Eggplant Curry is one of my favorite vegan dinners to make at home. Spicy coconut curry with eggplant, chickpeas, and lots of flavorful spices make this meal a year-round staple.
This simple recipe for homemade coconut curry has convinced me to say goodbye (for now) to take-out and jarred curry sauce.
Why not make curry from scratch when it's this simple and delicious to DIY?
Curry dishes have definitely become more of a staple on my table, so I decided it was about time I learn to make it from scratch.
For some reason, I always perceived that homemade curry would be complicated, time-consuming, and difficult to execute.
Thankfully, I was wrong.
This curry is ready in 45 minutes and doesn't require too many ingredients. (Many listed are just spices, so don't be intimidated by the recipe length!) This meal is also freezer-friendly and can be batch cooked ahead of time for added convenience.
I've started to really get to know what I like best in my curry dishes.
For starters, curry needs to be packed with veggies. One of my favorite additions is Eggplant - I love the way it's spongy nature sops up all the flavors in the sauce. (Another favorite is potatoes.)
Most recently, I tried roasting the eggplant before cooking the curry and I'm in love with the results. The roasting process (with whole crushed garlic cloves) creates the eggplant that is extra sweet and flavorful.
My favorite curry sauces are also almost always coconut-based.
I just love the creaminess that coconut provides and look for coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk to really get the creamiest texture. (If you use a light coconut milk, you'll probably need to add less water.)
A flavorful sauce is also essential - I used a combination of coriander, turmeric, garam masala, cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne.
But, if convenience is your top priority, you could also just stir in a curry powder and be done with it.
I could definitely see this curry recipe becoming a favorite staple dish around here. What's not to love about homemade curry that tastes better than take-out?
Roasted Eggplant Coconut Curry
Equipment
- rimmed baking sheet
- large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant chopped
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or cooking oil of choice
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or cooking oil of choice
- 1 onion diced
- 2 teaspoon loose grated ginger
- 1-15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 heaping cup tomatoes chopped (I used mixed grape heirloom tomatoes)
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- ½ cup filtered water
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- Black pepper to taste
For serving:
- 2 cups cooked brown basmati rice
- Fresh herbs (such as mint, cilantro, basil, and green onions)
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Toss eggplant with grapeseed oil, crushed garlic, and salt and spread on baking sheet. Bake until browned, 20-25 minutes.
- Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook until tender, 5-6 minutes.
- Remove eggplant from oven and add to skillet. Stir in chickpeas, coconut cream, water. tomato, and spices. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.
- Serve with cooked brown basmati rice topped with fresh herbs as desired.
auntie riv says
love this recipe. don't much like eggplant, but LOVE this recipe. thanx for posting it!
Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
So glad you found an eggplant recipe that works for you! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Prahlad Strickland says
Nice recipe. Although is ur tablespoon of Garam masala and coriander meant to be a teaspoon? It’s extremely pungeant.
Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
Hi Prahlad, thanks for your feedback. I'll have to make this again to see if there could've been a mistake. In general, I like a lot of spices but encourage you to adjust the recipe to fit your tastes. Thank you for trying the recipe!
Emily says
The recipe looks amazing! Could I replace tomatoes with red pepper??
Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
Hi Emily, I haven't tested this recipe with peppers but it should work. Let me know what you think if you try it.
Kelly says
Never says where to put the filtered water in?
I'm assuming its with the coconut cream and spices? Hope so!
Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
Hi Kelly, thanks for catching this mistake! I do add the water along with the coconut cream and spices. The recipe is fixed now! 🙂
NyJimmy says
Loved this recipe. Thanks very much. I will make it once a week. I just have one question. If it’s called eggplant curry shouldn’t it have curry? It was simmering and it dawned on me - dude, where’s the curry? You didn’t put the curry in.
Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
Great question! Curry really just means a dish made when you simmer spices in sauce with vegetables or meat. Instead of using a single premade curry powder, you can also make your own curry mix with individual spices like I did here. The garam masala is sort of a premade mix, too, and you can use this in lieu of curry powder if needed. So glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Sofia says
I made this tonight and it came out great. Threw some wilting broccoli in at the end and eye balled some measurements but besides that followed the recipe exactly. will definitely make again
Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
So glad you enjoyed it, Sofia! Thanks for commenting and rating. 🙂
Jose Luis Espinosa León says
Felicidades!!! Gracias por tu generosidad de compartir .
Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
¡de nada, Jose! Me alegro de que haya disfrutado de la receta!
Erin says
I LOVE all those flavors! This curry looks outstanding! xx
Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
Thank you so much, Erin! I love coconut + turmeric with pretty much everything! 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Curries are such an easy go-to for me! Any time I can bring out ALL my spices, I do and curry requires such 😉
Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
Gimme all the spices! 😉 Totally agree, thanks Rebecca!
Deanna Segrave-Daly says
I roast eggplant all summer when my CSA share is bursting with these beauties - pinning this recipe to make for sure!
Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
Thanks, Deanna! I can't wait for this year's CSA bounty. Let me know how you like the curry! 🙂