Aubergine, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Balti
Aubergine, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Balti is a modern South African fusion-style recipe for a vegetarian balti-style curry of aubergine (eggplant), sweet potato and chickpeas in a spiced tomato-based gravy. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South African version of: Aubergine, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Balti.
prep time
15 minutes
cook time
35 minutes
Total Time:
50 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : CurrySpice RecipesSouth-africa Recipes
I love these multi-purpose dishes that can be served as a main course (a vegetarian curry served with rice) or which can be served as an accompaniment.
Today I didn’t want to go shopping so I looked over the store cupboard and my freezer. I had some nice wildebeest steaks in the freezer, a brinjal (aubergine) in the fridge and a tin of chickpeas that really needed using up.
This recipe is typically made with potatoes, but as my wife prefers sweet potatoes and we always have them on hand, that was a quick and easy substitution.
Living in Durban I substituted Durban masala for the chilli powder in the original and added some fresh chillies too. You can reduce these to provide the heat level you like.
Ingredients:
For the Vegetables:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 aubergine, cut into 1cm (1/2 in) cubes
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm (1/2 in) cubes
410g (14 ½ oz) tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
For the Sauce:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp root ginger, peeled and grated
4cm (1 ½ in) length cassia bark, (optional)
6 whole cloves
450g (16oz) tin chopped plum tomatoes
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder, to taste
4 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped
200ml (4/5 cup) water
1/2 tsp garam masala
Method:
Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions and cumin seeds, cooking for about 3 minutes. Then add the potato, aubergine, ground coriander, cumin and turmeric. Stir to coat the vegetables evenly with the oil and herbs. Turn the heat to high and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Place the oil for the sauce in the pan and add the onion, garlic, grated ginger, cassia bark and whole cloves. Cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric, coriander, cumin, salt, sugar and chilli powder. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes then lower the heat to medium and cook for a further 3 minutes with occasional stirring.
Allow the sauce to cool slightly then remove the cassia bark and blend the sauce roughly with a hand blender. Return the vegetables back to the pot and add 3 tbsp of the chopped coriander (cilantro), the water and the garam masala
Bring to the boil, cover and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Tip into a bowl for serving and garnish with the remaining chopped coriander. Serve with boiled basmati rice and naan bread.