Chicken-Eggplant Curry

1. Cut the chicken breasts into large chunks, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in size.

2. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and all of the seasonings and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Omit the cayenne pepper if you prefer a milder curry, or are using a hot blend of yellow curry powder.

3. Add the diced chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken pieces are coated in the seasoning mix and no longer showing any raw spots on the surface.

4. Add the diced eggplant (dices should be about 1 cm/0.5 inches square), potato chunks, and broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and lower heat. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant dices break down into the sauce (about 1.5 hours).

5. Serve with either basmati rice or a good flatbread.

This recipe also works very well in a slow cooker, just transfer the meat and spices to the crock pot before adding the last three ingredients, and let it cook about 6 hours on low heat. It can go longer, that just lets the eggplant and onions melt into the sauce a little more.

Vegetarian version:
Omit the chicken, and use vegetable broth. Use at least double the potatoes. Alternatively, substitute chick peas and/or coarsely chopped clean spinach for the chicken.