Chargrilled eggplant with mint yoghurt dressing and pomegranate

“At the beginning of my journey to discover the hidden secrets of street food, someone made the (now obvious) point that I should follow my nose. Great advice and never more true than when looking for a great kebab shop. In Amman, however, you could easily get lost using this method because the smells of charcoal-grilled meats come from every doorway and from every window. It’s kebab heaven! Eventually I settled on Shahrazad in a little alleyway off the main street. The place was packed but I made the social faux pas of sitting in the women and families section! Luckily I was put right by a young woman called Lama, who took me to the open kitchens to see them making breads stuffed with spiced mince and lamb kebabs to die for. The open grills gave me an idea for a dish that used the best of what was in the market that day: shiny fat aubergine, bright red pomegranates and a local yoghurt that I suspect was made that day.” Ainsley Harriott, Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food

Credit: Ainsley Eats The Streets

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 large aubergine (eggplant)
• 50 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small pomegranate, seeds tapped out (membrane and skin discarded)
• 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
• good pinch of sumac

Minted yoghurt dressing

• 100 ml Greek yoghurt, drained
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbsp finely shredded mint, plus extra sprigs to garnish
• good squeeze of lemon juice

Instructions

Heat a cast-iron griddle pan or a chargrill until smoking hot.

Cut the aubergine in half lengthways, then into 1 cm-thick slices. Combine the olive oil and pomegranate molasses, then brush over both sides of the aubergine and season with salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until tender and lightly charred. Arrange the aubergine on a platter or large plate.

Meanwhile, to make the minted yoghurt dressing, place all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season to taste and add a little water if you think the dressing needs to be thinned down.

To serve, drizzle the dressing over the chargrilled aubergine, then scatter over the pomegranate seeds and pine nuts. Garnish with the mint sprigs and sprinkle over the sumac to serve.

Visit the Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food program page to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes and read our interview with Ainsley.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.