Aubergine with buttermilk sauce

I love Yotam Ottolenghi’s books on cooking vegetables, Plenty and Plenty More. I always think of them like that – books on cooking vegetables, rather than as vegetarian cookbooks. I’m one of those people who struggles without having meat or fish to get my teeth into, so to speak, for a meal. I love vegetables, of course – roasted or raw, steamed, sautéed, curried or crunchy and fresh in a salad – but I always think of them as sides, and never as taking centre stage on the plate. But, there is something about Ottolenghi’s recipes that convinces me, at least for the duration of the meal, to change that attitude. Almost every vegetable dish I have cooked from Ottolenghi’s books, I’d be happy eating by itself. And that’s saying something.

This recipe from Plenty is in a chapter aptly titled ‘The Mighty Aubergine’. There are few veggies that are as versatile as the aubergine. You can do so much with it – char grill it to infuse its flesh with dusky smokiness; deep fry and pickle it; layer its silky flesh in a moussaka; curry it with aromatic spices – and it tastes so different depending on what you do to it, but still so familiar. It really is a bit of a superhero vegetable.

This recipe is one I have had my eye on for a while, so I was excited to try it out for a casual dinner with family. The method was pretty simple – the aubergine is brushed with oil and sprinkled with herbs, then grilled until goldenly tender, and dressed with a lovely buttermilk sauce.  The tricky part was finding the correct herb – the recipe called for lemon-thyme. Might has well have asked for moon dust.

Now, it is far easier to find herbs in Sri Lanka these days than it was 10 or even 5 years ago, but some are still quite elusive.  I’ve dealt with that problem by planting my own herb garden on our rooftop – along with the usual suspects (mint, basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano), I’ve also proven myself a big of a green thumb with dill, sage, flat-leaf parsley, tarragon, orange bergamot mint, thai basil and lemon balm. Unfortunately, though, no lemon thyme yet (I’ve sown the seeds but it will be a while before I can harvest for cooking)… so what to do? I improvised by using thyme and lemon zest to dress the aubergine prior to grilling, and then went out on a limb and used lemon balm leaves as a garnish. This second improvisation was a brilliant move, if I do say so myself. Besides looking wonderful, scattered over the buttermilk dressing along with jewel-bright pomegranate seeds, the lemon balm leaves added a wonderful, citrusy zing to the dish. It would, I think, have been wholly different (though also amazing, I am sure, because Ottolenghi is a genius after all) if lemon thyme had been used.

Ottolenghi says that he "can't think of a more rustically elegant starter" than this beautiful dish, and I am inclined to agree, even if that IS a contradiction in terms – the richness of the tender, grilled aubergine, cut by a cool, subtly garlicky buttermilk sauce, the ruby pomegranate seeds providing texture and nuggets of sweet, tart flavour and the lemon balm… oh, that lemon balm. Definitely on the list of firm favourites… as a main or appetizer.