Zaalouk is a popular Moroccan appetizer or dip made with smokey roasted eggplant and tomato seasoned with aromatic North African spices, fresh herbs, and olive oil. It's super healthy, naturally vegan, gluten-free, and fits nearly every diet.
Delicious when served with warm flatbread, or traditional Moroccan bread called khobz, alongside other Moroccan dishes like Chicken lemon tagine and spiced couscous.
Zaalouk is fairly quick and easy to make, requires little effort, and stores well in the fridge or freezer for convenience.
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Ingredients
- Eggplant(aubergine) - Use medium-sized seasonal varieties. Large and old eggplants are too watery.
- Tomatoes - It's best to use fresh, sweet summer tomatoes. If you can't find sweet tomatoes, then use good quality chopped tinned varieties like San Marzano.
- Lemon - Moroccan preserved lemons are amazing if you want to make them or buy them. Otherwise, simply use fresh lemons.
- Spices - Smoked paprika and cumin.
- Herbs - I used parsley but you can use cilantro, dill, or basil.
Instructions
Preparing the tomatoes
- Cut a shallow cross on the smooth end of the tomatoes.
- Bring a kettle or pot of water to a boil. Lower them into the boiling water, making sure they are fully submerged. Let them boil for 10 seconds.
- Remove and dip into iced or cold running tap water until cool.
- Peel away the skin.
- Quarter them and scoop out the seeds.
- Place the seeds into a sieve. The surrounding juice is very high in naturally occurring MSG. Umami, in other words, and we want to save that. You can freeze it for later use.
- Press the seeds until all the juice is out. Discard the dry seeds.
- You now have petals of tomato ready to dice.
- Dice the tomatoes into roughly equal-sized pieces.
- Once done, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days if you are not planning to use it straight away.
Roasting eggplant
If you are lucky enough to have a barbecue or grill at hand, then I would suggest roasting the eggplants whole over the fire to impart a natural smokey flavor. You could also do this in a pizza oven, tandoor, or open stove flame. For this zaalouk, we bake it in a very hot oven.
- Turn the oven up to 250 °C or 482 °F. Put the eggplant on a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes.
- They should be completely soft and cooked all the way through. Be careful when handling them as they give off quite a bit of steam.
- Cut the eggplants in half and scoop out the flesh. Cut up into smaller pieces.
- It can now be used straight away, or you can store it in the fridge for up to 4 days or 6 months in the freezer.
Making the zaalouk
- Heat a skillet with a touch of oil. The eggplant and tomatoes are still a bit wet, and we want to condense that all into an even creamy yet chunky stew.
- Once the skillet is hot, turn the heat down to medium and add the eggplant along with the garlic.
- Next, add the tomatoes along with the juice reserved tomato juice. Let it stew for a few minutes until it breaks up. You can also use a potato masher to help the process along.
- Add the spices, along with the salt and sugar. Stir often and cook a few minutes longer.
- It's ready when the mix is creamy, without excess water pooling in the skillet.
- Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Add lemon juice and chopped preserved lemons, if using them, along with the chopped herbs. Let it cool down to room temperature before drizzling with plenty of olive oil, adding some more herbs and freshly cracked black pepper.
Serving suggestions
Serve it slightly warm and optionally sprinkle with pistachio dukkah. It goes well with any type of bread and can be served with warm rice or couscous for a complete vegan meal.
Zaalouk is delicious served as a side dish or salad with grilled meats or fish.
Most importantly, it's fantastic and comforting simply eaten with a spoon on its own.
One pot Zaalouk
You can put everything together in a pot and slowly cook it down until most of the water has evaporated. This is a convenient, low-effort method. You will lose some roasted smoky flavor, but your zaalouk will still be delicious.
Make sure to balance with sugar once cooked. Add the herbs and lemon last minute before serving.
Variations
- Tomato and eggplant ratio- Add a spoonful of tomato paste to boost the tomato intensity. Likewise, you can reduce the amount of tomatoes used if you want more eggplant flavor.
- Texture - This version of zaalouk is medium chunky and still has plenty of texture. You can make an even chunkier, more rustic version by keeping the ingredients whole and roughly breaking them up with your hands or a potato masher. If you want it smoother, you can pulse it in a food processor to your desired consistency.
