Roasted aubergine curry is a succulent and spicy vegetarian dish. It’s light yet filling and packed with layers of flavours and incredible textures. Tender roasted aubergine in an aromatic curry, sweetened with apricots and sultanas, spiced with fragrant spices, such as cilantro, fennel and tandoori masala, makes it a winner among simple curry recipes.
I enjoy watching cooking shows. And one of my favourites is “Jamie and Jimmy’s food party”, where I’ve also seen this curry recipe. Of course, I slightly adapted it, to what I already had at home. Consequently, I picked my combination of the paste ingredients and I added the dried apricots to the dish as well.
Cooking can be simple, even without knowing much about the methods. And so it is with this curry recipe. You can’t go wrong with this one. It’s so easy to make, yet impressive to serve to your family and friends.
The hero of this dish is the aubergine. Or it is the curry paste? I am not quite sure. They both make this curry dish special. Anyway, aubergine is a wonderful ingredient. It’s creamy and tender yet meaty and with a mild flavour. Aubergine is very versatile and you can create many different dishes. For instance, you can use it in beef aubergine goulash, delicious Baba ganoush, as a topping in vegan chickpea burger or in an aubergine soup. Delicious.
Sweet, fresh and spicy
Moreover, sultanas add quite some sweetness, but I find dried apricots softer and more flavourful. Therefore, I decided on using both of them. They pair perfectly to roasted aubergine and spicy curry. Also, I love the contrast they create with fresh chili, cilantro and creamy yoghurt. Yummy.
In addition, you might serve this delicious roasted aubergine curry with rice, potatoes or with a simple slice of bread. Having said that, I made small and puffy coconut pancakes. These coconut pancakes are very tender, puffy and with a slight coconut note. Also, they have a lovely golden colour thanks to turmeric. Oh, now that I mention that; have you seen the golden milk recipe yet? You have to check it out. Wink.
After you’ll make this roasted aubergine curry, you will ask for more. Here I give you just a couple more of curry ideas to make at home. For example, a flavourful green chicken curry, a fragrant Cape chicken curry or a creamy pumpkin cauliflower curry.
Ingredients for 4 portions of roasted aubergine curry:
- 2 aubergines (about 500-600 g, quartered)
- olive oil/coconut oil
- 2 cm piece of ginger (cut into small sticks)
- half a yellow onion (sliced; keep the other half for the paste)
- 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
- 350 ml of warm water
- 1 Tbsp of brown or coconut sugar
- 200-250 ml natural plain yoghurt
- 20 sultanas
- 5 dried apricots (chopped)
- 2 Tbsp of almonds (toasted)
- 1 chili (sliced)
- fresh cilantro for garnish
Ingredients for the curry paste:
- half a yellow onion
- 1 garlic clove
- salt
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 Tbsp of cilantro seeds
- seeds from one star anise
- 2 Tbsp of tandoori masala
- 2-3 Tbsp of sunflower seeds (or almonds)
- 1 tsp of fennel seeds
- 1 Tbsp of turmeric
Ingredients for 6-8 small coconut pancakes:
- 30 g coconut flour
- 30 g flour
- 100 ml of water
- 1 small egg
- 60 ml of milk
- 10 g shredded coconut
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180º C. In order to give the aubergines that lovely roasted flavour, wash them, cut into quarters (lengthwise), lay on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little of olive oil, sprinkle with some salt and put in the oven for 40 minutes or until really tender.
In the meantime, prepare the fragrant paste. Combine all ingredients for the paste (half onion, garlic, tomato, cilantro seeds, star anise seeds, tandoori masala mixture, sunflower seeds, fennel seeds, turmeric and salt) and, using a food processor or an immersion blender, blend until smooth and creamy. Put aside until you are ready to use it.
In addition, you can also prepare the coconut pancake batter. In a bowl, simply combine all of the needed ingredients, mix until smooth and place the bowl in the fridge.
Roasted aubergine curry
Furthermore, peel the ginger and cut it into matchsticks, peel and finely slice the garlic and onion. In a larger pan or high frying pan, melt some coconut oil. Then, add the ginger and fry until you can smell the lovely aroma. At this point, add the onion and garlic and fry for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Then, stir in the paste and cook it for an additional 5 minutes. You are going to notice the fantastic aroma filling up your kitchen. Lovely. Next, pour in the warm water and the sugar. Also, increase back the heat. Stir to combine and bring it to boil.
Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat back to medium-low, add the roasted aubergines (skin up) and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, you can quickly toast some almonds, chop the apricots, slice the chili and wash the cilantro.
Coconut pancakes
Additionally, you can make the coconut pancakes as well. In a non-sticking pan, heat some coconut oil and once it’s melted, it is time to create four small (about 8 cm) round pancakes. I baked four at a time. So, using a small ladle or a spoon, pour the batter in the pan and make four small round pancakes. Try to make them 3 cm apart.
When the batter on the top starts to dry, carefully, one by one, flip them over. Fry them for 2-3 more minutes. Continue with the rest of the batter. After you make the coconut pancakes, pile them up and keep warm in the oven.
Finally, divide the roasted aubergine curry into plates and sprinkle it with almonds, sultanas and with apricot chunks. Also, add a spoon of yoghurt to each plate and finish with fresh chili and cilantro leaves.
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
