South Indian Style Baked Aubergine Curry

This baked aubergine curry uses tomato and coconut milk as a sauce base. It’s delicious and suitable for non-hotheads. Cook more for lunch box is recommended.

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Baked, not Fried.

Everyone knows that aubergine is like a sponge, it absorbs as much oil as you give it, as if there is never enough. So this time, I tried to grill aubergine, spread all the spices and a small amount of oil evenly on it, then bake it for half an hour. The charred effect is the same, but it takes longer time.

Pros and Cons of Cooking Curry in an Oven

This is the first time I baked curry.

Pros: Let’s talk about the benefits first. Usually cooking curry uses a lot of oil, because it is the key to use oil to saute the spices, to let the aroma fully released. But if you use an oven, you can greatly reduce the amount of oil used, which is a big advantage for people who focus on health. At the same time, because the whole process is baked, there is not much oily smoke released, and the room will not be filled with curry smell. Moreover, you can do other homework during baking, and multi-tasking is feasible. This time, I cooked curry while making bread!

Cons: I only think of one disadvantage, that is, the smell of spices is not fully released. The high temperature is directly transmitted to the spices through the oil, which stimulates the spices to release their aroma, which is different from the high temperature that transmits energy through the air.

Therefore, if you are looking for health and convenience, you can cook curry in an oven; if you want to really eat delicious curry, it seems that you still need to use the traditional methods.

Ingredients

Serves：3

For the Baked Aubergine

• 330 g aubergine, cut into chunks
• a bowlful of cauliflower florets (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 ½ tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp paprika powder
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp salt
• black pepper

For the Sauce and Others

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 40 g split dal
• soya chunks, hydrated (optional)
• 170 g tomato passata
• 400 g (one can) full fat coconut milk
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• fresh coriander, chopped

How to Make South Indian Style Baked Aubergine Coconut Curry

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
2. Put all the baked aubergine ingredients in a casserole dish and toss well. Then roast for 30 mins.
3. Meanwhile, we make a tempering. Heat the oil in a small pan, fry the bay leave, cumin seeds and coriander powder until fragrant, beware not to let it burnt, set aside for later use.
4. When the aubergine is done, remove it from the oven. Add soya chunks, split dal and salt into it, then pour in tomato passata and coconut milk. Also return back the tempering to the casserole. Stir well and cover with a lid. Then again put it in the oven for a further 25 mins (or until the split dal is cooked).
5. Finally, squeeze in fresh lemon juice and garnish with coriander. Serve hot with rice or flatbread.