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Aubergine, potato and chickpea balti

If you like warming, spicy foods you will love this satisfying and nourishing dish.

Don’t be fooled by the list of ingredients this dish only takes 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook and it serves 4. Although it does not contain any meat, the addition of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)means you are getting quality protein. Making your own sauce from scratch also ensures that you get all the flavor and befits of fresh spices and herbs

Ingredients

For the vegetables:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 aubergine (eggplant), cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1 potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1 x 410g (12 oz) tin chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed & drained
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp root ginger, peeled and grated
• 4cm cassia bark (optional)
• 6 whole cloves
• 450g (14 oz) tin chopped plum tomatoes
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp red chilli powder to taste

To finish:

• 4 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 200ml (6 oz) water
• ½ tsp garam masala

Method

• To make the vegetables: Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the sliced onions and cumin seeds. Cook for 3 minutes
• Add the chopped potato, aubergine, ground coriander, cumin and turmeric. Stir to coat vegetables evenly and then cook over a high heat for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from pan and set aside.
• To make the sauce: Heat the oil in the pan. Add the onion, crushed garlic, grated ginger, cassia bark and whole cloves and cook for 1 minute.
• Add chopped plum tomotoes, turmeric, coriander, cumin, garam masala, salt, sugar and chilli to taste. Cook on a high heat for two minutes, then lower to a medium heat and cook for a further 3 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Remove the cassia bark and blend the sauce roughly with a hand blender, then add the vegetables and chick peas to the sauce with 3 tablespoons of chopped coriander, the water and the garam masala.
• Cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Garnish with remaining chopped coriander and serve with Basmati rice and/or naan bread.

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