Aubergine, Tomato & Sweet Potato Curry

Many years ago I was fortunate to holiday with good friends in Kenya. These lovely people are of Indian origin, born in Kenya and have an amazing circle of friends and family both at their Mombasa and Diani beach residences. Anyhow, one of the “aunties” is such an awesome cook. Her version of this is far superior to mine but would she relinquish a recipe? Heck no…. For now this is as close as I’m going to get to that. Happy with the result, it’s fiery; creamy and packed with delicious vegetables.

For the onion base:
1 tbsp of coconut oil.
I tsp of ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and a tsp of mustard seeds.
1 tbsp of red curry paste. (Not essential, adds a real kick!)
2 medium sized onions, roughly chopped.

For the tomato paste, blend these ingredients until smooth.
A good sized knob of ginger.
4 cloves of garlic.
I de seeded red chilli.
3 medium sized ripe tomatoes.

Vegetables:
2 long, thin aubergines. Cut into medium sized chunks.
1 small sweet potato, cut in smallish chunks.
1 tin of coconut milk.

Gently fry everything on a low heat for the onion base until the onions are quite soft.

Add the blended tomato paste, gently fry for a few minutes until the mixture is quite thick and dry.

Add the vegetables, sauté for an extra couple of minutes.

Pour in the coconut milk, gently simmer for around 25 minutes. Check seasoning.
A squeeze of lemon or lime juice and some fresh coriander leaves really complete this.