Indian Eggplant Curry

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, drizzle some oil on the flesh (so that it doesn’t stick to the baking sheet) and place the halves on a baking sheet flesh-side down. Roast for 40-50 minutes or until the skin is brown and pulling away from the flesh. The eggplant flesh should now be darker and appear wet. (You can also roast the eggplant by wrapping the whole thing in foil and putting it in the oven, but that method takes much longer).

If you’re serving the dish over rice, prepare the rice while the eggplant is roasting. I steamed one cup of dry brown rice, which was the perfect portion to go with the eggplant.

Once eggplant is finished roasting, allow it to cool enough to handle. Then peel the skin off (it should come right off). Place the flesh in a blender and blend until smooth.

Begin preparing the curry. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Once the oil is hot add the cumin seeds. Toast the seeds for two minutes then add the ginger. Sauté 3 to 5 minutes until very fragrant, then reduce heat to medium and add the chopped onion. Sauté about 3 minutes before adding the garlic, habaneros, ground cumin and turmeric. Cook until onion is translucent, about another 8 minutes. If you are using frozen peas, add them now.

Add the eggplant to the rest of the ingredients, reduce the heat if necessary and cook 5 minutes. Add the tomato (and the green peas if using fresh or canned peas), cover the pan and allow the mixture to cook another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do a taste test and add salt as necessary.

Serve over brown (what I used) or basmati rice!

Recipe adapted from cravecookclick.com recipe for Bhaingan Bharta.