AUBERGINE MASALA CURRY

I am not the biggest fan of aubergines, I think I like them but then on my first mouthful my taste memory remembers the over oily and slightly bitter flavour of my families favourite brindle bhaji Indian side dish.  Having a great growing season this year with our aubergines producing a glut I was determined to create a Indian aubergine dish that I also loved, I started with changing the over oily greasy texture and bitterness of the aubergine first then by adding crispy turmeric roast potatoes in to a gorgeous spiced tomato masala infused with curry leaves is where I ended up, this gave me a fragrant lip smacking moorish aubergine masala.

A little shout out to the best tomatoes in the world apart from my homegrown sungold goes to Mutti Popla San Manzano, these tomatoes are honestly canned which packs in the fullest flavour, there is no other tinned tomatoes I will use, these tomatoes lets the quality of the product speak for itself which lets your food sing.

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 1 hour

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

60ml olive oil three times

1 lrg onion sliced

2 large aubergines

500g King Edward potatoes peeled rough diced

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

2 curry leaves

4 cloves garlic grated

2” ginger grated

1 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp tomato purée

50ml tamarind water

1 tin mutti popla chopped tomatoes or 8 fresh toms chopped

4 tomatoes quartered

200ml vegetable stock

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper 

Fresh coriander

2 fresh sliced red chillies optional

Mango chutney 

Pre heat your oven to 200C / 400F.  Take the aubergines and peel stripes off the skin alternatively leaving half of the skin on, dice into medium chunks, toss in a 60ml of olive oil and season well with salt, spread out on a roasting tray and roast in the oven for around 30 minutes until coloured up and partially crispy, this adds a sweeter flavour to the aubergine.  During roasting open the oven door a couple of times to allow the excess steam out from the moisture of the aubergine this will allow the aubergines to crisp up and not roast soggy.

Meanwhile bring a pan of seasoned water to a simmer, par boil the potatoes until just tender, drain gently, toss through a pinch of turmeric from the tsp, sea salt and pepper leave to steam dry for 10 minutes, place 60ml of olive oil in a roasting pan and pop in the oven to heat up while the potatoes dry.  Once the aubergines have cooked remove from the oven and reserve to one side, add the potatoes to the hot oil and toss to coat completely roast for 30 minutes turning over half way through.  Use this roasting time to make the masala ready to add the hot roasted potatoes as soon as their ready from the oven.

In a saucepan toast the cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds, add the remaining 60ml of olive oil, add the onion and soften translucent for around 5 minutes, add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and curry leaves and cook for a further five minutes next add the tomato purée and cook for 3 minutes then add the tamarind, tin tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and reduce until thick, add the vegetable stock and simmer until most of the liquid has reduced, toss through the aubergine to heat up then season with salt and pepper to taste and fresh coriander, add the fresh chillies if using, now toss through the hot crispy roast potatoes and serve immediately with mango chutney.