Another winner from “My Indian Kitchen”. The recipe is here, so I feel okay about reprinting it loosely below. For more precise instructions see author Hari Nayak’s website.
So I mentioned I’m obsessed with eggplant in my last restaurant review of Bombay Choupati just outside Montreal. As much as I love eating it in Indian restaurants, I love to make it myself and cut out a lot of the unnecessary oil. This was a recipe where I finally didn’t have to do much cutting. My only change was using coconut milk in place of the yogurt or sour cream. For a little bit of tanginess missing from skipping the yogurt, I added just a little lemon juice.
Eggplant heaven. That’s a place. I’ve seen it.
Best Roasted Eggplant Dip
2 medium eggplant (about 1 lb altogether)
2 tbsp oil (not olive since it’ll burn. Coconut is perfect because of the milk later in the recipe, but any oil is fine. Anything nutty is incredible)
2 tbsp (or less) minced green, yellow or red cayenne chili pepper (or other hot pepper)
a large onion, minced (use shallots or red onion if you like it a little sweeter – you need about 1 cup)
2 large tomatoes, diced (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, plus a little extra for garnish
1 tbsp homemade Dhaba Spice blend (or garam masala – definitely homemade! Makes all the difference in the world! It’s a mixture of a lot of cumin and coriander seeds, plus half a stick of cinnamon, and equal amounts of whole cloves, fennel seeds, chili powder or cayenne, turmeric, garlic powder, ground mace, and salt. Toast the whole spices for a few minutes in a dry skillet, let them cool, and then grind them to a powder. For garam masala do the same but add some black peppercorns, cardamom pods and bay leaves, and take out the mace, chili or cayenne, turmeric, garlic and salt. I don’t get why one has salt and the other doesn’t if they’re to be used interchangeably in recipes, but I’m not the editor or Indian. Two strikes against me)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut milk (or plain yogurt or sour cream, but note that every yogurt is different – sweeter or more acidic or astringent or runny or thick, so you may need to make this recipe a few times to try the best one. Most will work okay, though. In general, a little thicker is better to give a creamier, more luscious consistency)
Directions:
Roast the eggplant. Let it cool then peel it and mash the flesh.
Fry the chili and onion in the oil over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes while stirring constantly (make sure you’ve got a ceiling fan going, and add a tbsp of water if the onion starts to stick to the pan).
Add the tomatoes and cilantro leaves and cook until there’s no liquid left in the pan (5 minutes max). Add the eggplant, spice blend of choice (dhaba or garam masala) and the salt. Stir and cook for about 1o minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Then add the coconut milk or yogurt or sour cream. Garnish with cilantro. Eat with a spoon or crackers or naan or a spoon. I recommend a spoon, clearly.
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