Eggplant Curry

I think if I were to go vegan or vegetarian, I'd definitely eat a lot more Indian food. I love the spices in curries even though it leaves behind quite a mess, and oftentimes, stubborn stains. I cooked this dish for lunch and decided to substitute olive oil for ghee. It doesn’t taste as rich, but at least it’s more healthful. Oh, and until I can get my hands on curry leaves, I’ll have to stick with the readily available bay leaves for now.

Ingredients:

• 1 large American eggplant
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 bird’s eye chili peppers, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 cup chicken/vegetable broth
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• sea salt to taste
• chopped cilantro leaves to garnish

Cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes, sprinkle with salt and set aside while you prep other ingredients. When ready to cook, rinse eggplant and pat dry. I like to pan-grill the eggplant before adding to the curry sauce in order to get a nice smoky flavor, but you can just throw the uncooked eggplant into curry sauce to cook directly if you mind the hassle.

Heat oil and add the cumin seeds. Toss around for a bit and then add bay leaf, chili peppers, ginger and garlic. When the spices have infused the oil, throw in the onion. Once the onion is translucent, add the ground spices and tomatoes. Cook it down for a bit and then add the broth and yogurt. Simmer until it’s almost to the desired consistency and then season with salt and add eggplant. When eggplant is tender, transfer curry to plate and garnish with some chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with rice or naan bread.