Eggplant hummus
Servings: 5
Preparation Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 medium eggplants
- 1 cup chickpeas (dry) or 2 cups (canned)
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 2 ounces garlic (about 14-20 cloves), peeled and quartered
- juice of 4 lemons
- 2 tblsp tahini
- 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
- 5 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp paprika
Steps
- Trim the ends off of the eggplant and chop the eggplant into about 1-inch pieces.
- Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in large pot.
- Add the eggplant and stir well to coat with oil.
- Fry on medium-high for 30 to 45 minutes, until very mushy. Stir often.
- Meanwhile, bring chickpeas and 2 cups water to boil in saucepan. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Fry the garlic in two tablespoons of the olive oil, about one to two minutes, until golden brown.
- Mix the garlic (with its oil), lemon juice, pomegranate juice, salt, paprika, and chickpeas (with their water) together in the large pot.
- Transfer in batches to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
If you use dried chickpeas, soak them in four cups water overnight. They should be crunchy but edible (and tasty) when done, something you might put in a salad. You can do this a few days ahead of time and put them in the refrigerator, draining them just before you make the hummus.
You can also get concentrated pomegranate juice, which is of ketchup consistency. Instead of a quarter cup, use an eighth cup of concentrated juice and an eighth cup of water.
When processing it in the food processor, keep going until it is really smooth, almost fluffy. In my food processor, I need to do it in three batches. I can try to do two batches, but one of them always ends up making a mess.
For presentation and added flavor, sprinkle servings with olive oil and either paprika or cayenne pepper. You might even garnish with a few black olives or olive slices.
Serve with tortilla chips, tortillas, bread, or with California tabouleh. I enjoy it on an open-faced olive-oil-fried sourdough bread sandwich, with tomatoes and feta cheese.
It can be frozen, though you’ll want to heat it up before eating it rather than just letting it thaw.
More salsa
- Yogurt-Eggplant salsa
- This baba ghanouj-style salsa adds yogurt and citrus for an even more exotic flavor, and is very easy to make.
- Olive-basil tapenade
- With the holiday season in full swing, easy-to-make snacks are in demand. This variation on the tapenade is fast, and the tapenade itself is tasty baked or “raw”.
- Chili Yogurt
- I lucked into this salsa recipe because I ran out of thyme. I decided to try something completely different, some spice that I rarely use. So I went to the spice rack and pulled down some ajwain. The subtle interplay of flavors in this yogurt salsa has quickly made it one of my favorites.
- Tzatsiki and other yogurt salsas
- Tzatziki is just one form of yogurt salsa that makes for a great change of pace on tortillas and other spicy foods. Yogurt is a very versatile ingredient to have on hand.
- Avocado and mint salsa
- You can also use avocados rather than tomatoes for a great creamy salsa, and it goes great with mint or basil.
- Six more pages with the topic salsa, and other related pages
More Middle-Eastern
- Persian eggplant stew
- This recipe convinced me not to skin eggplants. I almost never take the skin off of eggplants now; it adds a tangy flavor to the eggplant that it otherwise loses.
- Rose-water kodafa with pistachio
- Rose-water, saffron, and honey give this oddly light dessert its main flavoring, and the whole thing can be whipped up in under an hour. The use of couscous for the cake portion makes this a surprisingly light dessert.
- Persian-style tofu and rice
- This recipe is up by request after last year’s Christmas party. The spices in the “meatballs” really have their own flavor, and tofu’s amazing ability to absorb flavors makes this a worthwhile dish.