Aubergine and coconut curry recipe

Our aubergine and coconut curry is vegetarian treat whether you serve it as the main dish or alongside other curries.

For this curry we've made our own curry paste. If you've not tried this before, it can seem like an unnecessary hassle - and of course you could buy one already made in a jar. But a homemade curry paste really lifts this dish, and transforms it from perfectly nice into something really quite special. There are only six ingredients in the paste, and several of them are spices you may well already have. Serve this curry on rice if you like, or we like it with just a naan bread or chapati for dipping into the sauce. 

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 aubergines, cut into wedges and halved
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 200ml (7fl oz) coconut cream
• 300g (10oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

For the curry paste:

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 fat garlic cloves
• 2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
• 4 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp paprika

Method

1. Purée the curry paste ingredients to make a thick paste and set to one side. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan, add the aubergines and cook for 10 mins until soft and lightly charred.
2. The wedges will soak up the oil like a sponge, but just keep turning them to make sure they don't catch too much and, once they're done, they'll start to release the oil again.
3. Add the onion and salt and cook for 5 mins. Add curry paste and cook, stirring, for 3 mins. Be careful not to squash aubergines too much.
4. Add the coconut cream, tomatoes and 200ml (7fl oz) water. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 mins. Fold in coriander and serve with naan bread.

Top Tip for making aubergine and coconut curry

Smaller portions of this curry would also make a perfect side dish for a meaty Indian main course.

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