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Mutabbul

A smoky eggplant dip blended with tahini, garlic, lemon, paprika, and olive oil, served with pita or sesame bread.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Eggplant and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 801 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Mutabbul

Time20-25 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the aubergines

  1. Grill the aubergines under medium heat first, then high heat after about 7 minutes, until well blackened and soft, about 20-25 minutes.

  2. Remove the skin while holding the aubergines under a cold tap, then gently squeeze to remove the juices.

Make the purée

  1. Blend the flesh in a processor.

  2. Add garlic and about 75 ml tahini, blend again.

  3. Add lemon juice, paprika, and salt to taste, then whisk until very smooth.

  4. Taste to see if you want to add any extra of the ingredients.

Serve

  1. Pour into a dish and drizzle olive oil on top and chopped mint.

  2. Serve with pita bread or sesame bread.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

140Calories
4 gProtein
8 gFat
17 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Tahini1 tbsp (15g)89
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Eggplant + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together801 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Eggplant + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together154 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Garlic + lemontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,893 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Aubergines
Their soft, smoky flesh forms the base of the dish once grilled and blended.
Tahini paste
Adds richness and a creamy body, giving the purée its smooth texture.
Garlic
Provides sharp, pungent flavour that mellows and balances the creamy base.
Lemon
Its juice adds acidity that brightens the flavour and cuts the richness of the tahini.

The step that matters

Grill the aubergines until well blackened and soft. Charring the skin and cooking the flesh through develops smoky flavour and a soft texture. Undercooked aubergine stays watery and bitter, and the purée will be thin and grainy.

Swap the tahini

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (eggplant, clove, garlic, lemon):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Cashew nutfits better
  4. Tahinithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against eggplant, clove, garlic, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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