1108. Aubergine Kishk Dip

Baba ghanouche comes of as a very tame relative to this pungent and ferocious aubergine dip. Slowly caramelized onions merge with fragrant seeped saffron, which melds with sauteed garlic and plenty of dried mint, all to combine with silky roasted aubergine flesh. But that's not all.
For me, the best part by far was the toppings: crunchy roasted whole pistachio kernels, intense kishk, and even more caramelized onion. To be fair, I do not envision this dip to be a regular feature on our dining table in place of our favorite baba ghannouche, but the experience was certainly worthy to give it a go.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
2 large aubergines
2 large onions, sliced thin
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp dried mint leaves
3 Tbsp Kashk
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 lime, juice
1/2 tsp turmeric
Salt & pepper to taste
Garnish with nuts, caramelized onions, fresh chopped mint

Method:

Poke aubergines with a fork and roast at  400F for about 1 hour cooked through. Remove and let it rest for 10 minutes. Soak the saffron throads in 3 Tbsp hot water; set aside.
Heat a heavy bottom pan and add olive oil to it. Saute the sliced onions and caramelize the onion on a medium heat. Heat should not be very high, otherwise the onion will burn instead of caramelizing. The process takes about 15 minutes.
Spoon out the onions onto paper towels leaving the oil behind in the pan. Saute the garlic and mint in the same pan for about 2 minutes. Now add flesh of the roasted aubergines, half the caramelized onions, saffron liquid, lime juice, turmeric powder, and salt/pepper. Saute for few more minutes. For the kishk, add half a cup of water to the kishk powder.
To serve, spread the aubergine dip in a serving dish, spoon the kishk over the surface, garnish with reserved caramelized onions, toasted nuts, and chopped fresh mint.
Serve the dip warm with tannur or pita bread wedges.

صحة و عافية