Breaking off a piece of warm Pita and dipping it into fresh Baba Ghanoush brings back so many memories from going to school in Israel and from spending Shabbos with my friend, Arielle at different friend’s homes in the Pico/Robertson area of Los Angeles.
Arielle and I would show up at the end of the service at the Aish Hatorah center and we would be swarmed with friends asking us to Shabbos lunch. It was such a relaxing day, eating and talking with close friends.
No televisions, no cell phones, just good and personal conversation. A few months ago, hubs and I went to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood to see “If/Then,” starring Idina Menzel.
The show was wonderful and I even got some selfies with some of the cast. There is a cute little restaurant, called Cleo, just down the street a bit, off of Hollywood Boulevard. We made reservations to have dinner after the show and then walked over to the restaurant for a late dinner, a very late dinner. The place was packed with show goers and locals. It’s a Tapas style restaurant.
One of the items I ordered was Baba Ghanoush. There was a taste I had never tasted with anyone’s Baba Ghanoush. The waitress told me the secret ingredient and I was ready to go home and recreate that dish.
Well, time got away from me and I cannot remember that secret ingredient, so I guess we will have to go back to Pantages for another show and another late dinner. 🙂
Make a few slits in the eggplant and then pop it into the Pressure Cooker.
Peel the skin and slice the meat.
Like so.
Use the Sauté or Browning on your Pressure Cooker, first Toast the sesame seeds in the Sesame Oil to make the first part of your own Tahini Sauce (we will blend it later) and then add the onions and eggplant and allow to caramelize.
Mix all the spices together.
When the onion has completely caramelized, remove the ingredients to a food processor or VitaMix.
Process until you get the consistency you like.
Sprinkle the Baba Ghanoush with fresh parsley and cumin. Serve with Pita Bread or Homemade Indian Naan.
More Indian Recipes You Will Love.
- Pressure Cooker Baingan Bharta {Indian Eggplant Stew}
- Pressure Cooker Indian Butter Chicken {Murgh Makhani}
- Authentic Homemade Indian Naan Flatbread
- Indian Multi Pressure Slow Cooker Simple Ghee
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot DUO 6 Quart
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- Bellemain Porcelain Ramekins
- OXO Good Grips Cutting Board
- Stainless Steel Trivet
- VitaMix Creations
- OXO Stainless Steel Tongs
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Here is your handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 Eggplant
- 1/2 Yellow/Brown Onion chopped
- 1 clove Fresh Garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- Dash Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Pure Sesame Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Natural Sesame Seeds
- Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley minced
- Ground Cumin to sprinkle
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Cut a few slits into the Eggplant and place on trivet inside of Pressure Cooker.
- Add one cup of water.
- Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
- When Beep sounds, do a Quick Release.
- Remove the eggplant and dump out the water.
- Carefully, peel and slice the eggplant.
- Select Sauté or Browning on your pressure cooker and add the sesame oil and Sesame Seeds. Toast the seeds and then place the onions and eggplant into the Pressure Cooker cooking pot and allow the onions and eggplant to caramelize. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine.
- Transfer the contents of the cooking pot to a Vitamix or use an immersion blender and blend until desired texture.
- Top with fresh parsley and a sprinkling of cumin
Nutrition
PIN this Pressure Cooker Baba Ghanoush!
Instant Pot Baba Ghanoush
The recipe dies not call for sesame seeds? , but for toasted and pure sesame oil? Someone is asking on a vegan Facebook page , so I thought I’d go to the source!
Nutrition counts for keto?
Hi Jill – I love a lot of your I-Pot recipes and appreciate having them! Questions about this recipe:
1) Does it have that smokey flavor from grilling?
2) Given the steaming process is the final product a lttle runnny as well as a having a hint of bitterness? Reason I ask is that I have found that after grilling, I remove the cooked insides and run it through a salad spinner to get rid of the water. One the recipes said that the water in the eggplant is what gives that bitter taste,
Just checking what you found as you developed this recipe.
Hi jill,
Great site with some ery nice recipes.
The ‘baba ghanoush however I find a little confusing….the method calls for onion but the ingredients list omits this? I feel that some thaini paste would add a great deal to the recipe. I have an Instant pot and my aubergine / egg plant took more like 10 mins on high pressure.
Thank you for sharing your recipes
Ann
Hi Ann~
Thank you for your message. 1/2 a small onion is good. The ingredients list include the ingredients for homemade tahini. It’s so easy to make homemade, so I don’t add store bought tahini and prefer to just add the tahini ingredients right in with the other ingredients.
Jill
I don’t care for egg plant but have always enjoyed baba ghanoush. I am so going to make this! Thanks, Jill.
Hi Kim.
Thanks for your comment. I love Baba Ghanoush and am thrilled that you will be making this recipe. Let me know how you like the Baba Ghanoush.
Jill