Zaalouk
Zaalouk زعلوك is a Moroccan eggplant salad or dip made from charred eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes. This authentic recipe is rich and velvety, with a distinctive smoky flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant
- 2 bell peppers
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon fresh coriander
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Char the eggplant, tomatoes and bell peppers over an open flame until the skin is blackened and blistered, turning them occasionally for even cooking. Use tongs or a fork to handle the eggplant.
- Peel the eggplant skin, then chop the eggplant flesh, bell peppers, and tomatoes into small pieces separately. Keep the diced eggplant and bell peppers apart from the tomatoes.
- In a large pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil, then add the crushed garlic. After 30 seconds, stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients then increase the heat to high.
- Add in some chopped coriander and parsley, a drizzle of lemon juice and turn off the heat.
- Garnish with some more fresh coriander and parsley and extra virgin olive oil.
Notes
Have everything prepped and ready on hand: chop your parsley and crush your garlic, have your eggplant pieces ready, bell peppers and tomatoes chopped and ready because once we start working on high heat we need to continually stir.
- Some older members of my family are picky and don't enjoy the intense smoky flavor of eggplants, so I found a happy medium when preparing Zaalouk. To avoid the overpowering taste, I started grilling one eggplant for every steamed one.
- Tomato paste is completely optional. Some families just use a teaspoon but mine doesn't so I left it out.
- Fresh ingredients always taste best.
- For a smooth texture, you can mash the Zaalouk with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Personally, I prefer it chunky, so I leave it as is.
-You can count portion sizes by making one medium eggplant/aubergine per person. Bear in mind that we need two tomatoes and 2 bell peppers per 3 medium eggplant/aubergines.
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