This warming aubergine curry is perfect cosy winter food. I do feel a little sorry for aubergine, or eggplant/brinjal as it’s known in other places. It’s got a bit of a bad rap because people can undercook it so when they try it, it’s spongy and bitter. I can definitely see why you wouldn’t enjoy it when it’s cooked that way. But when cooked properly for long enough, it becomes really tender and just melts in your mouth
Yield; Four servings (approx 200kcal per serving) Cook time; 30 minutes
You’ll need;
- One teaspoon of oil
- Two aubergines, cut into small pieces
- One red onion, finely sliced
- Two cloves of garlic, minced
- One red chilli pepper, minced (remove seeds for less heat)
- One 400g/14oz tin of chopped tomatoes
- 100ml hot vegetable stock
- Three tablespoons of curry powder
- 100ml non-dairy cream
- One 400g/14oz tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Method;
- Add the oil into a frying pan over a medium high heat, add the aubergine and cook for ten minutes, stirring regularly
- Then lower the temperature to medium and add the onion, garlic and chilli, cook for another five minutes, or until the onion begins to soften
- Then add the tomato, stock and curry powder, give everything a good mix to combine and allow to cook for another ten minutes
- Finally add the chickpeas and cream, season to taste with salt and black pepper, give it another five minutes and then it’s done. Serve with rice, poppadoms or dairy free naan bread
As always, I used tofu cream as my non-dairy cream. It’s just one block of silken tofu blended with between 200-250ml unsweetened plant milk. Using 200ml will give a thicker double cream type of consistency, 250ml gives a slightly thinner single cream like consistency
