Re-Imagining Your Vegetables : Another eggplant recipe

I was gifted some eggplants from a Facebook friend’s garden and decided to do an Indian twist on it.  My original dinner plan was to make a quick dinner with chicken breasts in a jarred store-bought curry sauce (I know, shocking – but the plan was to take a break from cooking as I had been busy making jams with my figs from my tree) over riced cauliflower.   Well when I saw the fresh eggplants, curried eggplant came to mind as a nice accompaniment.

My husband had his first few bites of dinner and said : “How come the eggplant curry is so much more flavorful than the chicken, the chicken is a little bland”. Yes, I’ve spoiled him!

If you want a meatless dinner, the curried eggplant goes well with riced cauliflower, and with rice or naan bread if you’re doing carbs.  It’s not the prettiest dish, but it is certainly tasty.

Curried Eggplant Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants
• 4 roma tomatoes
• optional : 2 large jalapeños (or 4 small ones) if you like spicy
• 3 tablespoons of avocado or vegetable oil
• 4 garlic cloves, grated or finely diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped (or half a large onion chopped)
• 1 -1/2 ” fresh ginger, grated or finely diced
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt and more to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (be sure to include the stems, as they have the most flavor)
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon of lime zest

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray or rub with vegetable or olive oil. Slice the eggplants in half vertically, rub the cut sides with a little of the avocado or vegetable oil and lay cut side down on the cookie sheet.  Cut the tomatoes in half and put on the cookie sheet, cut side up – drizzle oil on cut sides and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  (I put in more than 4 tomatoes, as I will make tomato sauce with the extra ones). If using jalapeños, cut them vertically and you can seed them or leave seeds in if you want it hotter or – toss with some oil and lay them cut side up on cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt.

Place tray in heated oven and check them in 15 – 20 minutes to see if the peppers are done ( they will cook faster than the eggplants and tomatoes).  The eggplants and tomatoes will take 30 – 45 minutes.  The eggplants are done, when their skin is wrinkly and a fork can easily pierce the skin.  The tomatoes will be wrinkly and slightly brown.

While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the rest of the ingredients, so that they are ready to go – mise en place.

Once all the vegetables are roasted, put the tray on a rack or your counter to cool.  In 5 or 10 minutes, when the eggplants are cool enough to handle, scoop the insides into a bowl.  Next chop up the tomatoes and peppers and add them to the bowl with the eggplant.

In a medium sized sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat.  When it is shimmering, throw in diced onions, curry powder, cumin and turmeric.  Turn heat down to medium, stir until onions are translucent.  Then add in garlic and ginger and stir for 2 minutes, then add in the eggplants, tomatoes and jalapeños (if using).  Stir all to combine. Add in lime juice and lime zest, 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper. Stir, cover the pot and turn the heat down to low and leave to simmer for at least 15 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the garam masala and the chopped cilantro, saving a tablespoon of it to sprinkle on top as garnish.