Mtabal or baba ghanouj is a very common appetizer in the Middle Eastern and Palestinian cuisine, the main ingredient for this is eggplants. This side dish or appetizer offered all the times at restaurants and recipes can be found everywhere. However, I notice lately that some people are allergic to eggplants, and perhaps others don’t like eggplants, though I’m a big fan of this yummy vegetable, but people have different tastes.
So, though this zucchini mtabal is not so popular and it’s not made often if perhaps never at our household, I decided to give it a try since I had extra zucchini around. I also thought this can be an option for those who love mtabal but can’t have it with the eggplants for some of the reasons I mentioned above.
So here is how to make mtabal kussa
Start by grilling the zucchini, slice them thinly lengthwise and sprinkle a little bit of olive oil on each side, place them on a baking sheet and under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes and then flip to the other side.
Meanwhile and while zucchinis are grilling prep the tahini sauce, the basic tahini sauce, which is mixing tahini with water then adding lemon and salt and I added one clove of crushed garlic. Once zucchinis are grilled let them cool off then chop into a smaller size, and pour in the tahini sauce. Mix everything well together with the zucchinis and there you have it. Quick easy and so good. If one’s is sensitive to fresh garlic, it can be grilled and added to the mix instead of fresh and it’ll be just as good.
So here is how to make mtabal kussa
Mtabal Kussa-Zucchini with Tahini متبل كوسا
Ingredients
Tahini dressing
- 3 tablespoons tahini (sesame oil)
- 3 tablespoons water
- ½ lemon juice (adjust to taste)
- salt
Instructions
Tahini dressing
- Add water to tahini
- keep stirring, until the mix turns into liquid pasty, it will look more like a a thick dressing
- then add lemon and salt.
- Slice zucchini lengthwise spread some olive oil on each side and place them on a baking sheet under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes. Then flip to the other side.
- Once zucchinis are grilled, let them cool off for few minutes then chop into squares and pour in the previously made tahini sauce over zucchinis and mix well.
- Drizzle olive oil on top and serve as an appetizer or a side dish with some khubez (Arabic bread).
Helen says
I have never tried making ‘mtabal’ with zucchini. My family only made it with eggplants. I tried this recipe the other day and everyone loved it, thank you for the new idea!
Wafa Shami says
Helen, true it's not as common as mutabal, glad you liked it.