Melitzanosalata

Name: Melitzanosalata
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Cypriot
Ingredients: Aubergines; Olive oil; Garlic; Lemon juice; Flat-leaf parsley; Salt; Fat-free Greek yoghurt

75 kcal a serving, against 125 for the traditional version. That is 50 kcal off, or 40%, with 3.5g of protein. Serves 6. 40 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Aubergines charred until blackened, flesh scooped and mashed while still hot. Garlic, lemon juice, salt and a big pour of good olive oil get worked in. Some swirl in a bit of parsley and sometimes a touch of vinegar. It's smooth but rustic, with the oil giving it a glossy finish and a richness no one wants to admit comes from fat.

What changed, and what each change costs

Olive oil down from 60g to 18g

You can't get away from the fact that melitzanosalata is an olive oil delivery system. But by whisking in just 18g instead of the usual waterfall, and making up the volume with a spoonful of fat-free Greek yoghurt, you lose half the fat and keep the dip spreadable. The smokiness does most of the talking anyway.

What it costs you. There's less gloss and that rounded oiliness is missing. The sharpness stands out more. If you love dipping bread in a pool of oil, you'll grumble. If you like actually tasting aubergine, you'll get over it.

Added 120g fat-free Greek yoghurt to the base

Aubergine's mostly water and air, so the yoghurt props up the protein, adds a bit of body, and lets you get away with less oil. No, it's not traditional, but it does the job, and the acidity plays well with the lemon.

What it costs you. The texture's lighter and there's a faint yoghurt tang that you'd never get in a Cypriot taverna. Aubergine purists may roll their eyes, but at least you're not sweating over a deep fryer.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Aubergines
Olive oil
Garlic
Lemon juice
Flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Fat-free Greek yoghurt

How it starts

Stick the aubergines directly under a hot grill or, better, over a gas flame.
Let them cool just enough to handle, then slice open and scoop the flesh into a bowl.
Mash the flesh with a fork until it's a rough puree.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Cypriot.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	125	75
Protein	1.5g	3.5g
Fat	10.3g	3.3g
Saturated fat	1.4g	0.5g
Carbohydrate	8.7g	9.4g
Protein per 100 kcal	1.2g	4.6g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Cypriot prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. milk.

The method is in the book

There's no major magic here, but you do get a smokier, sharper dip with a gentle nod to virtue. It isn't silken like the original, it's a bit lighter on the tongue, but it delivers on the main event: smoky aubergine, garlic, lemon and enough body to pile onto bread or raw veg. If you miss the rivers of oil, so do I - but your shirt won't. This is still melitzanosalata, just less likely to stain your fingers and your conscience.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Cypriot, along with 47 more. Buy the paperback