The Ritual Master Ingredients :
2 medium eggplants
3 cloves of garlic
150gr lightly toasted walnuts
salt & pepper
extravirgin olive oil
I start by “stabbing” my eggplants with a sharp knife all aroung, so that they cook evenly in the oven. For the garlic cloves, I leave them skin on, and wrap them in some tin foil, so they roast and get soft and mushy inside. This makes it more easy to digest for me, and also mellows down the pungent garlic taste, so that it’s part of the story, instead of being the prima donna.
I pun them in a preheated 180C / 350F oven for about 30min or until you see the eggplants wrinkle.
Meanwhile, I pulse the walnuts in the food processor until I have a nice nut powder. Then add in the peeled eggplant and the peeled garlic that have cooled a little, salt, pepper and extravirgin olive oil (you don’t need a lot of oil since the walnuts are already oily, just a couple of tablespoons to blend everything together). Topped it with some parsley and sumac.
Eggplant dip has many versions all around the Middle East, so you can experiment with your favourite one. This time I just used what I had at hand while reading Elif Shafak’s novel. You can see the ritual of that particular book in the Rituals menu.
Bon appétit !
