This is a family favourite and a must have to cook. It works so well with the smoky meatiness of Aubergine and the addition of the crunchy snap of green beans with deep spicy tones of Cumin, Garam Masala and Cinnamon. With a vibrant colours of red from the tomatoes and fresh green from the beans, you will be getting your three out of your five recommended vegetables a day hit, with a dish that is packed full of flavour hot or cold. This is perfect comfort vegan dinner to have when you want a feel good nourishing meal for your soul. Serve with Bulgar Wheat to soak up the juices or the next day for lunch as a salad or as a topping inside a hot potato. I photographed it with some fresh spinach as I wanted my son to have this extra Vitamin hit and folding it in at the end meant that he had had lots of goodness without realising to build up immunity. Use what it is hand and affordable. You really, really should try this recipe as it is so good.
Ingredients
2 tbsp of vegetable or olive oil
1 Aubergine
100g of green beans or a handful fresh or tinned
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 thumb size of fresh ginger
2 tbsp of Garam Masala
1.5 tbsp of ground Cumin
1 tbsp of ground Coriander
1/4 tsp of chilli flakes
squeeze of lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Sprinkling of Coriander - optional
200ml of stock - vegetable or meat stock whichever you have
Half a tin of coconut milk - optional
Equipment Needed
1 medium sized good saucepan
1 hand grater - optional as you can finely chop the Ginger
Wooden Spoon
Slice the onions and garlic. Peel and finely grate the ginger. Heat the oil in the saucepan on a medium heat. Add into the saucepan. When the onions and garlic and ginger have browned in the oil add the fried Aubergine which has been chopped into 1 inch cubes. Brown the Aubergine well ensuring that it takes on a lovely nutty brown colour for 5 minutes.
Add the Garam Masala, Cinnamon, Ground Cumin and Chilli Flakes and coat the mixture with the spices ensuring that the spices are cooked through and evenly distributed. After 3 minutes add the tinned tomatoes and turn the heat down to a simmer to cook through. After 15 minutes add the chopped green beans and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. At this point you can also add coconut milk if you want a thicker consistency of the curry. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Give a squeeze of a quarter wedge of lemon. Stir well and serve with freshly cut Coriander - this is optional as my Son recently told me he didn't like Coriander, so you could also serve with parsley or without. I like to serve it with 100g of Bulgar Wheat - boiled in vegetable stock for extra flavour to soak up the juices, or you can have with Basmati Rice. Remember to save a bit for lunch the next day if there is any left.
Timing: 30 minutes
Feeds: 4 portions with Bulgar Wheat or 2 healthy size portions.