Before leaving for our summer holiday in Australia, I had a lot of aubergines in the garden, and needed to find ways to use them, hence why another post where they feature as the main ingredient.

Hamilton Island, Qld Australia

This is roasted eggplant with spice-infused ghee, braised tomatoes, yoghurt and fresh coriander.   I serve it as a side dish to any simple dal and grain, and it goes well with oven-roasted potatoes or as a dip with crunchy vegetables, small cold cucumber slices are especially nice.

roasted aubergine with yoghurt & Indian spices

Inspired by The Vegetable Table by Yamuna Devi

Makes approximately 1½ cups

ingredients 

1 large aubergine

⅓ – ½ cup Greek yoghurt

salt to taste

½ cup finely chopped fresh coriander

voggarane

1 Tbsp ghee/oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

⅛ tsp asafoetida powder

⅛ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp turmeric powder

5 small cherry tomatoes, finely chopped

preparation 

1.  Cook the aubergine over a gas flame or electric grill as described in the recipe for baba ghanoush, until the skin blackens and blisters and the inside flesh is very soft; 10 – 20 minutes.

2.  Slit the eggplant and scoop the flesh into a bowl, removing the charred skin; allow to sit in a strainer for a few minutes to allow the juice to leak out and drain away as this is quite bitter.  Drain out the bitter juice, place the flesh into a bowl and mash with a fork.

prepare the voggarane

3.  Heat the ghee; when hot, add cumin seeds – fry until golden, then add the asafoetida, red pepper flakes, turmeric and, within seconds, the tomatoes. Fry until the tomatoes are slightly broken down, 3 – 4 minutes, then add to the aubergine.

4.  Season with salt and stir in the yoghurt and fresh coriander.  Drizzle with ghee before serving, and garnish with more fresh coriander.

Serve warm or at room temperature with chapati or your favourite grain dish.

Goodness shared by Stacey