This Summer I have embraced the eggplant more so than any other year I can recall mainly because of this recipe. It's an adaptation of Yotam Ottolenghi's iconic Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce from his cookbook Plenty with a slight variation - Garlic Achaar! It's utterly irresistible and the perfect time of the season to enjoy it.
Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 large and long eggplants
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon thyme leaves, plus a few whole sprigs to garnish
Maldon sea salt and black pepper
1 pomegranate
1 teaspoon za’atar
For the Garlic Achaar Buttermilk Sauce:
9 tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a drizzle to finish
2 tablespoons Brooklyn Delhi Roasted Garlic Achaar, to taste
Pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the eggplants in half lengthways, cutting straight through the green stalk (the stalk is for the look; don’t eat it). Use a small sharp knife to make three or four parallel incisions in the cut side of each eggplant half, without cutting through to the skin. Repeat at a 45-degree angle to get a diamond-shaped pattern.
Place the eggplant halves, cut-side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush them with olive oil – keep on brushing until all of the oil has been absorbed by the flesh. Sprinkle with the lemon thyme leaves and some salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, at which point the flesh should be soft, flavorful and nicely browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely.
While the eggplants are in the oven, cut the pomegranate into two horizontally. Hold one half over a bowl, with the cut side against your palm, and use the back of a wooden spoon or a rolling pin to gently knock on the pomegranate skin. Continue beating with increasing power until the seeds start coming out naturally and falling through your fingers into the bowl. Once all are there, sift through the seeds to remove any bits of white skin or membrane.
To make the Garlic Achaar Buttermilk Sauce:
Whisk together all of the ingredients. Add a teaspoon at a time of Roasted Garlic Achaar and adjust to your taste. Keep cold until needed.
To serve, spoon plenty of Garlic Achaar buttermilk sauce over the eggplant halves without covering the stalks. Sprinkle za’atar and plenty of pomegranate seeds on top and garnish with lemon thyme. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
In this recipe
