Eggplant & Potato Curry

CH and I LOVE curry.  I think I could eat it every day, all day.  Our first experience eating curry was at a college friend’s wedding about 6 years ago.  They had a traditional Afghan wedding and it was incredible – the food, the family, the dancing and just the overall joy.  This was years ago, way before CH and I got married, but we both remember that wedding being our first experience enjoying the great flavours of curry. Although there are different types of curries, depending on the region of origin (Indian, Thai, Afghan etc.) we seem to enjoy Indian curries the most, specifically, Northern Indian curries.

We were at the Home & Garden show in Vancouver about 5 years ago (wow time flies!) and came across Daksha’s Gourmet Spices booth. We met Daksha herself and immediately fell in love with her warmth and dedication to creating quality spices and ingredients.  We also instantly fell in love with her curry mixes – which are pre-mixed spices that you add to your proteins or veggies and then enjoy (she offers butter chicken, chana masala, beef vindaloo etc. etc.)!  I still remember our first attempt at cooking curry at home – we made butter chicken in CH’s basement suite!  We were surprised how long the smell (albeit delicious!) lasted but it was worth every, single, bite!  We haven’t turned back since and almost exclusively use Daksha’s spices for all of our curry cooking needs.  We have moved past using her pre-mixed blends but if you are interested in trying curry for the first time, I suggest you try one as they are super easy!  Make sure to check out Daksha’s website – she ships her spices directly to your home (across Canada) and also sells them in specialty stores across Canada!  I can tell you that using good quality spices for your curry is essential.  They make the difference, so be sure to source out good quality ingredients and you will be rewarded.

This is a delicious blend of buttery eggplant and hearty potatoes.  It goes great with an all Indian meal or I like to serve it as a base to a simply grilled piece of fish, topped with a cilantro yogurt sauce or raita.  It is also a great vegan/vegetarian meal too!

This recipe is about a 5/10 on the heat scale, so if you like spice you can kick-up the heat by adding additional green chillies or red chili powder.

Eggplant Potato Curry

Yield:  About 6 side-dish servings (or 4 main servings)
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 large eggplant, diced into 1 inch cubes
• 2 large potatoes (or about 10 nugget potatoes), skin-on and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped*
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp freshly grated garlic
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated green chillies (I freeze my green chilies as it makes them easier to grate!)
• 1 tsp of thana jeeroo
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp red chillie powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• fresh cilantro, diced (optional)

* you can substitute canned tomatoes or tomato sauce when you can’t find quality tomatoes during the winter months.  I use about 2 cups of chopped canned tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce (be sure to use unflavored!)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add cumin seeds and onion and cook for about 5 minutes – until onions are slightly browned.

Add in ginger, garlic, green chillie, thana jeero, garam masala, turmeric powder, red chillie powder and salt.  Stir well and allow spices to cook for 2 minutes.

Add in the potatoes and eggplant and mix well to incorporate spices and evenly coat all veggies with the spice mixture.

Allow to mixture to cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add diced tomato (or tomato sauce) to the mixture and re-cover.  Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes or until the veggies are cooked.  Sprinkle with fresh cilantro just before serving, if you wish!

This can be prepared ahead of time and kept warm until the rest of dinner is ready, or until you are ready!

Serve with rice, naan, raita or eat it all by itself (it won’t last long)!  It is truly a healthy and filling meal!  Also, feel free to be creative and add in other veggies too!

Adapted From:  Daksha’s Gourmet Spices, Cook Book 2