This Spicy Aubergine and Coconut Bake has layers of flavour. From sweet caramelised onions, to fragrant spices, creamy coconut and earthy aubergine. Get the recipe below.
Warm up with food
This Spicy Aubergine and Coconut Bake is a delicious dish to serve up in autumn and winter when the nights are long and the days cold.
In some ways this recipe is a labour of love. It is not a one pot dish. You will need to make the sauce on the stove before you pour it oven the sliced aubergine.This then gets transferred to the oven to bake until all the flavours are perfectly melded and the aubergine is silky soft.
In total it takes 1 hour to make so it's not exactly a quick supper. But, from the moment you start tempering the spices your house will be filled with an aroma that will warm you up. It's exactly the kind of dish you want to make on a cold evening to warm you up.
My favourite way to serve this Spicy Aubergine and Coconut Bake is with a big helping of fluffy white rice.
How to make this Spicy Aubergine and Coconut Bake
Tempering the spices
Para 6
Making the creamy coconut sauce
The sauce itself is made from a combination of tinned, chopped tomatoes and creamed coconut.
I always have creamed coconut sachets in the cupboard which I can then dissolve in water. I like to use these as often a whole tin of coconut cream is too much for just the two of us. If you were to scale this recipe up so that it was suitable for 2 people you could use a whole can of coconut cream instead of two dissolved sachets.
Whichever kind you use, the creamed coconut is what gives the sauce it's rich and creamy texture. The tinned tomatoes add some welcome sweetness to the dish.
Layers of aubergine baked in the oven
I'm sure you could add cubes of aubergine (and other vegetables) to the sauce to cook much like you would with a curry or spicy stew. But, by layering the aubergine and letting it bake in the oven, covered in the sauce, something magical happens. Each layer of aubergine because silky smooth and soft. It has a brilliant texture that just melts in the mouth.
I also love how the bubbling sauce and any edges of the aubergine that are poking out catch in the oven slightly. This gives them a lovely caramelised flavour and a slightly crisp texture which works really well with the soft and saucy aubergine flesh.
Plus, your whole house smells amazing while it cooks! You will be desperate to tuck in once it's cooked.
Serving suggestions
I mentioned at the start of this post that my favourite way to serve this recipe is with simple, white fluffy rice. And I stand by that. It's how I serve it most often.
It's quite a saucy dish so sometimes I will also serve it with a naan or similar flatbread to mop up every last ounce of flavour!
You can of course serve it with extras like onion bhajis and samosas if you want to make a real feast out of your meal!
The recipe
This delicious dish can be on your table in just 1 hour. What are you waiting for?
Spicy Aubergine and Coconut
Ingredients
- 2 aubergines cut into 1cm thick slices
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 white onion thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 0.5 teaspoon chilli powder adjust to your heat preference
- 0.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 400 grams chopped tomatoes tinned
- 50 gram creamed coconut sachet, dissolved in 100ml boiling water
- flaked almonds
- coriander
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 220C / 428 F / gas 7.
- Brush eat aubergine slice with olive oil and season lightly. Place them on to a baking tray and cook for 15 minutes, turning over half way through.
- In the meantime, heat the coconut oil in saucepan and add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt.
- Cook for 10 minutes until they are soft and starting to turn from translucent to brown.
- Add the garlic along with the other dried spices to the pan.
- Heat them gently until they are coated in the oil and have begun to release their aromas.
- Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan along with the coconut cream that has been dissolved in water.
- Raise the temperature of the pan slightly until it's at a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Once the aubergines are out of the oven begin to layer them in an oven dish starting with a layer of sauce, aubergine, sauce and more aubergine.
- Repeat this layering until all of the aubergine and sauce has been used.
- Place the dish in the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Garnish with the almonds and fresh coriander.
Nutrition
More aubergine recipes
Aubergines are such a versatile ingredient. They work with a whole range of different cooking styles and flavours. Check out some of my favourite aubergine recipes below.
More mid-week meals
I've got a tonne of simple dinner recipes on the blog. Check out the recipe archive to find more tasty mid-week meals to add to your meal plan.
Let me know if there are any other mid-week meals you'd like me to make vegan in the comments below.
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