Baba Ganoush – A Turkish Meze Of Yoghurt & Aubergine

Summer is well and truly underway now and this is perfect weather for exploring Turkish meze recipes and, in particular, yoghurt-based meze recipes; perfect for keeping the body cool on ridiculously hot summer days.

This yoghurt-based meze also uses a people’s foodie favourite, aubergine. We’ve done a Turkish aubergine salad, previously, but this one is different again. We’re making baba ganoush!

There are lots of different recipes out there for baba ganoush; some people use tahini (sesame paste) and / or walnuts.

The variations come from different preferences – and also because baba ganoush is eaten around the Middle East. It’s a popular Lebanese dish, for example, and is also eaten in Syria.

Its popularity in Syria probably explains why, in Turkey, baba ganoush is commonly associated with the Hatay region which borders Syria.

Baba Ganoush Recipe – Yoghurt & Aubergine Salad

Lest we cause intense foodie debate at this point as to what ingredients should and shouldn’t be included in a baba ganoush recipe (and Syrian Foodie In London even says it’s not ‘baba ganoush’ but ‘mutabal‘).

From now on, we’ll also refer to this dish with its common Turkish name, Yoğurtlu Patlıcan Salatası (Yoghurt & Aubergine Salad).

For this recipe, we go for roasted flavours. Also, as the weather is so warm, we want a lighter, refreshing meze so we’re making baba ganoush without tahini.

We love to use tahini in our hummus recipe and our Antalya white bean salad, too. But, for our baba ganoush recipe, let’s celebrate the roasted flavours of the aubergine and the garlic.

Okay, let’s make this Turkish yoghurt and aubergine salad.

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Baba Ganoush Recipe - Yoghurt & Aubergine Salad

There are lots of variations in the ingredients for baba ganoush as it is enjoyed in countries around the Middle East. This is a light summer Turkish version.

Course Meze

Cuisine Turkish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 2

Calories 173kcal

Author Turkey's For Life

Ingredients

For The Baba Ganoush

• 3 medium aubergines
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp süzme yoghurt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ lemon juiced
• ½ tsp dried mint
• 1 pinch salt

For The Garnish

• ½ bunch parsley finely chopped
• 1 drizzle olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius.
• Arrange your aubergines onto a baking tray and place in the centre of the oven.
• Roast for around 30 minutes, until soft.
• Around 5 minutes before you remove your aubergines, add your garlic cloves to the tray and allow to cook and soften.
• Remove the aubergine and garlic from the oven and allow to cool.
• Now make a slit down the centre of your aubergines.
• Carefully scrape out the pulp, removing excess seeds.
• Add the pulp to a bowl.
• Now remove the skin from your garlic, roughly chop and smash it with a knife.
• Add this to your aubergine pulp.
• Squeeze the lemon juice over your mixture.
• Now add your yoghurt and mix everything together.
• Add your olive oil, mint & salt and mix thoroughly.
• Do a taste test and add more lemon or yoghurt to your taste.
• Serve with a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil

Notes

• As with all of our recipes, calories are only meant as a guide and will differ depending on quantities.
• In our photo, you can see 5 aubergines and the recipe says to use 3. Our aubergines were very small so we used 5.
• The lemon not only adds flavour to your yoghurt and aubergine salad; it also prevents the aubergine pulp from discolouring.

And that’s how to make your yoğurtlu patlıcan salatası…or even baba ganoush, dare we say? When you’re ready to serve…

Sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley over the top, along with a drizzle of olive oil. Some recipes also add chopped walnuts, too – but, as we said with the omission of the tahin (tahini), we keep ours light in summer.

Just a few black olives and turşu (pickled jalapeno peppers, in this case) on the side.

As you might expect, baba ganoush goes really well with homemade falafel.

For ideas for some other summer Turkish meze recipes, click this link to take a look at our 5 favourite meze recipes for barbecue season.

Take a look at our complete index of Turkish recipes.