Potatoes and Aubergine Curry (Ringna bateta nu shak)

Potatoes and aubergines is a lovely combination for a curry.  It’s quick and economical dish as well as these vegetables are readily available in all supermarkets and vegetable stalls.   

Most of you may already know this recipe but hopefully will pardon me for sharing it to help the young and new budding chefs (like my son) who are now living away from home and crave for home cooked food but too embarrassed to ask mum for the recipe.   From time to time, I will be posting such easy to make recipes under the Mirage series.

Ingredients to serve 4 people:

2 medium potatoes -washed and diced.
1 aubergine.
1 tablespoon oil (Most cooking oils are fine but try and use one which is low in saturated fats and trans fats)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chilly powder (or as required to your taste)
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of ground cummin (jeera) powder.
2-3 cloves of garlic (optional)
One cup of passata

2 teaspoons lemon
1 teaspoons of brown sugar or jaggery.

A small bunch of fresh coriander.

Method: 

1. Dice the potatoes and aubergine into cubes and soak them in cold water to avoid discoloration. 

2.  Heat the oil in a saucepan.

3. Add the cumin seeds. They should start popping - if not, stir them with a wooden spoon and wait for them to pop.

4. Drain and add the diced potatoes and aubergine to the saucepan.

5 . Add the salt, turmeric, chilly powder, sugar or jaggery and stir well.

6. Add a cup of water to this mixture and cover.

7. Let this cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, stir and cook for 5 more minutes. (You can transfer this to a microwave and cook until the vegetables soften)

8. Continue cooking and checking until the potatoes have softened.  This should take a further 5 or 10 minutes. The aubergines don’t take long to cook and they do tend to mash up a bit so be careful when stirring your curry.

8. Once the potatoes feel soft, add the passata, cumin powder and lemon juice and let it cook for 5 minutes. The passata will make the curry's gravy thicker and also makes the curry look delicious.  If you are using garlic - add it now.  I would recommend using a garlic press to mash the garlic.  (A lot of people add the onions or garlic just after the tempering with mustard or cumin seeds.  I like to add my onions and garlic later as some of my family members do not like the taste of onions and garlic - so I remove their share of the curry before adding them) The aroma and  colour of this curry reminds me of the curries they used to serve at weddings in Kenya.

9. Sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve.

This curry can be served with puris, chappatis, bhakri, porathas, theplas, naan bread, khichedi, plain rice or even bread rolls.

 
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