Fish & Eggplant curry
Eggplants courtesy of Wikipedia.
Eggplant also goes by the names of Aubergine and Brinjal. An interesting anecdote from, Our Vegetable Travellers, about the origin of eggplants is that during the 16th Century the Spaniards referred to eggplants as Berengenas which means “Apples of love” as they thought it had amazing love potion properties, while botanists in North Europe referred to the eggplant as a “mad apple” as they believed that eating it would make a person go insane! It’s a good thing that we live in the present where we can now be assured that it is in fact a nutritious vegetable, providing fibre, Vitamin C and iron and most definitely not any of the above.
Eggplant is absolutely delicious once cooked! And a great alternative to just grilling eggplant is to make Fish and Eggplant curry. As many people can vouch, a hot curry can end in tears, literally. This recipe produces quite a mild-moderate tasting curry; however you can adjust this by adding more or less curry paste to your taste!
Fish & Eggplant curry
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 brown onion, 2 heaped tbsp curry paste, 1 cup water, 1 egg plant, 2 fish fillets eg. bream, 100mL coconut milk, salt and pepper
Steps: Cut eggplant in half lengthwise then in half again, then cut roughly into 1 inch thick pieces and set aside. Cut the onion into quarters then place in a good processor to produce a fine mince. (This will give the curry its thickness). Add the olive oil to a shallow pan and cook the onion for 5-10minutes on medium-high heat or until you can smell the strong onion fragrance. Add the curry paste and stir in well. Add the water and bring to the boil.
Once boiling add the eggplant, cover and leave to boil for 10-15 minutes or until the eggplant is soft; stirring now and then to make sure the eggplant is cooked evenly. This also allows the eggplant to soak up the *kuah*- that’s Malay for gravy/sauce! Slice the fish fillets into 1 inch wide pieces, then add the fish and stir through. Add the coconut milk, salt and pepper. Cover for approximately 7 minutes or until the fish is cooked then stir and serve!
Serve with coconut rice!
Curry! Get it while its hot!
