Eggplant and onion and cilantro, oh my! Time for a delicious curry. We added some cherry tomatoes from previous shares to the canned diced tomatoes in this recipe. You could also add spinach and potatoes, omit the coconut milk, or change up the spice mix if you know what you do and do not like. As it says in the recipe proper, you can enjoy this curry on rice or naan or any kind of flatbread. I had mine on… toast with butter. And it was delicious! An excellent meal for what is becoming a beautiful grey and windy autumn. (I added the cilantro after I took the picture. Woops!)
Ingredients
- 250 grams 9 oz brinjal (young fresh eggplants)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (I used cumin powder and some coriander seeds instead)
- 1 sprig curry leaves (I used a little curry powder instead)
- ¾ to 1 cup onions chopped finely 1 large or 2 medium
- 1 green chili chopped or slit
- 1 can diced tomatoes + a few cherry toms on top
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste or fine chopped garlic and ginger
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red chili powder adjust to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- ⅓ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala or curry powder as needed, adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped optional
- 1 tin coconut milk optional and added to taste
Instructions
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Heat some oil in a large pan over medium heat.
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Once oil is warm, add mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds if you have them.
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Then add onions and green chili. Saute them stirring occasionally until they turn golden.
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While the onions fry, rinse and cube brinjals. The author of this recipe recommends removing seeds from eggplants to avoid bitterness but I just kept them in. There weren't too many!
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Keep them immersed in a bowl of water with ¼ tsp salt. This prevents discoloring & avoids bitter taste in the eggplants.
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When the onions turn golden, add ginger garlic and saute until the raw smell goesoff. This takes about 40 to 60 seconds.
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Then add tomatoes and salt. Fry for 2 mins. Cook covered until the tomatoes turn soft & mushy.
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Then add red chilli powder, turmeric and garam masala. Saute until the masala turns fragrant.
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Drain the water and add chopped brinjal to the pan. Saute for 2 to 3 mins on a mediumfl ame.
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Pour half cup water. Cover and cook till the brinjals turns soft and tender. If you prefer a dry curry then reduce the water.
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Simmer till the brinjal curry becomes thick & slightly mushy. Taste test and add moresalt, red chilli powder or garam masala if needed. I strongly recommend simmering for a good long time at this point – if you think it's done but the eggplant still have any kind of shape, simmer for longer!
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Add thick coconut milk in a volume that seems good to you and simmer for a minute.
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When the curry begins to bubble, turn off the heat and sprinkle coriander leaves.
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Serve brinjal curry with rice, roti or any flatbreads.