Eggplant butter chicken one is one of my favorite Indian dishes in its vegan version. Simply replace the chicken with eggplant or anything else really – it doesn’t really matter because the sauce is the hero of this dish! I like to prepare more so I can have it for 2-3 days but I’m sharing the standard amount to make 4 servings.
Butter chicken is the least spicy Indian dish in my opinion. Its creamy, rich flavor is loved by most people that I know. What’s amazing is that it only takes 30-40 minutes to get it ready to serve. In the meantime you can cook your rice in a rice cooker and you have a family dinner ready really quick and with minimum effort.
EGGPLANT – I use eggplant because it’s soft and creamy and has this nice color that adds to the dish. However, you can use tofu, dry soya, or some meat replacement if you wish, it doesn’t really change the taste of the sauce.
TOMATOES – in the summertime I like to use fresh tomatoes only because the flavor is even better (but takes longer to prepare). Instead of canned tomatoes I just use additional 4-5 tomatoes, peel the skin and dice them.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 onion
- 5cm of ginger root
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 canned tomatoes
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons of vegan butter or olive oil
- 2 large tomatoes
- 2 eggplants
- 1 tbs garam masala
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon curry
- a pinch of hot paprika/chilli
- salt, pepper
- fresh coriander
EGGPLANT BUTTER CHICKEN – PREPARATION
- Start with preparing the tomatoes and eggplant. Cut eggplant in big cubes, sprinkle it with some salt and let it sit in a bowl for 15 minutes. Then, dry the excess water that came out of eggplant – it will not taste bitter. Mix it with a bit of oil and put it in the oven preheated to 180 C for 20 minutes.
- Boil the hot water and cut the cross shape on top and bottom of your tomatoes, put them in a bowl and cover with hot water for 2-3 minutes. Then, peel the skin and get rid of the hard stem parts. You can also remove the seeds or keep them in, up to you. Dice.
- Dice the onion, garlic and ginger. Put it on a pan with vegan butter or olive oil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then, add all dry spices (you can prepare them before in one bowl), let it heat for 1 or 2 minutes. Once the spices will “open up” add coconut milk, canned and fresh diced tomatoes. Let it simmer for 30 minutes until tomatoes are soft and start to fall apart.
- In the end, use a hand blender to create a smooth texture. Add baked eggplant in the end + finish with the fresh coriander. You can serve it with rice or homemade naan bread.
