Crisp aubergines with sweet spiced yogurt and pomegranates

By: Anjum Anand
From: Anjum's Indian Vegetarian Feast
Serves: 4
Photographer: Emma Lee

Inspired by a dish eaten in a friend’s house years ago, this was her Hyderabadi mother-in-law’s recipe. She served it as part of a meal, but I love it just on its own with crispy naan. Add chickpeas to the spiced oil before tipping it into the yogurt for extra protein, if you want. Pomegranates add a burst of sweet, sour freshness but you can substitute halved baby tomatoes. Lastly, you can griddle the aubergines instead of frying, it will still be lovely.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient

For the aubergines

Quantity	Ingredient
	vegetable oil, to fry
2	small-ish aubergines, sliced into 1 cm-thick, long slices
good handful	pomegranate seeds
handful	coriander leaves, chopped

For the yogurt topping

Quantity	Ingredient
1 tablespoon	vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon	mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon	cumin seeds
2	dried red chillies
12-14	curry leaves
250g	greek yogurt
2 teaspoons	caster sugar, or to taste
	salt
	freshly ground black pepper

Method

Pour around 1 cm of oil in a large frying pan. Add as many aubergine slices as you can get in one layer and cook over a medium-high flame until golden on the base, around two to three minutes. Turn the slices and repeat. Place on two pieces of kitchen paper to drain off the excess oil, then put in a warm oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining aubergine. (Alternatively, you can bake the aubergine slices in a preheated oven at 180°C, spread out in one layer on a large baking tray, but they will not be as crisp.)
For the topping, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and, once they start to pop, add the chillies and curry leaves and cook for a further 10 seconds or until cooked through. Pour into the yogurt with the sugar and seasoning.
Place the aubergines on a large serving plate, slightly overlapping in a circular pattern. Spread the yogurt over the central aubergines, leaving a large 7.5 cm-ish border. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and chopped coriander and serve immediately.