I’m a huge fan of eggplants (brinjals, aubergines — whatever you like to call them, they’re awesome.) If you’re not, this dish won’t be any fun for you.
I was in the mood for something spicy yet light so I dove into the wonderful world that is Jamie Oliver’s website. Check it out here. I decided to give his aubergine and tomato rogan josh recipe a go. This was the result.
Warning: This dish is spicy as hell.
Who’s hungry? Vincent and I, so this recipe serves two.
Ingredients
- 2 small-medium eggplants
- 1 sachet rogan josh paste
- 2 big handfuls of cherry tomatoes
- 30 g coriander
- 30 g pistachios
- 125 ml white wine
- 2 garlic naan breads
- 10 ml olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Let’s cook
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and get out your oven-safe lidded frying pan.
Remove the shells from the pistachios (if they have any) and crush them finely using a mortar and pestle. Leave some bits bigger for extra crunch.
Half your eggplants lengthwise and score the meaty sides with a knife. Pop them into a low-medium heated frying pan skin-side down and add the white wine. Close the lid and let it steam for about 8 minutes.
In the meantime, half some of the larger cherry tomatoes and finely chop the stalks of the coriander. Leave the coriander leaves aside for garnish. They become quite bitter when cooked for too long.
Chuck the rogan josh paste, just a dash of white wine, a splash of olive oil, the cherry tomatoes and coriander stalks into a separate pot/pan over medium heat. Toss it around for 3 minutes.
Once most of the liquid is gone from the eggplant pan and they’re starting to open up, turn the eggplants over, add some olive oil if necessary, and add the tomato curry mix to the pan while you give it all a good mix.
Sprinkle the crushed pistachios on top to form a crust.
Bake it in the oven (lid off) for 25 minutes. The naan bread will take about 8 minutes, so just pop them in when the time’s right so it all comes out at the same time.
You’ve got curry in a hurry!
Garnish with the remaining coriander leaves and dish up.
Try it for yourself!
Vegetarian Rogan Josh
A sensationally spicy vegetarian curry that is super easy to make and really delicious served with naan bread or basmati rice.
Ingredients
- 2 small-medium eggplants
- 1 sachet rogan josh paste
- 2 big handfuls of cherry tomatoes
- 30 g coriander
- 30 g pistachios
- 125 ml white wine
- 2 garlic naan breads
- 10 ml olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and get out your oven-safe lidded frying pan.
- Remove the shells from the pistachios (if they have any) and crush them finely using a mortar and pestle. Leave some bits bigger for extra crunch.
- Half your eggplants lengthwise and score the meaty sides with a knife. Pop them into a low-medium heated frying pan skin-side down and add the white wine. Close the lid and let it steam for about 8 minutes.
- In the meantime, half some of the larger cherry tomatoes and finely chop the stalks of the coriander. Leave the coriander leaves aside for garnish. They become quite bitter when cooked for too long.
- Chuck the rogan josh paste, just a dash of white wine, a splash of olive oil, the cherry tomatoes and coriander stalks into a separate pot/pan over medium heat. Toss it around for 3 minutes.
- Once most of the liquid is gone from the eggplant pan and they’re starting to open up, turn the eggplants over, add some olive oil if necessary, and add the tomato curry mix to the pan while you give it all a good mix.
- Sprinkle the crushed pistachios on top to form a crust.
- Bake it in the oven (lid off) for 25 minutes. The naan bread will take about 8 minutes, so just pop them in when the time’s right so it all comes out at the same time.
- Garnish with the remaining coriander leaves and dish up.
Jana Cooks 