My son, Rushil Sujanani on the job with Sugar ‘n Spice and the Ochre team

Brinjal works well served along with almost any dish…lamb, chicken or seafood. This can be served as a starter with pita breads, as a dip or a side dish – it’s entirely up to you. Baba Ghanoush is a traditional Middle Eastern dish – I have once again tweaked the recipe and added Curry Me Home Magic Masala to liven the brinjals up a bit…I do love the zing of fresh and dried chilli!

Maybe a little more bite than I was looking for…

This recipe is from Season Two of Sugar ‘n Spice – Feast of Eid.

Baba Ghanoush – smoky brinjals

Baba Ghanoush

Serves 4 as a side dish

4 large brinjals
30ml light olive oil

50ml olive oil
5ml cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely chopped
5ml coarse salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 green chillies, chopped
15ml Magic Masala
15ml lemon juice
Handful of coriander, chopped

Pierce the brinjals with a sharp knife and brush them with olive oil.
Bake them in a hot oven or over charcoal until the skins are crispy and the flesh is soft.
Place the brinjals in a zip seal bag and leave to cool down.
Slice the brinjals in half and scoop out the flesh and discard the skin.
Roughly chop the flesh of the brinjals.
Heat 50ml olive oil in an AMC pot.
Add the cumin seeds and saute until they sizzle.
Add the chopped onion and salt.
While the onion is in the pan, crush the garlic and chilli in a mortar.
When the onion is light golden brown, add the pounded chilli and garlic.
Stir the brinjals into the fried onion and garlic.
Continue stirring until the brinjal turns mushy.
Add the magic masala and lemon juice.
Garnish with fresh coriander.
Stir well and serve with flatbreads as a dip or as a side dish along with meat, chicken or fish.

Yudhika’s tips:

Grilling the brinjals over hot coal gives the best flavour.