
Happy Halloween! (had to be said 🙂 ). This dish is SO season appropriate, my baked aubergine and sweet potato curry.
I got the inspiration for this dish at a recent event that I attended. You know, sometimes in these events when you ask for vegan options you get served just plain nuts (yes, that still happens). But not this time. They served me this amazing aubergine and sweet potato curry instead that was just heavenly. So I decided to create my interpretation of the same dish.
Now, bearing in mind that I’m not the biggest fan of aubergine in general, for me wanting to re-create an aubergine dish means that it has to be really good. The key is for the aubergine not to be soggy. (Ah, how much I hate soggy aubergine!) And the key to that is to cut the aubergine in chunky slices and to fry it first before doing anything else.
This recipe is super easy, and cheap, so if you want to skimp on your mid-week meal cost but not the flavour then this is one for you.

- 1 large aubergine or 2 small
- 1 large sweet potato
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 yellow onion
- Thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 400ml Coconut Milk
- 1 tbsp Tamari Sauce
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- Sea Salt
- Black pepper
- Dried Thyme
- Paprika Spice
- Chili Flakes
- 1-2tbsp Olive oil
- Cut the aubergine into 1 inch/2-3cm slices.
- Heat a large frying pan with olive oil and fry the aubergine slices over medium heat from both sides until they turn slightly brown (a couple of minutes on both sides). Season with salt, black pepper and dried thyme while frying. Let rest.
- Chop the sweet potato, garlic, onion and ginger. You don't have to chop them too finely because they are going into a blender later on.
- Heat a pan with olive oil and add the ginger, garlic and yellow onion. Sauté for a couple of minutes before adding the sweet potato.
- Season with 1-2tsp of each; sea salt, black pepper, dried thyme, smoked paprika and add some chili flakes too. Toss around to cover all the vegetables. Add the Tamari Sauce.
- Add the coconut milk and let simmer over medium heat for about 15minutes or until the sweet potato become tender. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Transfer the mixture into a blender and process until smooth.
- Heat the oven to 175°C.
- Lay the fried aubergine slices on a baking tray and cover with the sweet potato sauce.
- Top with breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the breadcrumbs start to darken a bit and the aubergine is cooked through.
- Serve either on its own or with rice on the side.