Go Back
Print

Aubergine & Chickpea Curry

Aubergine & Chickpea Curry is simple to make, but full of rich, spicy flavour. Apart from the aubergine, most of the ingredients, including tinned chickpeas and tinned tomatoes, are fridge and kitchen cupboard staples. To add texture to the curry, scatter over some crispy, baked chickpeas just before serving.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian, Vegetarian, Vegan
Keyword curry
Servings 2
Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

  • 2 medium aubergines cut into large chunks
  • salt & pepper
  • 3 tbsp oil e.g. olive, coconut, sunflower (or substitute butter/ghee)
  • 2 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 medium onions roughly chopped
  • 6-8 cloves garlic finely grated or chopped
  • 3 cm ginger root finely grated or chopped
  • 2-3 hot green chillies finely chopped or sliced
  • 4 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • 0.5 tsp turmeric
  • 400 g tinned tomatoes
  • 1-2 tsp sugar or other sweetener optional
  • 200 ml water
  • 240 g cooked chickpeas equivalent to a 400g tin, drained
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Optional: crispy chickpea garnish

  • a third to a half of the chickpeas set aside from the amount shown above
  • 1 tbsp oil e.g. olive, coconut, sunflower
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tsp spices of your choice e.g. garam masala, chaat masala, cumin, chilli powder.

Instructions

Optional: crispy chickpea garnish

  1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200 fan/Gas 7

  2. Drain the chickpeas and put them on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel. Gently rub to dry the chickpeas which will also remove their skins (this helps to crisp them up).

    Place the skinned chickpeas on a shallow baking tray.

  3. Drizzle the oil over the chickpeas and sprinkle with salt and your chosen seasonings. Shake the tray to coat the chickpeas then place in the oven.

  4. Bake for 15-25 minutes until the chickpeas are brown and crispy. Note: can burn easily so check every 4 minutes or so.

    Taste and sprinkle with more seasonings if liked then set aside.

For the aubergine

  1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200 fan/Gas 7 if you haven't already done so for the crispy chickpeas.

  2. Put the aubergine chunks in a large roasting tray, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the oil and mix well.

  3. Put the tray in the oven (cook at the same time as the crispy chickpeas if making them) and bake until soft and brown, turning occasionally (20-30 min).

    Set aside.

For the curry base

  1. In a large saute or frying pan, heat to moderate the remaining 2 tbsp of oil.

  2. Add the mustard, cumin & fennel seeds and cook until they start to fizzle & pop (2-3 min).

  3. Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook, stirring often, until it's starting to soften & brown (10-15 min)

  4. Stir in the garlic, ginger & chillies then cook for 2-3 min more.

  5. Add 2 tsp of the garam masala plus the ground coriander, paprika, fenugreek & turmeric and stir well, cooking for a minute or two.

  6. Stir in the tinned tomatoes, season with salt & pepper plus 1 tsp of the sweetener if using

  7. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the oil separates from the tomatoes (approx 10-20 min).

  8. Add the water (swish it around the used tin of tomatoes first so as not to waste any), bring back to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer again. Simmer, with a lid on, for 10 minutes.

  9. After 10 minutes, add the cooked chickpeas and the browned aubergine, put the lid back on and gently simmer for 10 more minutes.

  10. Take off the lid and if the sauce isn't reduced enough to your liking and/or the aubergine isn't completely soft, continue simmering with the lid off until done (5-15min.)

  11. Take off the heat, stir in the remaining 2 tbsp of garam masala plus more salt and sweetener if you think it needs it.

  12. Stir in the chopped coriander just before serving.

Recipe Notes

  • If you're not making the optional crispy chickpeas, just add all the drained chickpeas at step 9.
  • After making, this curry tastes even better if left to sit for 15-30 minutes to let the flavours meld. Gently reheat if necessary.