Hubba-babaghanoush

You know those ads for tacos where the little girl says, ‘Why not have both?’ Well I am that girl, asking, if you’re deciding between making hummus or babaghanoush, why NOT have both?

Credit: Murdoch Books / Ben Dearnley

• serves

  4

• prep

  35 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

In this mash-up of the two, the chickpeas help make the baba even smoother and creamier, while the eggplant makes the hummus infinitely more interesting. And the pickled cauliflower florets just cap it all off — like chewed-up bits of purple Hubba Bubba bubble gum. On toast with avocado, as a ‘purée’ with Middle Eastern mains, or straight from the fridge, this dip is just hubba-hubba.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups (250 g) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (see Shortcuts)
• 2 strips dried kombu (optional, but good if you’re gassy)
• 2-3 medium-large eggplants (aubergines), the glossier the better
• 1 massive handful of parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 massive handful of coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 2 tbsp tahini (see Subs)
• 1 tbsp salt flakes
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika, plus extra to serve
• 1-2 ice cubes (see Tips)

Pickled pink cauli

• 1 cauliflower, washed, dried and cut into florets (see Tips)
• 1 medium beetroot, peeled and roughly chopped
• ½ tbsp caraway seeds (optional, but excellent)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup (250 ml) white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised
• 3 tbsp salt flakes
• 1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar

To serve

• Parsley, roughly chopped
• Coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
• Pomegranate seeds
• Falafels
• Soft pitta breads

Serves 4-6 as a dippy starter, or as part of a main meal.

Instructions

1. Drain the soaked chickpeas and place in a large saucepan with 12 cups (3 litres) cold water and the kombu, if using — but no salt! Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 1½ hours. Once the chickpeas are soft enough to squash between your fingers, drain and allow to cool slightly, removing  the kombu. At this point I like to peel the chickpeas for the smoothest hummus, but you are SO welcome to skip this step. I’m already asking a lot.
2. While the chickpeas are simmering, roast the eggplants over a gas cooktop (see Tips) or barbecue over medium heat, rotating occasionally, for 30–45 minutes, until blackened on all sides and completely soft in the middle. Alternatively, pop the eggplants on a rack over a baking tray and roast in a 200°C (400°F) oven for an hour or so, until the skin has charred, and when poked seems more balloon than eggplant. Leave until cool enough to handle, draped over a clean sink to leak out a whole lot of schmutz that will otherwise make your baba way too watery.
3. For the pickled cauli, bring a large-ish saucepan of well-salted (preferably filtered) water to the boil. Add the cauliflower florets and beetroot and bubble away for 3 minutes to soften slightly. Drain, reserving 3 cups (750 ml) of the now magenta-coloured water. Divide the veg among two sterilised containers (see page 127), each about 300 ml (10½ fl oz) in capacity. Sprinkle the caraway seeds evenly on top, finishing with a bay leaf.
4. Pour the reserved poaching water back into the pan. Add the vinegar, garlic, salt and sugar and bring to the boil. Pour this mixture over the veg to cover and seal. If there isn’t enough liquid, boil a little more vinegar and pour over the top. The cauli and beet will get even better after a day of hanging out in the pickling liquid, and will last comfortably for up to a month in the fridge.
5. Scoop the eggplant flesh into a food processor. Toss in the chickpeas and remaining ingredients (including the ice cubes) and blitz until smooth and velvety, adding more olive oil if you want it even creamier. Taste for seasoning.
6. Serve warm or cold, topped with the pickles, extra herbs and pomegranate seeds, with falafels and soft pitta breads to round it all out. The hubba will last for up to a week in the fridge in an airtight container — just cover with olive oil to help stop a skin forming, and give it a good stir before serving, if need be.

 

Shortcuts

• To speed up the chickpea-soaking process, pop them in a big saucepan and pour in enough cold water to cover them by a good inch or so. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Leave to soak in this water for 1 hour, then drain and cook as per the instructions; they’ll cook in around half the time!

• A pressure cooker is another option, if you have one — once it comes up to pressure, 15 minutes is enough time to cook the chickpeas, once soaked.

• In even more of a hubba-hurry? Go the tinned route, of course, but please do rinse them — keeping the aquafaba if you like — and consider popping the chickpeas out of their skins for the smoothest finish.

Subs

• If you’re out of tahini, you can use sesame oil instead.

Tips

• The ice cubes help the hummus become extra fluffy — a very cool trick I learned from Noor Murad at Ottolenghi Test Kitchen. If you’re worried your food processor or blender can’t handle it, skip this step.

• If using a gas cooktop to char the eggplants, use some foil as a splatter guard. Take the trivet off your chosen burner. Poke a hole in a sheet of foil, so it will skirt around the heat source, and place it over the top, to cover the rest of your cooktop. This will catch the eggplant weepings and make for easier clean-up.

• If you’re roasting the eggplant in the oven, to save on energy, bake something else in there too — like, say, a halved butternut pumpkin (squash), or some veg.

• To cut the cauli into florets, place upside-down on a chopping board, and hold onto the stalk end while you twist or snip away at the florets from the base. Cut the florets in half again so that they’re all roughly the same fork-friendly size.

Image and recipe from The Joy of Better Cooking by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Ben Dearnley Murdoch Books RRP $49.99). Learn more at www.thejoyofbettercooking.com

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.

In this mash-up of the two, the chickpeas help make the baba even smoother and creamier, while the eggplant makes the hummus infinitely more interesting. And the pickled cauliflower florets just cap it all off — like chewed-up bits of purple Hubba Bubba bubble gum. On toast with avocado, as a ‘purée’ with Middle Eastern mains, or straight from the fridge, this dip is just hubba-hubba.