Roasted Eggplant with Curried Yoghurt

This year I tried planting a grafted eggplant and we also had a very warm spring so I have, for the first time ever in the whole time I have been gardening, been able to harvest large ‘professional’ looking eggplants very early in the season. It is such a delight to be looking for lots of different recipes for using them. This delicious recipe is from Ottolenghi’s ‘Simple’ – thanks Darja for the recipe book :-).

3 large eggplants (~1kg)
100ml canola oil
200g Greek-style yoghurt
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 onion
30g flaked almonds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (lightly toasted)
1/2 tsp coriander seeds (lightly toasted)
40g pomegranate arils
salt and pepper

Use a vegetable peeler to peel away strips of eggplant skin from top to bottom, leaving alternating strips of black skin and white flesh (optional).
Cut eggplant into 2cm thick rounds. Place in a large bowl and mix with 70ml oil, 1/2 tsp salt and plenty of pepper. Spread on a large baking tray covered in baking paper. Roast for 40-45 mins at 220C until dark golden brown.

Mix the yoghurt with 1 tsp curry powder, tumeric, lime juice, a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. Keep in fridge until required.

Put 2 tbsp oil into a frypan and place on medium high heat. Thinly slice the onion and cook until soft and dark golden-brown, stirring frequently. Add 1 tsp curry powder, almonds and a pinch of salt and continue to fry until the almonds have lightly browned.

Arrange the eggplant slices on a large platter or individual plates, slightly overlapping. Spoon on the curried yoghurt and then top with the fried onion mix. Sprinkle over the cumin and coriander seeds, pomegranate arils and lime zest, and serve.