My home-alone cooking is looking a lot like the postpartum-cooking I’ll be doing for my beautiful friend–and it’s fuckin’ delicious. If I wanna be Jamie Oliver (I don’t, really) I’d call this a two-ingredient recipe (eggplant & red lentils) with some layering of flavors–but I’m not here for the eye-rolls.
Curry-roasted eggplant gets simmered in a pot of spiced red lentils with coconut milk and beef bone broth. There’s a slight tang from the dried black lime but you can create that same tang by using fresh lime or lemon juice towards the end, or even a bit of zest in the beginning. I used galangal here because I had plenty from an Asian market and I do enjoy it’s sweet, floral heat. Ginger is obviously perfect to use here instead. Sofrito is absolutely NOT traditionally used in any dal, but I had it and the onion/garlic/pepper/cilantro ingredients work very well so, why not? Dal is meant to be thick but if you’re looking for a soup-like consistency, just add more broth or water. Serve with rice or enjoy on it’s own. Love y’all!
curry roasted eggplant and coconut dal
Ingredients
for the eggplant
- 4-5 small Indian eggplants or 1 larger variety, cubed
- olive oil for coating
- curry powder to taste
- salt to taste
for the lentils/coconut dal
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp dried black lime or lime juice towards end, to taste
- 1-2 dried red chiles
- 1 inch knob galangal or ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tbsp sofrito recipe linked above
- 14 oz can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 cups beef bone broth plus more for desired consistency
- 1 cup red lentils
- roasted eggplant
- salt to taste
- celery leaves or cilantro for serving
Instructions
for the eggplant
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast the eggplant til golden brown and tender. Set aside.
for the coconut dal
- Heat ghee and add spices. Stir in sofrito, galangal, and tomato paste and saute for a minute or so before adding the coconut milk, stock, and lentils. Simmer for 15 minutes then add in the roasted eggplant. Simmer another 15 minutes, adding more stock or water to reach desired consistency.