I haven't tried this yet, but it was in the Observer yesterday & looks really yummy. Going to search for the ingredients at lunchtime.
Aubergine curry
This is quite hot and spicy. All of the ingredients can be picked up in a decent supermarket, though you may have to go to a Chinese or Thai shop for the fresh lime leaves. Dried are passable, but will have lost some of their magic. Serves 4 with rice.
for the spice paste:
5 small, hot chillies (bird's eye)
5 spring onions
4 cloves of garlic
a lump of ginger about the size of a golf ball
6 lime leaves
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
2 green cardamom pods
1 tbsp groundnut oil
a small handful of coriander
for the curry:
2 large aubergines
6 medium-sized tomatoes
a can of coconut milk
more fresh coriander
to serve: steamed white rice for four
Make the curry paste: cut the chillies in half, scrape out the seeds and discard them, then put the chillies into the bowl of a food processor. Roughly chop the spring onions, discarding the darkest of the green shoots as you go, then add them to the chillies together with the peeled cloves of garlic.
Peel the ginger and cut it into thin slices. Remove the thick central vein from the lime leaves, roll the leaves up tightly, then shred them finely. Add them with the ginger, coriander and cumin to the food processor. Crack the cardamom pods open and smash the seeds to a powder in a pestle and mortar, then add it to the chilli mixture with the oil. Blitz till you have a rough paste, pushing the mixture down from the sides of the bowl as you go. Add a good handful of coriander leaves and stems. You can add 8 or 10 roots, too, clean and scrubbed. Blitz again.
For the curry, slice the aubergines in half, then cut each half into thick wedges. Cut each wedge in half. Grill the aubergines, without any oil, over a hot grill or on a ridged griddle pan until they are tender and marked black by the bars of the grill. Remove each one as it becomes ready. Chop the tomatoes.
Warm 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan or wok, then add the spice paste. Let it sizzle, stirring to prevent it colouring or sticking, then add the tomatoes and let them soften. You want them to be really squishy and collapsed. Stir in the grilled aubergine then the coconut milk. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, until tender.
Roughly chop a good couple of handfuls of coriander leaves and stir them in. Serve with rice.