Thursday 27 September 2012

Aubergine "Hummous"

Can you have Aubergine Hummous? Or does Hummous have to be made with Chick Peas? Who cares anyway? I have used some of my home-grown Aubergines to make a Hummous-like substance...

Amazingly, despite the cooler weather we are now experiencing, the Aubergine plants are still surviving. They don't look so special, but they definitely have not given up yet:


Both plants still have a number of small fruits on them:


I had six smallish Aubergines in the fridge that needed using up, so I decided to make them into a dish a bit like Hummous. As usual I didn't follow a recipe, I just used my instinct. This is what I did:

I chopped a small red onion and softened it in about a tablespoonful of sunflower oil in a frying-pan. When the onion was soft I added  the following:-
  • 4 small cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 6 small aubergines, chopped into 1-inch sections
  • 2 large tomatoes, peeled and de-seeded
  • 1 small chilli, de-seeded and chopped
  • a squeeze of tomato puree
  • a small pinch of ground cumin and some salt and pepper
  • about 150ml chicken stock
I cooked the mixture over a low heat for about 30 minutes, by which time the stock had been absorbed and the aubergines had gone very soft.


I turned off the heat and allowed the mixture to cool for a few minutes before blitzing it in the food-processor until it became a smooth paste, which I decanted into a suitable dish and garnished with parsley and some fresh chilli.


This dish can be used just like Hummous, ideally spread thickly on some herby flat-breads. It was surprisingly pleasant. Tasty; almost creamy in texture, without any of the bitterness or sliminess that I often associate with aubergines. I say that because you know that until recently I have been rather anti aubergines in general. I was particularly pleased that when my daughter Emma tried it she declared it to be "absolutely lovely" - and that comes from someone who I would say is normally even less likely than me to praise the aubergine.

11 comments:

  1. Cropping aubergines - now you're just showing off! We had some pretty flowers though.

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    1. I never tried this recipe. Must try when we have some harvest. It is kind of interesting this year to see my gardener friends in UK try to grow eggplants.

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  2. I like the look of the recipe, will give it a go. Have to be shop bought aubergine, I've already eaten my 1 aubergine.

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  3. What a good idea Mark, I'll have to give that a whirl, since aubergines/eggplants are just coming into season here in the USA.

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  4. You've done really well with your aubergines. It took me three years before I got a plant to fruit, and that was in a greenhouse. I wonder if the long type fruits are better suited to our weather.

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    1. Probably just Beginner's Luck, Jo. I can't claim any particular expertise in this field.

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  5. A good tip for cooking aubergine. I never thought aubergine would grow in the UK but I was wrong.

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  6. How lovely to still have aubergines cropping - especially growing outside. I may have to try a long-fruited version next year to see if they last longer than Moneymaker.

    There is a greek aubergine dip called melitzanosalata, and an eastern version known as baba ganoush, which have different seasonings - now you have created your own version too!

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  7. I make Baba Ganoush with my eggplants every year, although I tend to cook mine whole. Personally I find eggplant to be both the nicest thing to eat or the most hideous - undercooked eggplant can be truly vile in my book.

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  8. Pulled all the eggplant here. That looks like a nice dish - a little drissle of olive oil, and as you said a bit of herbed flat bread and that would be dinner!

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  9. I just happen to be in possession of about 10 2-inch aubergines (eggplants to those of us in the colonies of course). I have been looking for something to do with them. This recipe designates you as today's good Samaritan.

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