Marrakesh Express

DEAR SOS: At the Marrakesh restaurant, they serve a wonderful cold eggplant salad, which is scooped up with bread. It is great fun, but I wasn’t able to obtain the recipe. Would you give it a try?

--KITIE

DEAR KITIE: The people at Marrakesh in Studio City sent us the following recipe, which uses a fascinating combination of spices typical of the Moroccan cuisine.

MOROCCAN EGGPLANT SALAD

2 large eggplants, peeled and grated

1/4 cup olive oil

5 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons tomato paste

Salt

Black pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons paprika

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Cook eggplant in small amount of water until tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and drain. Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat 10 minutes. Add drained eggplant, cumin, paprika and vinegar. Mash and mix with a fork. Cover saucepan and continue cooking over very low heat 45 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Mixture should still be moist.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

143 calories; 75 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 1.86 grams fiber.

Hollywood Dip DEAR SOS: The restaurant Carlos ‘N’ Charlie’s, which used to be in West Hollywood, served a wonderful tuna dip. Do you happen to have the recipe?

--CORKI

DEAR CORKI: Sure do.

CARLOS ‘N’ CHARLIE’S TUNA DIP

1 (12 1/2-ounce can) tuna, drained

1 1/2 to 2 jalapen~o chiles, seeded

1 (1-inch) piece green onion (green part only)

1 (1-inch) piece celery

1/4 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Salt, pepper

3 to 4 leaves cilantro, chopped

Blend tuna, jalapen~os, green onion and celery in food processor or blender. Blend but do not puree too finely. Blend in mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste. Blend to desired consistency. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Makes 2 cups.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

22 calories; 63 mg sodium; 2 mg cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.04 gram fiber.

Send requests to Culinary SOS, Food Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Include restaurant address when requesting recipes from restaurants. We are unable to answer recipe requests by mail.

To order Dosti’s “DEAR SOS: Thirty Years of Recipe Requests to the Los Angeles Times,” send check for $15.95 plus $3 shipping and handling to Dear SOS, Los Angeles Times, Department FS, P.O. Box 2348, Chatsworth, CA 91313-9799. Or call (800) 246-4042, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday to use Visa or MasterCard.