Roasted eggplant dip

If you’ve heard of eggplant caviar, this is something similar. It’s a dip or spread, depending on how thin or thick you make it, and it’s great with bread or crackers. My version is herb-y and garlicky and rather thin as I wanted to enjoy it as a dip for whole wheat chapatis that I discovered in the supermarket recently.

To make (about) one cup of dip, you need:

2 eggplants, cooked whole with skins on (steamed, boiled, broiled but, preferably, grilled on open fire) and cooled
a handful of sweet basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic, grated
a pinch of cumin
a pinch of paprika
1/4 c. of extra virgin olive oil
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Peel off the skins of the eggplants and cut off the tops. Chop roughly then transfer to the blender. Add the basil, garlic, cumin, paprika and olive oil. Process until smooth. Pour into a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite bread. If you like flatbreads, chapati and naan are especially good with this dip.

Note that you can also make this dip completely by hand. Mash the eggplants with a fork, chop the basil finely then mix everything together until you have a smooth mixture.