Egg-celent Eggplant and Chickpea Curry

Egg-celent Eggplant and Chickpea Curry

What you will need...

1 eggplant (male... more to come on this in a minute)

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

2 cloves garlic -minced-

1 medium yellow onion -diced-

1/2 Red bell pepper -diced-

1 Tsp ground cumin

1/2 Tsp turmeric

1 Tsp garam masala

2 Tsp ginger paste

1/2 Tsp ground red pepper

1 can (14 oz) organic diced tomatoes

1 can (15oz) cooked chickpeas

Skillet with a tight fitting lid

     I was at the farmers market the other day and one of my favorite stalls had eggplant, which they had never had before. I had never bought, eaten... let alone cooked an eggplant before, so I decided to give it a try. I asked the lady who ran the stall how to pick out a good eggplant and she gave me some really interesting advice!

     ** An awesome fact for the biologically impaired... all plants (including fruits) have male and female blooms.** If you look at the base of an eggplant there is a brown spot at the bottom, the female eggplants will have a round spot and the male eggplants will have a oval shaped spot. Apparently eggplants are freaks of the natural world because the male eggplants will be sweater and the female eggplants will have a more bitter taste, so when cooking you want to make sure that you get a male eggplant. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit 

Stab holes into your eggplant with a fork

Cover your cooking sheet with tin foil (you will be glad that you did this later)

Place eggplant on sheet and bake for 40mins (eggplant will start to look withered)--------->

Pull out eggplant and set aside to cool

While your eggplant is cooling begin to heat EVOO and garlic in your skillet.

Dice onion and cook with oil and garlic until it begins to caramelize, add bell pepper and spices. Allow to cook until peppers just begin to soften. 

Peel, dice, and add eggplant to skillet 

Drain and add diced tomatoes.

Allow to cook over medium heat for about 10 mins

(Right about here I wish I could upload a smell because you all would be licking the computer screen!)

Drain chickpeas water into cup, add chickpeas to skillet.

Add equal parts chickpea water and vegetable stock to mixture, cover with lid and allow to simmer for a minimum of 15 mins, stirring once or twice... Let all those lovely tastes come together!!! Salt to taste...

And that's it... I threw mine over some quinoa and thoroughly enjoyed it... all by myself... MISS YOU ALL...Wish you were here!