I recall my Nan cooking Aubergines (aka eggplants) in an old fashioned clay Tandoor. She used to make a dish called ‘Bartha’ which was a smoky curry made with baked versions that are scooped out.
I love these deep purple gems.
In this curry you’ll notice there’s no tomatoes or onions. It’s a simple straight forward curry flavoured with lemon and dill. It’s a delicious combination.
To make two portions (or possibly 3 depending on how big you have your portions) you will need:
3 large cloves of garlic-minced
2 TBSP oil
2 large aubergines cut into strips
Salt-to your own requirement
1 TBSP coriander powder
1 TBSP cumin powder
1 TSP chili powder
1 TSP turmeric
Water
Juice of two lemons.
1 heaped TBSP chopped dill
1) Heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2) Add the garlic and fry for one minute.
3) Add the spices and salt and fry for 30 seconds.
4) Add the aubergine strips and stir the aubergines until they are all covered in the spicy oil.
5) Keep frying the aubergines and stirring them for 4/5 minutes.
6) Now add 4 TBSP water and the dill. Stir well. Lower the heat and simmer until the aubergines are soft.
7) Drizzle over the lemon juice. Your aubergines are ready to serve.
Growing up with Popeye it took me a while to acknowledge that large doses of leafy greens did not automatically equate to biceps that would make Dwayne Johnson jealous. Lucky for me though I’m a patient type of chick and I’m steadily changing my body to look the way I want (muscles and all).
This is a super quick curry that I really love. I’ll be honest. The portion sizes here are 250 grams each and feel it’s worth having a larger portion as spinach wilts down a lot.
Like I said it’s quick and actually easy to get onto the table. I use pre-fried onions and frozen spinach….and well the lack of fresh stuff means the food is quick to get on the table. Result!
Of course you can use fresh onions and spinach and adjust amounts and cooking time to reflect this. But like I always say my Meat free Monday recipes are designed for speedy Monday meals.
To make two portions of this amazing curry you will need:
500 grams frozen spinach defrosted and drained
2 TBSP oil
4 TBSP pre-fried onions soaked and drained
1 heaped TBSP garlic paste
1 heaped TBSP ground coriander seeds
1 heaped TBSP ground cumin seeds
1 TSP chili powder
Cooking salt-to your own taste
150 ml (and a bit more just in case) water
Juice of one lemon
1) Heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2) Add the onions and fry for about one minute stirring well to ensure it doesn’t catch/stick or burn. If you find the mixture is sticking too much just add 2 TBSP of water.
3) Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
4) Now add the salt and spices. Fry for about one minute to cook out the spices. Keep stirring though. No one likes a curry tinted with burnt spices.
5) Add the spinach. Stir well to coat the spinach in the spicy mixture. Fry the spinach for 5-6 minutes.
6) Turn the heat off; your curry is done.
7) Before you serve the curry add the lemon juice.
Note: this recipe is by no means a REAL ITALIAN sauce. This is a sauce I make that is pretty much easy to put together (in less than 5 minutes if you have frozen browned mince in your freezer).
This is enough for 4 family dishes serving 4 at a time so 16 servings (or more depending on your portion sizing and if you wish to add additional vegetables).
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons pre-fried onions soaked in water for 20 minutes then drained.
6 8 cloves of garlic crushed
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
1.5 kg mince of your choice (I use Mutton)-you can use vegan mince if you wish
1 small (250 gram) box of mushrooms diced finely
2 bell peppers (I use red) deseeded and finely diced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt-to your dietary requirements
1 tin (approx 400 gram) chopped tomatoes
1 carton passata (the approx 390 gram carton-not the small one)
125 ml water
For thickening:
1 tablespoon cornflour
Extra water
1) Heat a large pot on a medium heat and add the oil. Fry off the mince to seal it and retain moisture. This step takes me 15 minutes tops but adds a lot of flavour. 2) Add the garlic to the mince and fry for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. 3) Drain off the excess oil from the mince. 4) Add all the remaining ingredients to the Slow Cooker and the mince. Cook the mince sauce on a low heat for four hours. I check up on the mince after 2 hours and give it a stir. 5) After four hours the mince should be cooked (as should all the other ingredients). If the sauce isn’t as thick as you would like make a ‘slurry’ using the cornflour and a little bit of water. Add that to the Slow Cooker and stir in. Check up on the sauce after 15 minutes. The slurry should help thicken up the sauce. 6) If you are happy with the sauce consistency turn off the heat and allow to cool before freezing.
Note: if you find your Slow Cooker uses up more liquid than mine you may need to add more water. But that’s only if you use up all the ‘liquid’.
TIPS: If you have fussy eaters and need to get vegetables into your family diet blitz the vegetables and add them to the sauce. If you feel your family won’t like the texture you can fry off the vegetables with the mince. This gives them a more ‘fried’ taste.
This sauce is clearly awesome with and can also be used in your favourite pasta bakes, skillet pasta dishes, cannellini and lasagne too. Leftovers can be used as jacket potato topping or even to top ‘Italian inspired Hotdogs’.
You can also add crushed up pulses to add extra protein.
Grated carrots are also a good addition and hardly detectable with the tomato sauce.
Tinned tomatoes with herbs and garlic will add additional flavour.
For extra flavour add a handful of olives (rinse them first to remove extra salt).
Remember that cooking in a Slow Cooker results in less liquid ‘evaporating’.