- Peppers - You can add roasted, peeled, and chopped red bell peppers then cook them down with the tomatoes and eggplant. If you want to add a little heat, add a hot pepper or two.
- Tahini - Tahini is a delicious addition to zaalouk. This smooth sesame paste gives it a luxurious creaminess and subtle nutty flavor that compliments the other ingredients well. Three tablespoons is enough in this recipe.
Storage and reheating instructions
Seal airtight and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. For longer storage, it can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Freezing makes it ideal for meal prep and convenient when quickly needing something tasty and healthy.
It can be reheated in a microwave or on the stove.
Frequently asked questions
Zaalouk varies in texture from chunky to smooth. The choice is yours, and there is no right or wrong texture. For best results, keep the texture medium smooth.
Make sure to roast the eggplant at maximum heat or dry roast it in a skillet for a natural smokey eggplant flavor. Otherwise, use good-quality smoked paprika or add a touch of natural smoke liquid.
This is mainly because of the tomatoes or if you overdid it with lemon. Balance the acidity of the tomatoes with a touch of sugar and add lemon juice bit by bit.
Useful equipment for this recipe
Cast Iron Skillet
Wooden Chopping Board
Electronic Kitchen Scales
Gyuto Japanese Chefs Knife
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Recipe
Zaalouk - Creamy Moroccan Tomato And Eggplant Dip
Ingredients
- 5 (5) sweet tomatoes - medium sized - note 1
- 2 (2) eggplants - note 2
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) cumin powder - note 3
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) smoked paprika
- 20 g (2 ½ tablespoon) garlic - chopped or minced
- 80 g (⅜ cups) olive oil - extra virgin
- 10 g (2 ½ tablespoon) parsley - chopped - note 4
- 5 g (1 tablespoon) mint - chopped
- 6 g (1 teaspoon) salt
- 6 g (1 ½ teaspoon) sugar - note 5
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
For the eggplant
- Roast in the oven at 250 °C or 482 °F until soft. Takes about 20 minutes. If it needs longer, give it longer. The eggplant needs to be fully cooked and soft.
- When cooked, remove the flesh and roughly chop it up. Set aside until needed.
For the tomatoes (optional step. You can also chop the tomatoes whole, seeds and all. It's just more rustic.)
- Blanch, peel and de-seed the tomatoes. Press the juice from the seeds by rubbing through a sieve. Dice into large pieces and set aside along with the juice.
Cooking the zaalouk
- Heat a skillet with oil until it just starts to smoke. The eggplant and tomatoes are still watery, and we want to condense that all into a homogenous creamy chunky stew.
- Once the skillet is hot, turn the heat to medium and add the eggplant along with the garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes, taking care not to burn it.
- Next, add the tomatoes along with the juice if you used fresh tomatoes. Let it stew for a few minutes until they start breaking up a bit.
- Add the spices along with the salt and sugar. Cook a bit longer.
- When it's ready it's should not be wet but nice and creamy. You'll know when it's ready.
- Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if you want. Add the lemon juice little by little according to your taste along with the chopped herbs. Let it cool down to room temperature.
Serving
- Put into a bowl or keep in the pan before drizzling with plenty of olive oil, adding some more herbs and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve with flatbread or flour tortillas along with optional dukkah or za'atar seasoning.
Notes
- Tomatoes - You can use tinned tomatoes, but sweet seasonal varieties work best. Make sure to adjust the acidity by adding sugar to your taste.
- Eggplant - Use firm, good-quality eggplants. Oversized, hollow-feeling eggplant will lose a lot of water and not add much flavor.
- Spices - For best results, toast whole cumin and grind in a spice grinder.
- Herbs - You can use whatever herbs you want. Try tarragon, chervil, dill, and chives.
- Sugar - The taste needs to be balanced, as the tomatoes will make it acidic.
Kori says
This is amazing. I only had one eggplant so I used the same amount of steamed cauliflower to replace it. OMG, sooooo good!! Topped with fresh mint and parsley. And the lemon takes it to another dimension. Thank you!
Karim says
This is almost taste same as one my family make. Only eggplant we cut before it cook. Very great recipe! Good taste!
Charlé says
Karim, I am glad you liked it! I do like it when the eggplant is cut and roasted in a pot over the fire but also this creamier version. Hard to choose a favourite)