Are you’re looking for a very mild curry that’s delicious and not too spicy? Why don’t you try my tomato-based Burmese eggplant and spinach curry.
Jump to RecipeGluten-free, Dairy-free, Lactose-free, Soy-free
Table of Contents
Why is curry good for you?
You might agree that there’s nothing better than a fragrant homemade curry.
Curries have been a big part of my life for many years, and I’m always happy to try a new one. There are so many different varieties of curries that use different combinations of spices and herbs. They vary from wet to dry and can be tomato or coconut-based. You can find them all around Asia, where each country and region has its own version of it.
Curry is a great, slow-cooked, cancer-fighting dish. It’s usually made with different spices, herbs and vegetables rich in anti-inflammatory compounds and plant chemicals that can fight a lot of diseases.
When you’re healthy or your treatments have ended already, you can probably eat any curry you like. But how about during the chemo, when your stomach is sensitive and cannot deal with the volume of spices that are used?
I love spicy food and missed my spicy curries when I was on chemo. I tried to eat some and it didn’t agree with me. But I couldn’t imagine not eating any curry for 6 months.
Then I remembered this recipe.
Where does this curry come from?
Inspiration for this Burmese tomato-based eggplant and spinach curry was my trip to Myanmar.
I ate something very similar in a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere, on my way from Mandalay to Bagan. The curry I had there was not hot at all and had a surprisingly subtle flavour. So, of course, I had to ask for a recipe. Turns out, it’s one of the easiest and quickest curries to make! I used to eat it towards the end part of my chemo cycles, when my stomach was a bit stronger, and I could digest it with no problems at all.
How does this curry taste and what are the ingredients?
The flavour of this curry comes from banana shallot, ginger and turmeric, all of which have strong cancer-fighting properties.
The original recipe uses a fish sauce and a shrimp paste which I substituted for some anchovies.
I have also swapped traditional ghee for extra virgin olive oil to make this recipe dairy-free.
One of the simple, healthy choices I made after my diagnosis was swapping the common white rice for a healthier, whole-grain brown rice. It’s higher in fibre, vitamins and minerals and has a beautifully nutty flavour.
To make this dish even healthier, I used a mixture of black and brown rice. Black rice is also a whole-grain type of rice, rich in powerful antioxidants anthocyanins, known for reducing inflammation. If you cannot get hold of black rice you can just leave it out.
For added protein, I topped this dish with a boiled, organic egg.
Quick note
You’ll see an optional pinch of cayenne pepper in the ingredients list for this recipe. It’s there only for those who are not going through any of their treatments anymore.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Burmese eggplant curry
Ingredients
- 1 banana shallot, peeled
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 eggplant (aubergine)
- 2 handfuls of spinach or cavolo nero
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp tomato puree
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 pieces of anchovies in olive oil, ideally from the glass jar not a tin
- 2 smaller thumb size pieces of peeled ginger
- 1 egg, preferably organic
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/4 cup black rice
- a pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
Instructions
- Wash your vegetables thoroughly and rinse the rice.
- Boil the water in 2 pans. Cook the egg in one of them for 15 minutes on a low heat and rice in the other pan, until soft, for around 25-30 minutes and drain. While the rice cooks, finely chop the shallots and mince the ginger. Cut the aubergine into about thumb size pieces and chop the tomatoes.
- Pour olive oil into a medium size saucepan and heat it up over medium heat. After a minute or two add the turmeric and stir.As soon as the turmeric starts bubbling turn the heat down to low and add the shallots, stir and cook for couple of minutes until soft.Add the ginger and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato puree, stir and cook for a minute or so.Add the chopped tomatoes, cover with a lid and cook for 5 more minutes on a low heat.
- Add the aubergine and stir, making sure it’s all coated in the sauce. To avoid the sauce from burning add around 1/2 cup of water, stir well again, turn the heat up to medium and bring to boil. Cook with the lid on for about 5 minutes.
- Add the anchovies, stir and simmer loosely covered with the lid, on low heat for further 15 minutes or until the aubergine is soft.
- Just before the serving add the spinach and stir on a low heat for about 2 minutes, until it's cooked.Serve with cooked brown and black rice and boiled egg, with more olive oil poured all over the dish.
