Chef's Recipes

Burnt eggplant with garlic yoghurt and Spanish onion

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for burnt eggplant with garlic yoghurt and Spanish onion by Joseph Abboud from Rumi, Melbourne.

By Joseph Abboud
  • 20 mins preparation
  • 20 mins cooking plus cooling, marinating
  • Serves 4 - 6
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Burnt eggplant with garlic yoghurt and Spanish onion
"Burning the eggplant over coals really is the best way to get the desired smoky flavour," says Joseph Abboud. "At home we normally throw the eggplants onto the coals once lunch is done, and they're then turned into a dish for later in the evening or the next day."
Serve this dish with the lamb cutlets and caramelised shallots pictured above.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggplant
  • 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup (loosely packed) mint
  • 1 tbsp sumac (see note)
Garlic yoghurt
  • 250 gm thick plain yoghurt
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed in a mortar and pestle

Method

Main
  • 1
    Heat a coal barbecue to medium-high heat. Trim green tops from eggplant, pierce all over with a small knife, then barbecue, turning occasionally, until the skin is black and the flesh offers no resistance when pierced with a skewer (about 20 minutes). Set aside to cool, then gently peel off the skin with your fingers, taking care not to take too much flesh along with it. Place eggplant in a bowl, drizzle with oil, scatter with salt to taste and leave to marinate (1 hour).
  • 2
    Meanwhile, for garlic yoghurt, place yoghurt in a bowl and season with salt to taste. Stir in garlic, adjust seasoning again to taste and set aside.
  • 3
    Transfer eggplant and marinade to a serving plate, separating the eggplant to make openings in the flesh. Top with dollops of garlic yoghurt, scatter with onion, mint and sumac and serve.