By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- 5(1,556)
- Notes
- Read community notes
In this gently spiced vegetable dish, baby eggplant slices are first fried until golden, then braised with chickpeas, tomatoes and garam masala until soft, velvety and richly flavored. A quickly made fresh mint chutney adds a complex, herbal, spicy note thanks to the jalapeño in the mix. Serve this over rice or with flatbread as a main course, or on the side of grilled meats or fish.
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Ingredients
Yield:2 to 3 servings as a main course, 4 to 6 as a side dish
- 2pounds baby or small Italian eggplant, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
- Fine sea salt, as needed
- 3 to 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
- 1large white onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1½teaspoons garam masala
- ½teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛teaspoon cayenne
- 1pound ripe tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 1¾cups (one 15-ounce can) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned
- 1cup mint leaves
- 1cup cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 1serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1scallion, cut into 1-inch lengths
- 1garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 2teaspoons lemon juice, more to taste
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
- Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)
For the Eggplant
For the Mint Chutney
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)
524 calories; 21 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 72 grams carbohydrates; 25 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 1587 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Season eggplant slices all over with salt. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat until it thins out in the pan. Add enough eggplant slices to fit in one layer without overlapping. Cook until the bottoms are browned, then flip and continue to cook until well browned and soft, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Add more oil if needed. Transfer cooked eggplant to a plate lined with paper towels, and repeat with more oil and eggplant until all the eggplant is cooked. Taste eggplant and add more salt if necessary.
Step
2
Heat another tablespoon of oil in pan, then add the onions. Cook until softened and golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add spices and cook for 1 minute, then add tomatoes, chickpeas and 2 tablespoons water.
Step
3
Partly cover the pan and let the mixture simmer until tomatoes start to break down, 10 to 15 minutes. Add eggplant to the pan and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until sauce thickens.
Step
4
While the eggplant cooks, combine all the ingredients for the chutney in a blender with 2 tablespoons water. Blend until puréed, about 1 minute. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt, or both, if needed.
Step
5
Serve the eggplant topped with the chutney and yogurt if you like.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,556
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Cooking Notes
Elaine
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dilip
I see a lot of folks challenged by the amount of oil required to fry the eggplant here! The trick I learnt from my mum is to soak the eggplant pieces in water for 10 minutes, then to squeeze them out slightly before frying or braising. This way they soak up a lot less oil. Of course, if you want crispy slices this will not work, but for a soft curry like this one it will be fine.
Finally, a pinch of turmeric is de rigueur in any Indian-style curry, but that's a niggle - Melissa Clark rocks!
KatrinaG
Really delicious. I too opted to roast diced eggplant, tossed with olive oil, at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, rather than pan frying it. Terrific blend of flavors, although I overcooked the tomatoes. I had trouble getting the chutney ingredients to puree in the blender, so added about a tablespoon of yogurt which helped.
Kelly D J
I have made this twice - both times delicious! However, I baked the eggplant the first time and fried it the second time. I have to say, frying the eggplant made for a tastier dish.
Barb
This was terrific! Out backyard eggplant, garlic and cilantro, the neighbor's ripe tomatoes and mint, all went to good use! I diced the eggplant and roasted it the oven at 400 with some olive oil and salt to avoid the oil issues others noted. Also added a bit of olive oil to the mint chutney. Othewise, followed the recipe - definitely will make again.
zozo mama
I used little baby eggplants from the farmer's market and cut the slices about 1/2" thin, tossed in olive oil and salt and broiled on high for 5 minutes and stirred them around once and let them broil for a few more minutes. The small silver dollar size eggplants were very appealing and the dish looked like it was something straight out of a great restaurant. Warmed up some flat bread that I made the night before on the BBQ no less. My husband is in awe. Thanks NY times!!
Ann Allen
Chopping the aubergine into chunks, tossing in a LITTLE oil adding a cinnamon stick and baking in an oven at 220C for 20-30 min, turning at least once is also a good way to prepare the aubergine. Good middle eastern dish.
Mistytailady
To avoid too much oil, cover baking sheets with foil and brush lightly with olive oil. Place the eggplant slices on the oiled foil and brush the tops lightly with oil. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Flip over and bake until lightly browned, ca. 10 minutes.
