Aubergine Dhansak

Name: Aubergine Dhansak
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 large aubergine/eggplant, finely chopped; ¼ tsp chilli powder; 1 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp sugar, or as needed; ½ tsp ground turmeric; up to 450 ml/15 fl oz/scant 2 cups boiling water; 2 tsp garam masala; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 handfuls of kale, leaves only, torn; 1 red onion, finely chopped; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp salt, or as needed; 1 potato, finely chopped; 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped; 1 tbsp tomato purée/paste; 3 garlic cloves; 2.5 cm/1 in piece of fresh ginger; juice of ½ lemon; 100 g/3½ oz/scant ½ cup dried red lentils

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Meat Free Mowgli

By Nisha Katona

Published 2022

About

This is a vegetarian take on the classic Parsi dish of meat (usually mutton) cooked in a lentil and vegetable base, known as dhansak. The Parsi community originally migrated from Persia to India, settling on the coast of Gujarat. Their cuisine still heavily reflects their ancient Persian origins. Hearty and comforting, a good dhansak should be spicy, tangy and a little sweet. Here, aubergine/eggplant replaces the traditional mutton and soaks up the flavours of the sauce just a