Eggplant and Sweet Potato Curry

  My dear friend, Ngan, introduced me to this dish.  It is very versatile, and you can use any veggies you have on hand.  For this dish, I used eggplant and sweet potato, but I've done many other variations in the past.  Potato/carrot, for that day when you have no other veg in the house, and one of my favorite combos is pumpkin/carrot.  Pumpkin or butternut squash comes out very rich and creamy tasting in a curry, but it is a bit of a struggle to chop it up uncooked.

Eggplant and Sweet Potato Curry  (makes 4 servings)

• 1Tbsp coconut oil (or any you have on hand)
• 1 onion, chopped (optl)
• 1 rounded Tbsp of curry paste
• 227g tofu (1/2 of a pack; 454g=1lb), or try w/ bean curd, chickpeas, etc
• 1 eggplant
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3c water, enough to cover veg
• 1 1/2c coconut milk

1. Heat up the oil, and add the onion.  Fry it up over medium-high heat until it starts to brown, and then add the curry paste.  Heat up the paste for about 1m, and then add about a cup of water.
2. While the onion is frying up, you can begin cutting up the eggplant, sweet potato, and tofu.  Start with whatever veg you think will take the longest to cook.  I always like starting with the tofu, so that it has enough time to marinate and absorb the flavors of the curry.
3. Make sure that you have enough water just barely covering all of the veg, throw in a bay leaf, and cover the dish for about 30m.  An alternative is to use 1c of coconut milk to help cover the veg, too, instead of water, but save some for the end, so that you have a nice, strong coconut flavor.
4. During this time, you may also want to cook up some rice or some other kind of grain to go along with the curry.  I usu. do 1c of rice w/ 1c water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, and cook it for 10m on low.  Then I remove it from the heat and let it rest another 10m to steam.  (Don't remove the lid during this time or you will have crunchy rice.)

  You could also just do 1 total cup of coconut milk if you want.  I did 1 1/2c this time, b/c I bought a 1L container, and I needed to use some more, so the rest would fit in another container.  :)  Also, depending on how much water you use, you may want to increase the amount of curry paste to make it spicier.

  Here are some links to the product/brands that I use:

  Aroy-D Coconut Milk, though I usu like to buy the 500ml container.  The 1c servings would be nice if you don't use coconut milk as often.


Cock Brand, Red Thai Curry Paste; store in the fridge and this lasts forever.  :)