Curiously, I seem to enjoy the foods of Middle East more than other Greeks do. Perhaps it’s because I have lived and travelled around the Middle East for more than 9 years.
Middle Eastern Food
As you most of you guessed already, this week is focused on this type of food. I made an Arabic Traditional Platter as presented in Arabic countries. I love those presentations and these flavours! Little pockets of Arabic dips and dishes such as hummus, Moutabal, Falafel, Tabouleh and pitta bread gathered on a big plate. Unfortunately here in Greece, I can’t find the big Pitta bread. Absolutely delicious! If you had the chance to try them, you know what I am talking about. 🙂
Take Baba Ganoush, which is what in America and in lots of other countries is used to describe baked eggplants with spices. It does not have tahini but smoked Aubergine mixed with onions, tomatoes and other veggies. But actually, there is another similar dish called Moutabal. It’s smokier, contains tahini, aubergines and sometimes, cumin.
During my working years in the restaurants of Qatar I could find either Baba Ganoush or Moutabal. I had tasted some great versions of both of them and today I present the original Mourabal recipe, taught by my Qatari friend.
Moutabal has 110 calories per serving, it’s highly nutritious, 8 grams of total fat, gluten-free, sugar-free and Vegan!
You can also, make this recipe with a few versions of your favourite spices.
Bake the eggplants until are soft and not get burned. Let them aside for 5 minutes to cool down a little bit. Cut them lengthwise, in half and peel them. Easy as that. 🙂
While you add the rest of the ingredients just taste and adjust accordingly. Some of you, you would prefer it saltier or with less garlic or tahini. It’s up to your preference.
You can mix any herbs, like parsley, in your dish and decorate it with Pomegranate also.
The plate below is a classic presentation of an Arabic plate. They actually use a longer length plate but you can get the idea.
On future posts, I will be adding the other two recipes (Tabouleh and Falafel). You can find the hummus recipe here.
The original Arabic Moutabal (Baba Ganoush) | Middle East - Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 3 Tbsp Tahini
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- little parsley
- 1 Tbsp pomegranate
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Bake the eggplant for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees
- Bake the garlic with the eggplant for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Cut the eggplant in half, remove the flesh and mash it very well.
- Smush the garlic
- Add garlic, tahini, salt, cumin, olive oil, red peppers flakes, lemon juice to the mashed eggplant and mix well
- Garnish with little parsley and pomegranate.
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Nutrition
* Did you try this recipe? If you like it please rate with stars below. Thank you!
Do you know any other differences between Baba Ganoush and Moutabal? I would love to hear your thoughts and experience.
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Dianne
May 9, 2019 at 5:35 amCan I still call it baba ganoush? I read a comment on a different blog that corrected the “Chef” that he did not make baba ganoush but rather mutabal.
I decided to google it and it does seem we American’s call the eggplant/tahini dish by the wrong name. But, I love saying “baba ganoush”, “baba…ganoushhhhh”. It really is a wonderful word combo 🙂
I grilled my eggplants on my gas grill with a little packet of wood chips to get that extra smoky flavor. I also drizzled olive oil on my garlic cloves and wrapped it tightly in foil and grilled that for around 10 minutes. I prefer the more mellow flavor of roasted garlic. It was wonderful.
Thanks for this recipe and the clarification on the differences between the two dishes.
Pinelopi Kyriazi
May 9, 2019 at 5:51 amHey Dianne! Thanks for your lovely message 🙂
You leveled up the recipe with your smoking/grilling skills! I will try that out too.
Yes you can still call it baba ganoush 🙂 In fact in Arabic countries this name is quite popular! So go for it.
Enjoy your day! 🙂