I adore aubergines, cooked in an endless variety of ways and this home-style aubergine dish from the Mowgli recipe book is an absolute winner. I made this as an alternative to the meat curry I was making for a vegetarian. Needless to say everyone was keen to have more after tasting. Aubergines have an earthy, almost meaty texture so they are perfect for those reluctant vegetarians too. You can make this and leave it to gently simmer in the Everhot slow oven too until you are ready to serve.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp panch phoron (a blend of five spices)
- 1 large dried red chilli
- 2 large aubergines, cut into long 5cm slices
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- juice ¼ lemon
- 250g chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp chopped coriander
Method
- Put the vegetable oil in a large frying pan on the hotplate. When the oil is hot, add the panch phoron and fry until they begin to crackle. If you think the pan is getting too hot move to the simmer plate as you don’t want to burn the spices.
- Add the red chilli and aubergines and, if you have not already, move to the simmer plate and partially cover. Cook gently for around 10 minutes or until the aubergines are browned and tender.
- Stir the ground turmeric, chilli powder, salt, sugar, lemon juice and tomatoes into the aubergine mixture and fry for a further six minutes until the oil has begun to split out of the tomatoes. Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve. I served this with a leftover turkey curry and sourdough flatbreads.