Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Recipes

Grilled Eggplant With Chermoula Recipe

(The Nosher via JTA) – From bulbous and egg-shaped to small and thin, the eggplant (or if you’re British like me, the aubergine) is a staple fruit within Sephardic Jewish cooking. Originating in India or perhaps even China, eggplant seeds are thought to have traveled along the Silk Road into the hands of Jews and Arabs as early as the 18th century. From there, eggplant has been used so often in Jewish cooking that some refer to it as the “Jewish apple.”

Eggplant is now enjoying a wonderful resurgence, particularly in Israel, where it is enjoyed in countless salads or served whole and roasted topped with meat, tabbouleh and often gobs of nutty tahini. No meal in Israel seems complete without a portion of smoky, roasted eggplant.

It’s so incredibly versatile: Eggplant can be stewed, stuffed, pickled, roasted or grilled. Historically known for its bitterness, modern varieties don’t necessarily require salting, although I always do just in case any bitterness remains, and especially when grilling, as this will reduce the amount of oil that is soaked up.

In this recipe I serve eggplant with a North African spice paste called chermoula, which is herby, rich and pungent. This fantastic sauce is begging to be made when the weather is warm and the plates move outside.

Chermoula — a marvelous mixture of coriander, parsley, chili, paprika, garlic, cumin and olive oil — is a Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian mainstay. While it is traditionally served with fish, I love it with grilled meats, fish, veggies or even couscous.

Ingredients:

For the eggplant:

3 medium eggplants

2 tablespoons fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling

1/4 cup olive oil

For the chermoula:

1 cup packed coriander leaves

1/2 cup packed parsley leaves

1/2 cup mint leaves

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup preserved lemon juice or 1/3 cup of regular lemon juice

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

2 teaspoons harissa paste

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt, to taste

Good pinch of crushed saffron strands

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 F.

  2. Next, cut the eggplant lengthways into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cover with salt, layer in a strainer and leave to drain for 40 minutes.

  3. While the eggplant is draining, make the chermoula. Put all the ingredients with only 4 tablespoons of the olive oil into a food processor with a good pinch of salt. Blend to a thick paste and stir in enough of the remaining oil to make a sauce.

  4. Pat the eggplants dry and in batches, brush with oil and in a griddle pan, grill over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes each side, until golden. Keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining slices.

  5. When all slices have been grilled, lay on a platter and dollop with chermoula, a sprinkling of coriander and pinch of sea salt. Serves 8-10.

Ali Alt is a food writer, blogger and partner to her husband, Jonathan, the founder of the Farmer J restaurants in London. Follow her blog at www.Baliboosta.com and on instragram, @baliboosta.

The Nosher food blog offers a dazzling array of new and classic Jewish recipes and food news, from Europe to Yemen, from challah to shakshuka and beyond. Check it out at www.TheNosher.com.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.