Spicy eggplants

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 800 g eggplant(s)
• 400 g tomatoes, chopped from the can
• 2 ½ cm ginger, roughly chopped
• 6 clove(s) garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp black cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 300 ml oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

Indian side dish, vegetarian

Wash the eggplants and cut into 4-5 cm long wedges. Rinse thoroughly and squeeze out any excess water. Puree the ginger and garlic along with 1/3 of the tomatoes. If you don’t want chunks, you can also blend the whole can. Heat 125 ml of oil in a large, deep frying pan and add as many eggplant pieces as will fit in one layer. Brown on both sides over medium heat, then transfer to a sieve and allow the excess oil to drain. Add the remaining oil to the pan as needed to fry the rest in batches. Do not turn off the heat; add the fennel and black cumin seeds to the pan, cover, and let them pop briefly. Now add all the remaining ingredients except the eggplant. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Carefully add the eggplant wedges and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. The eggplants can be served cold or warmed. Of course, they can also be served hot as a main course with rice and some yogurt, but then there are only about 2 – 3 portions.