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aubergine curry with spinach and tomato sauce and cooked brown and black rice topped with a boiled egg cut in half arranged in a round white bowl

Burmese eggplant curry

Very mild curry that is super easy to make.
Recommended:
end of chemo cycle and when the treatments have ended
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Servings 2 portions

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.
    vegetable curry ingredients arranged on a white wooden table
  • 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.
    chopped vegetables on a white round plate
  • 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.
    finely chopped shallots and ginger mixed with olive oil in a pan
  • 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.
    chopped tomatoes mixed with finely chopped shallot and ginger in a pan
  • 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.
    choped aubergine mixed with tomato and ginger sauce in a pan
  • Add the anchovies, stir and simmer loosely covered with the lid, on low heat for further 15 minutes or until the aubergine is soft.
    chopped aubergine mixed with tomato and ginger sauce in a pan and topped with anchovy fillets
  • 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.
    chopped aubergine mixed with spinach leaves and tomato and ginger sauce in a pan

Notes

I always use the short grain brown rice as it’s got a wonderful nutty flavour but of course, any brown rice is fine.
If you don’t like the tiny little bones in anchovies you can just chop them finely before adding them into the sauce.
For even more added benefits, and also if you like it hot, top the dish with 2 cloves of chopped garlic and sprinkle with cayenne pepper.
Keyword aubergine curry, curry, delicious, easy, eggplant curry, nutritious, quick, simple, tasty