Toasted and ground cumin seeds are a great addition. Make extra chutney, using parsley if cilantro is not an option. I used 4 cloves garlic. Good over a blend of brown rice, lentils, couscous, and flax seed.
Bee
Maybe I'm just slow, but start to finish took me around 3 hours (including the chutney).
Amy
I always salt and drain my eggplant before cooking it to reduce the bitterness. Perhaps this is why I didn't need extra olive oil when frying. Skipped the chutney due to laziness and instead served it with tzatziki. This was so easy and delicious that I know many of the eggplants in my garden are destined for this dish.
Mary Beth
Didn't feel the love on this one. It's a very mild curry, perfectly pleasant, but not the thing to do with impeccable garden eggplants and tomatoes. (Canned tomatoes would have been just fine.) Frying all of that eggplant on the stovetop is insane. Roasting it in a hot oven is faster and uses less oil. Now back to that nifty David Tanis recipe for fresh tomato sauce . . .
samantha
used canned diced tomatoes instead and it still was fantastic! I just increased the spices and let everything simmer a bit longer.
Helen Ullric
I used my large, well-seasoned cast iron fry pan for this recipe and it was perfect. Cooked the eggplant in 2 1/2 batches easily and finished the recipe with no problems. Utterly delicious! However, the chutney was unnecessary and actually detracted from the dish.
tundra
Wonderful dish, may be my favorite dish of late summer! The first time I made it, I used canned chickpeas, the second time I cooked my own chickpeas, and much preferred the ones I cooked myself with this dish, better texture, and taste. I also baked the eggplant at a high temp with salt and olive oil, works fine.
Mo
I love this dish! Even had it leftover for breakfast. Very filling and delicious without the chutney. Greek yogurt is a must!
Thanks so much!
Melissa Clark:
your videos are really delightful. You have a nice offhand manner and the recipes I've tried have been highly satisfying.
Posy Ge
One more variation to the eggplant prep: use Japanese eggplants, roast or grill them whole. Then, chop into rounds you add to the sauce in step 3. We also recommend spicing it up with the addition of a halved and seeded Thai chili pepper along with the onions and a T of fresh ginger.Delicious!
Will
My family is Indian-averse in general, but this recipe got rave reviews, including from my teenage sons. I roasted the eggplant (from the garden) in slices and then combined.
eric
Delicious. Made chutney w labneh. Nice combo
Amy C
The flavors in this were really good. I had to use a LOT more olive oil to fry the eggplant. Eggplant is like a sponge and soaks up all the oil. Frying the eggplant to a long time. When I made the chutney, I had to add the yogurt to the chutney so that it would have enough volume to blend in my Vitamix. I used regular low-fat yogurt I had in the fridge, and it was fine. I served this dish with rice. It was even better the next day.
carolyn
This was delicious, albeit a bit involved. I may try making it without frying the eggplant next time but the results were delicious, just a bit fussy. Instead of making the chutney, I used storebought.
Betsy M
Delicious. This did take me about twice as long as the 45 minutes indicated.
Tim
Don’t bake it. Fry it. Pointless to make a dish but sacrifice flavour. You live once people.
ANDinCDMX
The chutney (and yogurt) really make this. Without it, it would be kind of ho-hum. Pretty easy and very low-fat vegetarian dish.
MomA
Made this for dinner tonight with eggplant and tomatoes from my garden. Didn’t make the chutney and it is still delish. I did fry to eggplant and served it over rice
Hazel
Good strong flavor when eating with mint chutney. Yogurt doesn’t add much. Eggplants need to be microwaved, squeezed out first.
Cathy
Really delicious and now in rotation at our house as a meatless dish. As some others did, I cut the eggplant into cubes and roasted it. I also wish I had doubled the mint chutney, because it was delicious and I could put it on all the things. I had no trouble pureeing it with a hand blender.
Adriana
The chutney is what makes this dish special!All the elements compliment each other beautifully. Will make again for sure!
Neel
This was great! Healthy and flavorful. I made this exactly as directed. In the future, I would leave out the mint chutney because the dish on its own was perfect. I would also roast the eggplant instead of sauté to use less oil.
LC
Roasted the eggplant. Mint chutney from a jar. Basmati rice. Delicious.
Laith
Apart from the chutney which was delicious recipe is below average.
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