There is a dish from Indonesia that can always be relied upon to have so much flavour that even a tablespoon of it can make me eat a whole serve of steamed rice. The chilli eggplant is exactly that dish. You don't need a lot of it but it is tasty and makes you want to eat more.
It is quite simple to make and it is really up to you if you want a lot of sauce or if you prefer it to be reduced to a thicker, more flavoursome consistency. My mum and my aunty would make this dish and they had different degrees of heat - very spicy or extremely spicy.
If you are not a fan of rice, another option is to serve with warm roti. Enjoy.
Ingredients
2 large eggplants
1 large onion
1 cup of vegetable or chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil
Spice Mix
1 large red capsicum
2 large red chilli - deseeded
2 birds eye chilli (optional)
1 ripe tomato
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp garlic
1.5 tbsp sugar or honey*
Method
1. Cut eggplants into pieces as desired, I quartered then cut 5cm cubes, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain
2. Place spice mix in a food processor until it resembles a liquid consistency
3. In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil and sear the eggplants in batches
4. In a small pot, add 1 tablespoon of oil, brown the onions then add the spice mix from step 2 and stir to cook the ingredients
5. Add the eggplant and coat with spice mix
6. Add stock and bring to boil
7. Lower flame and place lid on to simmer for 30 minutes
8. Leave lid slightly open whilst simmering to reduce the liquids up to desired consistency. I leave mine for around 10 minutes.
Serve with steamed rice or roti.
*Tomatoes can cause the dish to be sour so adjust the sugar or honey to balance it.
