This is a a rich tomato based curry full of vegetables and flavour. I kind of think about as the curry version of my slow cooked eggplant pasta sauce… so you know it’s good!

The smell of the spices and onion frying at the start is so intoxicating it will have you salivating in no time. The eggplant caramelises and adds depth of flavour to the curry and the potato soaks up all this flavour making them the perfect partners.

The potato gets cooked separately and the starchy water from cooking the potatoes is used to create the perfect consistency of the curry sauce. This means that the potato doesn’t over cook and break apart as the eggplant slowly cooks down.

I’ve used a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in this, there’s no meat in the curry so it’s a vehicle for the flavours. It’s also full of the good stuff, don’t be scared of healthy fats!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely diced onion (I used spring to cut down on fructose)

1 Tbs freshly grated ginger

2 cloves crushed garlic (optional for fructards)

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsps cumin seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 whole dry chillies

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsps Garam masala

1 tsp fenugreek

1 large eggplant, chopped into 2-3cm chunks

400g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2-3cm chunks

2 Tbs tomato paste

2 tomatoes roughly chopped

Salt and pepper

Coriander, lime and spring onion to serve

Directions

Heat a large deep fry pan on medium high heat, once hot add 1 Tbs of oil.

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and all the spices excluding the fenugreek. Sauté until the onion has softened (a few minutes).

Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water add a pinch of salt and then bring to a boil. Cook for15 minutes or until just cooked. Set aside, reserving the water when you drain.

Add another Tbs of oil and the eggplant. Stir to coat the eggplant in the spices and then pan fry until starting to colour and soften. About 10 minutes. Add the remaining oil and the tomato paste and chopped tomato. Cook together over low heat for 5 minutes. Add a cup of water and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the cooked potato, along with the cooking water (should have 1.5 cups), the fenugreek and stir. Then cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste, add salt, and check the eggplant is soft.

Serve scattered with coriander and papadums and rice on the side.

HH. x