Lamb and Aubergine Kebabs with Tahini Dressing
In my search to make Tahini a regular part of my cooking, rather than just a regular feature of my cupboard, Martin Yarnit of A Taste for Bologna suggested a simple Tahini dressing. He wrote:
There’s a simple tahini dressing to go with lamb kebabs. To two tablespoons of tahini add the juice of half a lemon, a finely chopped clove of garlic, some finely chopped parsley, salt and 4 tablespoons of warm water. Mix well and taste. You may need to add more leomon juice, salt or even tahini. Finally mix in two tablespoons of olive oil. You could use as a dressing for grilled vegetables. It goes particularly well with grilled aubergine.
Martin
PS This makes a nice change from Bolognese
This looked worth a try. Martin suggested that it goes well with lamb kebabs, or Aubergine, so why not combine the two? I wanted a complete, easy meal with a middle eastern twist.
I made the sauce as above, chopping the garlic and parsley and mixing with the other ingredients. I was impressed at how quickly I was able to produce a scrummy condiment.
On first tasting, the sauce tasted just of Tahini. It really brought out the sesame flavour, without bringing the sticky, cloying texture of neat Tahini with it. I slotted cubed Aubergine and diced lamb onto kebab skewers and grilled them, turning frequently, until the lamb was well done and the aubergine nice and brown.I served simply with pitta breads.
I would not describe lamb or aubergine as smooth-textured, but they both somehow tasted smooth with tahini dressing drizzled over. Lamb and aubergine have quite different flavours, but the dressing really joined them together and brought out something different in them both.
I’ll definitely make this little condiment again – it gave two fairly normal ingredients a beautiful sesame twist. I may try using it as the basis for an aubergine casserole or stew. Thank you Martin!
