The Times Magazine - UK (2021-02-20)

32 The Times Magazine

ROASTED AUBERGINES,

YOGHURT AND TAHINI DIP

Serves 4

My grandmother had an outdoor kitchen

in her garden. This is where the aubergines

were roasted over an open fire. The result

is a sultry, smoky dip.

• 1 aubergine


• 2 tbsp tahini


• 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt


• 2 garlic cloves, pressed


• Juice of 1 lemon


• Salt to taste

To serve

• Extra virgin olive oil


• 1 handful of pomegranate seeds

1 Roast the aubergine over an open flame,

gas burner or grill, turning occasionally, for

about 20 minutes. Alternatively, roast it for

about 40 minutes in an oven preheated to

240C/Gas 9. Set aside and cool.

2 Once the aubergine is cool enough to

handle, scrape out the flesh and mash it with

a fork or puree it in a food processor. Add the

tahini, yoghurt, garlic and lemon juice to the

mashed aubergine and blend. Salt to taste.

3 Spoon the dip into a bowl and drizzle with

some extra virgin olive oil. Garnish with

pomegranate seeds.

BEETROOT AND TAHINI DIP

Serves 4

You won’t commonly find this dip in the

Middle East, but it has achieved a somewhat

mythical status in my family (my mother is

crazy about beetroot). The festive sweetness of

beetroot, combined with the sour yoghurt and

earthy tahini, delights the palate. I eat it with

flatbread or crackers as a main dish.

• 500g cooked beetroot (drained,
  if you use vacuum-packed beetroot)


• 125g Greek yoghurt


• 2 garlic cloves, peeled


• 2 tbsp tahini


• Juice of 1 lemon


• Salt and pepper

To serve

• Extra virgin olive oil


• 1 small bunch of flat-leaf
  parsley, coarsely chopped


• 1 tsp nigella seeds

1 Chop the beetroot into chunks and put

them in a food processor or blender. Add the

yoghurt, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, salt and

pepper. Puree on the pulse setting until well

mixed, but not too finely chopped. I like this

dip with little beetroot bits as texture.

2 Serve in a dish, drizzled with extra virgin

olive oil and garnished with chopped parsley

and nigella seeds.

HUMMUS WITH TAHINI

Serves 3-4

Hummus is the king of Syrian cuisine. Many

countries are convinced that they are the

inventors of this dip. And I don’t want to

debate this point too much, but I will say that

I’m from Homs and, coincidentally, hummus

is spelled exactly the same way in Arabic:

homs. So, who knows? Let’s call it an

international food. I’m happy as long as

everyone enjoys it.

• 400g tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed


• ¼ tbsp bicarbonate of soda
  
  
  • 1 garlic clove, pressed
  
  
  • 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  
  
  • 3 tbsp tahini
  
  
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  
  
  • Salt
  
  
  
  

To serve

• Extra virgin olive oil


• 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped


• Pinch of paprika

1 Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.

Add the chickpeas and bicarbonate of soda

and boil for 30 minutes, or until the chickpeas

are completely cooked. They should be

covered with water the entire time. Add extra

water as needed if it evaporates too quickly.

2 Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside

to cool the chickpeas in the cooking liquid.

3 Place the cooled chickpeas and 7 tbsp

cooking liquid in a food processor. Blend

together with the garlic, lemon juice, tahini,

olive oil and salt. Taste and add more salt as

desired. Continue blending the hummus for

2 minutes until it is very smooth and creamy.

Add 1-2 tbsp of the cooking liquid, if needed,

to achieve this consistency.

4 Hummus is invariably served in a wide,

shallow dish. Drizzle liberally with extra virgin

olive oil and garnish with chopped parsley

and a pinch of ground paprika. n

Eat!

SYRIA

Extracted from Sumac:

Recipes and Stories

from Syria by Anas

Atassi, published by

Murdoch Books on

March 4 (£25)

VEGETARIAN VEGAN