the pepper cook

A simple, yet delicious Indian eggplant recipe with Goan roots. This mildly spiced makes a great vegan lunch or dinner dish with rice. The cubes of eggplant readily soak up a spicy tomato paste marinade and soften, making them an ideal vegetable for any kind of Indian bread, or a topping on crusty bread!

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant, about 300-400g, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
• ½ teaspoon turmeric Click here to buy our favourite turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
• ½ teaspoon red chilli, ground Click here to buy our favourite red chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste (optional)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon plain or palm vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar Click here to buy superior quality sugar
• 10-12 mint leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil Click here to buy cold-pressed virgin oil

For onion paste:

• 6-8 cloves garlic
• 1” ginger, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped,

Instructions:

1. Toss eggplant cubes with ½ teaspoon salt and place in a colander and allow bitter juices to drain while prepping other ingredients.
2. Heat oil in a pan or wok on medium heat, add onion paste and fry until it starts to brown, for  1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, and ground chillies. Fry tomatoes in paste, for about 3-4 minutes until they start to soften.
4. Rinse and drain eggplant cubes and add to the pan. Add remaining salt.
5. If using tamarind, combine with 3 tablespoons of water and add to the pan. Otherwise, add 3 tablespoons of water to the pan.
6. Lower heat to simmer and cover, stirring occasionally. Cook for 10-12 minutes until eggplant is done.
7. Mix vinegar and sugar and add to eggplant.
8. Garnish with chopped mint.
9. Serve hot with chapatis or rice.

Critical Ingredients: Tamarind is usually used to sour food in Goa, along with vinegar and kokum (garcinia.) But since it’s really not necessary to keep loading up pantry ingredients, I have put it as optional! Vinegar works just as well along with tomatoes. If you don’t have cumin, use coriander, it will still taste great! Or use both! I like my eggplant with mint, but fresh coriander leaves will do too!