Ingredients
| ½ cup walnuts | |
| 3 tablespoons olive oil | |
| 1 onion, thinly sliced | |
| 100g blue cheese or grated parmesan | |
| 100ml Greek yoghurt | |
| 100ml sour cream | |
| 3 eggplants | |
| 1 teaspoon smoked paprika | |
| 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil | |
| a handful of herbs such as mint, dill or tarragon, chopped | |
| flatbread (I used sangak bread from Ziba Café in Henderson, Auckland) and pickles, to serve |
Yoghurt dips are an important part of Persian meals. One of my favourites is an eggplant dip with walnuts, topped with yoghurt or kashk – fermented, dried milk whey. Kashk, which can be found in Middle Eastern grocery stores, has a pungent, sour cheesy taste when rehydrated; it is unique but you can make an approximation by combining sour cream, crème fraîche or yoghurt with strong cheese such as parmesan or a blue. If you don’t fancy that, just use plain yoghurt.
Instructions
| 1. | Heat the oven to 160°C. |
| 2. | Toast the walnuts on a baking tray for 8-10 minutes. |
| 3. | Cool and roughly chop. Set aside. |
| 4. | Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the onions for 20 minutes with a good sprinkle of salt until very dark golden, then drain on paper towels. |
| 5. | If you remove the onions with tongs, you can use the flavoured oil for other things. |
| 6. | Put the cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork, then stir in the yoghurt and sour cream. Set aside. |
| 7. | Prick the eggplants and place directly over the flame of a gas burner or barbecue, or under a preheated grill, turning until completely blackened and very soft. |
| 8. | Put in a bowl, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let them sweat for 10 minutes. |
| 9. | Peel off all the blackened skin and discard along with the stalk. |
| 10. | Chop the flesh roughly, combine in a bowl with the smoked paprika and extra virgin olive oil and season to taste with salt. |
| 11. | Arrange on a platter then top with spoonfuls of yoghurt mix, walnuts, fried onion and a scattering of herbs. |
| 12. | Serve with pickles and flatbreads. |
Recipes & food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Jessica Hemmings
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