Grilled Aubergines
Long aubergine slices, brushed with garlic oil and grilled in a cast iron pan until tender. The yogurt and dill sauce alongside is cool, sharp, and garlicky. Good as a starter, good as a side. Works straight off the grill or at room temperature, which makes it one of those recipes you can have ready before everyone sits down without any stress.
Ingredients
For the aubergines
- 2 aubergines
- 6 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- salt and black pepper
- 3 sprigs coriander
For the yogurt and dill sauce
- 200 gr Greek yogurt full-fat
- 1 cloves garlic
- 1 handful dill fresh
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
1. Salt the aubergines
- Slice the aubergines lengthways into long, even slices about 1cm thick. Lay them out on a board or tray, sprinkle both sides with salt, and leave for 15 minutes. This draws out excess moisture and stops them soaking up too much oil during cooking. Pat dry with kitchen paper before grilling.
2. Make the garlic oil
- Mix the finely chopped or grated garlic into the olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and black pepper. This is what you brush onto the aubergine slices before and during grilling.
3. Make the yogurt and dill sauce
- Mix the Greek yogurt, crushed garlic, chopped dill, olive oil, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve. The sauce is better made ahead so the flavours have time to come together.
4. Fry the garlic chips
- Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and fry gently, stirring regularly, for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and just crisp. Watch them carefully as they go from golden to burnt very quickly. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and set aside. They will crisp up further as they cool.
5. Grill the aubergines
- Heat the cast iron griddle pan over high heat until properly hot. Brush the aubergine slices generously with garlic oil on both sides. Grill in batches, a few slices at a time without crowding the pan, for 3 to 4 minutes per side until well charred and completely tender all the way through. Keep the cooked slices warm on a platter while you do the rest. Brush with a little extra garlic oil as each batch comes off the pan.
6. Serve
- Arrange the grilled aubergine slices on a large serving platter. Scatter the fried garlic chips over the top. Finish with fresh coriander leaves and serve the yogurt and dill sauce in a small bowl alongside.
Notes
- Don't skip the salting step. It makes a real difference to the texture, stopping the aubergines from going soggy on the grill.
- The pan needs to be properly hot before the aubergines go in. If it's not hot enough, they steam instead of char and you lose the whole point of the cast iron.
- Cook in batches. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and you end up with pale, soft slices instead of properly charred ones.
- Full-fat Greek yogurt is important for the sauce. Low-fat versions are too watery and the sauce won't have enough body.
- The sauce keeps well in the fridge for a day or two, so it's worth making it ahead.