, as you would with rillettes. A nice touch is a scattering of pomegranate arils on top just before serving.

jeff

first time making this.. I bbqed the eggplant, and let the garlic mellow in the lemon juice first. overall, I liked the taste but I think it was too tahini forward, so next time I'd cut that in half and see if that brings out the eggplant more. otherwise, delicious!

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