Augergine Curry

Aubergine Curry – otherwise known as brinjal curry – can be one of the wonders of the curry world. Another word for aubergine is eggplant. In India baby brinjals are popular. If you find some, you should be give your thanks and use them as fresh as possible. Babies tend to be sweeter and more juicy than full-sized aubergines and work well in vegetable curries or by themselves in sticky sauce.
Avoid big, black aubergines. Judge your brinjal by its skin. Shiny and taut is good: flabby and matt is bad. Provided you avoid old, tough aubergines, there's no need to "salt them" or soak them in water to "remove the bitterness". It simply won't be there. Never peel aubergines. Cook them properly cooked and the skins are soft and delicious. That's where you'll find most of the taste.

Baingan Bharta
1 medium to large aubergine

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1-2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
3-4 tablespoons plain yoghurt
½ tin chopped tomatoes

Baingan Bharta (mashed aubergine) is a favourite dish of mine. You can use baby aubergines for this, but large ones are better. Simply roast your eggplant or aubergine over the burner of your cooking hob, taking care to evenly cook it all over. The less adventurous (and anyone concerned with not creating too much mess!)  can roast it in an incredibly hot oven – taking care to prick the skin first to prevent a potentially messy explosion!
Let the skin blacken and char and when the aubergine objects by spitting at you, you know it's practically done. Put to one side to cool. Peel your burnt aubergine – you needn't be too fastidious about getting every single piece of charred skin –  and roughly chop the flesh.
Drop the mustard seeds into a pan containing hot oil, when they pop add the chopped onion and garlic and allow to sauté over a medium heat until soft. Add the green chillies, ground spices and a little water to prevent burning and cook until the spices are roasted and the oil bubbles through. Take off the heat and stir in the yoghurt. Add the tomatoes, the chopped aubergine and water to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce turns thick and unctuous. Season and serve.

Baingan Bharta is the best aubergine curry I know. There are others and I will feature them over the coming months,