Baba Ghanoush, and kick starting the International Blogging Marathon

We begin
our journey into the International Blogging Marathon – a brain child of
Valli, and the preparation for this has been going on since so many months.
Like the Indian Blogging Marathon where we covered Indian states, this month
will see us savour dishes from across the world in an alphabetical order.
What’s interesting is more than 25 bloggers are participating in this from
across the world, and the countless chit chat we have had is not funny.
Bordering from humour to early leaders who had their lists and cooking done
even before some of us were hearing about the country for the first time, it
all comes down to comfort homemade food, cooked with love and enjoyed by the
family 🙂

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One
particular Googly thrown at me by the husband was no Maida (APF) and no refined
sugars and very low fat to be used during this entire Blogging Marathon.. Rather than a hurdle,
I took up the challenge, faltered a bit (read a lot), altered my recipe list a
hundred times, and then ended with dishes that was welcomed by all in the
family.

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So stay
tuned as we take you across the world through different countries
alphabetically all this September. Words fail me when I thank Valli and
the entire team of gals for their constant support and motivation (sometimes
into the wee hours of the night , whatsapping endlessly). 

Loads of bookmarks
and world cuisine books were consulted, and reconsidered again and again, till
we started cooking something doable and tasty and healthy for the family. Not
to mention the loads of information that google and wiki provided and sifted
through them to present little tidbits for you along with the food made for
that country.

Hope you
enjoy this joy ride with me ...

When I
had to choose for Alphabet A for today, I hopped between Austria and Armenia
and Algeria many many times before settling on Armenia. Top 5
things about Armenia that I learnt ---

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Flag of Armenia (Wiki)

• Bordered
  by Turkey to
  the west, Georgia to the north, the de
  facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic andAzerbaijan to
  the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south, Armenia is
  a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural
  heritage. Armenia is landlocked in the South Caucasus.
  Located between the Black and Caspian Seas,
  the country is bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan,
  and on the south and west by Iran and Turkey.
• The
  native Armenian name for the country is Hayk’. The name in the Middle Ages was
  extended to Hayastan, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan (place). 
• Steeped in history, Armenia houses
  the The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's Mother Church
  traditionally dated 303 AD, which is considered the oldest cathedral in
  the world

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The Etchmiadzin Cathedral

• Armenian
  cuisine is as ancient as
  the history of Armenia, a combination of different tastes and aromas. The
  food often has quite a distinct smell. Closely related to eastern
  and Mediterranean cuisine, various spices, vegetables,fish,
  and fruits combine to present unique dishes. 
• The
  main characteristics of Armenian cuisine are a reliance on the quality of
  the ingredients rather than heavily spicing food, the use of herbs, the
  use of wheat in a variety of forms, of legumes, nuts, and fruit (as a main
  ingredient as well aa to sour food), and the stuffing of a wide variety of
  leaves.

                                            (Source:Wiki
and The Lonely Planet)

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Location Map of Armenia - Courtesy CIA

Baba Ghanoush (aka Baba Ganoush), like so many
other middle eastern - Eastern Europe recipes, belongs to Armenia amongst so
many other countries due to its geographical location, its cuisine is
influenced by neighbouring Persia, Turkey and Iran. Its a versatile dip made
with roasted garlic and eggplants and goes great with Pita crusts or veg
crudites alike. Great dip to make-ahead for parties too. 

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So, at the end of a longish
post, lets get to the recipe :

***************************

Country – Armenia

Dish – Baba Ghanoush | Recipe type – Dips, served
warm or cold

Spice level – Medium  | Difficulty level – Easy

Recipe adapted from Here

Prep : 20- 25 mins | Cook time : 10 mins | Serves :
4

Serving Suggestions : Pita breads, crackers, Veg Crudites, and also as a side dish for
flat breads / yeasted breads ( I served it with Tacos)

 ***************************

Ingredients:

• 6-8 pods garlic
• 1 medium sized eggplant
• Red Onions – 1
• Raw Tomato – 1 (Ioptional –
  but I added it)
• Coriander chopped – ¼ cup
• Tabasco Sauce – ½ teaspoon (I
  used really spicy version)
• Basil leaves (fresh or
  dried) – ½ tsp
• Olive oil – 1 TBSP
• Tahini (or sesame paste) –
  ½ tablespoon ** (See Notes for a quick version) - optional
• Salt  &
  pepper – to taste

Method:

1. In a lined baking tray,
   lightly grease the tomatoes and wrap the peeled garlic pods in double foil.
   Bake at 180-190 C for 14-15 mins till tomato is roasted and garlic shrivels and
   darkens a bit (To speed up the process, I heated a large iron wok instead and
   seared the garlic till they were roasted, and charred the tomatoes a bit)
2. On a medium gas flame, turn
   the oiled eggplant several times (with a fork / knife inserted at the crown)
   and keep turning till the eggplant is roasted evenly on all sides (this will
   take about 9-10 mins) - I roasted the eggplants a tad longer coz S likes it that way so you see a darker version of this dip
3. Cool both garlic, tomatoes
   and eggplant. Peel off skin of eggplant and lightly mash it with a fork. Chop
   up the roasted garlic and tomatoes (into smaller chunks)
4. In a large bowl, add this
   mashed up eggplant, diced garlic,basil, tomatoes, coriander (or parsley),
   Chopped onions, salt, pepper and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
5. It can be lumpy or smooth
   as you like it.
6. Serve with canapés /
   crackers or anything else you might fancy. It keeps for upto 4 – 6 days under
   refrigeration, so you might enjoy it as a sandwich spread the next day
   too 🙂

** Notes:

For a quick Tahini paste, blitz roasted sesame seeds with olive oil, a sprig of basil and thyme and some salt / pepper. I used black sesame seeds for this paste

Also linking to Beulah’s Eggplant event, hosted for Nayna.

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An InLinkz Link-up