Tabbouch Eggplant Dip and Crisp Bread
Adapted from Sunday Kitchen's "Sofra"
Preparation time: 30 minutes plus overnight draining
Cooking time: 1 hour
This recipe is best started 1 day before
- 5 eggplants around 1.8 kilos or 4lbs
- 1/3 cup or handful of fine salt
- 300ml/10.6flozs oil (neutral like canola)
- 500g/1.1lb Greek yogurt (I used low fat)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1.5 tablespoons dried mint
- Fresh mint for serving
- 5 pieces Lebanese bread (I used wholemeal)
- 2 tablespoons za'atar
- Fresh mint to garnish
Step 1 - First remove the tops from the eggplants and then cut in half and then quarters so that you have 4 boats per eggplant. Using a vegetable peeler remove some of the skin (the skin adds texture) leaving a zebra like pattern. Cut into chunks. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. Place a layer of eggplant in a large colander and sprinkle generously with salt and repeat until you have used all of the eggplant and salt. Place the colander in a bowl to catch the water and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.
Step 2 - Heat the oil in a wok or a heavy based frying pan. Take the Lebanese bread and tear it into pieces and separate the two layers. The rougher side or the inside of the bread is the side to fry face down in the oil (otherwise it will curl up). When the oil is ready (test with a small piece of bread), fry the bread in batches and drain on paper towels. The bread will darken further upon cooling so you don't have to cook them too dark.
Step 3 - Blot the pieces of eggplant on paper towels well (no need to wash salt off). Cook them in batches for 10 minutes per batch. Turn them halfway during that time. The eggplant will be done when it is golden on the outside and soft on the inside. Drain on double layers of paper towels and repeat. This part does take a while - I did it in 5 batches.
Step 4 - Cool the eggplant for 1 hour. In a large bowl mix the yogurt, garlic and dried mint. Pull apart the eggplant with your fingers roughly, it should be melting and soft. Mix the eggplant and yogurt mixture and decorate with fresh mint.
Step 5 - Arrange bread on a plate and sprinkle za'atar on each bread layer, repeating until you've used all of the bread and dusted it all with za'atar. Serve bread and dips together.