Aubergine Meze

Aubergine is a vegetable I have got to enjoy only recently. In the past, aubergines used to have some bitterness which has now been bred out of them and we no only need to salt and drain them either.

This aubergine meze is made slightly differently to an aubergine curry even though it uses most of the usual spices. Cooking it this way seems to give the aubergine a fantastic almost fruity taste.

Ingredients:

4 tbls Olive Oil
1 medium aubergine
4-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
2tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 cup passata
2-3 tbls lemon juice
1 tsp salt
fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Roast the cumin seeds in a dry saucepan and set aside.

2. Dice the aubergine into a bowl of cold water.

3. Heat the Olive oil in a large saucepan and add the aubergines to the oil. Stir-fry the aubergines for 3-5 minutes in the olive oil. Add in the ginger, garlic and the roasted cumin seeds and cook until the garlic has softened.

4. Add the salt, turmeric and ground coriander powder. Add a cup of water and cook until the aubergines have cooked. Add the passata and lemon juice and cook for further 2-3 minutes.