Mutabal

Dips and dressings Veganisable

Serves 4-6

Baba ganoush and mutabal have one thing in common: they’re both a burnt aubergine mezze. Besides that, throughout the Arab world, they are two quite different things. Mutabal is made creamy with the addition of tahini, baba ganoush on the other hand is much lighter. Serve with warm pita, as part of a mezze spread, or eat alongside kofta for a more substantial meal.

Ingredients

1	large aubergine
70g	tahini
60ml	water
2 tsp	pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp	lemon juice
1	garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp	chopped parsley
3	mini cucumbers (180g in total, optional)
90g	cherry tomatoes (optional)
1/2	seeds from large pomegranate (90g)
	a little olive oil to finish
	salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the grill to high. Line the grill pan with foil. Prick the aubergine in a few places with a small pointy knife and place in the pan. Leave under the grill for about 50 minutes, turning the aubergine over a few times, until the skin cracks and dries in places and the flesh is cooked through and tastes smoky. Don’t worry if it bursts during the cooking. Remove the aubergine from the grill. When cool enough to handle scoop out the flesh into a colander, avoiding the blackened skin. Leave to drain for at least 30 minutes.
Chop the aubergine flesh roughly and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add the tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper; mix well with a whisk. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more garlic, lemon juice or molasses if needed. You want the salad to have a robust sour/slightly sweet flavour.
If you want to add cucumber and tomatoes, cut the cucumbers lengthways in half and then each half lengthways in two. Cut each quarter into 1cm long pieces. Halve the tomatoes. Stir them and the cucumber into the aubergine mix.
To serve, spread over a shallow dish, scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and drizzle with oil.