Aubergine & Spinach Slow Cooker Curry

When it comes to my cooking I don’t think I have ever shown you anything very exotic – great flavours (I am soooo modest I know) but I am not sure I have ever really taken you away from the European and American styles of cooking that I am so comfortable with and cook with so often. So this week I decided that had to change, because I don’t just stick to and eat one style of cuisine I love them all and apart from the restrictions of being a vegetarian I am happy to try most things (weird thing though since being pregnant I cannot eat Chinese stir-fried vegetables…random I know!!)

Now one thing you should all know about me, if you follow my food posts, is that I am not big into spice… that’s spice as in chilli! However, I am definitely into spice when it comes to flavour. This week we are heading to one of the spiciest countries around and having a gorgeous curry. Lots of people think that a curry is all about the meat and the spice… well that only has to be half true. This curry is absolutely delicious and full of flavour AND… being a busy mummy I have made this a one pot slow-cooker job so you can bung it in first thing and come back at dinner to a delicious curry that the whole family can enjoy. Grab your spice rack and here we go….

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Med Red Onions, diced

2 Sml Aubergines, cubed

500g Spinach, rinsed

2 Tins of Chickpeas, drained & rinsed

2 Tins of Chopped Tomatoes

1 Tin of Coconut Milk

1 Vegetable Stock Cube/Melt

4 Tbsp Tomato Puree

2 Tbsp Ground Coriander

2 Tbsp Ground Cumin

2 Tbsp Garam Masala

3 Tbsp Mild Curry Powder (change to medium or hot if you like heat in your curry!)

Salt & Pepper

 Method

1 – Grab your slow cooker, pop in the olive oil and turn it onto warm. Pop the lid on and let it heat up as you prepare everything else.

2 – Once up to temperature, pop in all the ingredients in this order into the pot; onion, spinach, aubergine, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, stock cube, all the spices, coconut milk and a bit of salt and pepper on top. Pop the lid on, turn the cooker to high and leave.

3 – I leave mine for between 3-5 hours depending on how thick and “gungy” you like it. I popped back every now and again to give it a stir and make sure everything was mixed well and towards the end added more seasoning to taste. If you like a stronger taste to your curry, you can add some extra curry powder a minimum of an hour before serving to intensify the flavour.

4 – I cooked some rice (90g per person) with a stock cube, olive oil a dash of salt and a teaspoon of lemon juice to serve with the curry and added some store bought naan bread.

This curry was absolutely delicious and the best part is you can make extra and freeze it for a rainy day! Let me know how it turns out won’t you?!