Eggplant Curry.....Mmmmmm

The third Wednesday of the month is my favorite Wednesday.  "Why?", you ask.  Because it's cooking demo day at our local CSA.  There are always some yummy recipes and are great for inspiration.  Last demo day I tried an eggplant curry that I couldn't stop thinking about.  It was simply delicious!  They didn't have a recipe printed for it, so I was left to think about how I would recreate that dish with the eggplant that I had received in my share.  After some recipe searching online and not really finding anything that looked or sounded like the dish I had tasted, I decided to give it a go anyway.  The end result was surprisingly tasty!  And guess who got more eggplant in her share this week?  ME!  Very excited to make this again!

Here's the recipe that I came up with.  Even if you're not a fan of eggplant you should give this one a try!  The most time consuming part of this is roasting the eggplant.  It needs to roast for about 30 minutes, but if you do this step ahead of time you can throw the dish together in about 15 minutes.  I read a tip that you should always poke holes in your eggplant before roasting or you run the risk of an explosion in your oven.  I didn't want to test that theory, so I poked the holes.  :o)  Once the eggplant had cooled I removed the skin and scooped out what seeds I could.  I was worried that if I left too many seeds it would be bitter, but not sure if it would have made a noticeable difference or not.  Then I just mashed it up with a fork, covered it in a bowl, and put it in the fridge until it was time to cook.  

Ingredients

1 large eggplant or several small ones 

1 onion

4 or 5 medium sized tomatoes

1 T fresh ginger finely chopped
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 t cumin seeds
1 t mustard seeds
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground tumeric

1/2 t garam masala

Oil of choice

Over medium heat, coat the bottom of a large sauce pan with oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds.  Once they pop, add your onions, garlic, ginger, and spices.  Stir well and cook until onions are soft.  Add your eggplant and mash it around with the other ingredients.  Cook for about 5 minutes then add your tomatoes.  **HINT** I put the tomatoes in my ninja (you can use a food processor) and pulsed it a couple of times.  This made for the perfect consistency and also kept all of the juices, which are absolutely necessary.  I actually used the ninja to chop my onions too; they come out perfect and rustic!  :o)  Ok, back to the recipe.  Mash everything together.  I mashed until the eggplant was nearly annihilated.  At this point, take about half of your dish (or more, depending on how you would like the consistency), put it in the food processor, and puree.  Add it back to the pan, and at this point, I like to add a handful or two of frozen peas.  Feel free to leave this out, but I think it adds to the texture, flavor, and look of the dish.  You're done!  Serve with some basmati rice and naan.  

I hope you enjoy!!