Eggplant and chickpea curry

I am loving my veggie curry right now.  I'm really enjoying learning about and using more spices.

This recipe is very similar to the curry I took to an indian potluck recently.

I've been making a point of buying and trying out new vegetables. Eggplant has been one of those, and I always, always have a can of chickpeas in the pantry.

Eggplant and chickpea curry

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter/marg
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1 1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground ginger(or 1 tsp fresh finely grated)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper(or 1/4 tsp if you don't want it too hot)

2 onions sliced
4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 a cauli, cut into florets
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 eggplant, cut into 2cm cubes
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup water

Heat oil and butter. Add garlic and spices, cook on low for 1 minute.
Add onions and saute for 3 minutes.
Add rest of ingredients, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• replace cauli with 1 sliced carrot
• use 1 cup of beans or peas instead of chick peas
• replace eggplant with two cubed potatoes 
• if you don't want the heat, use paprika instead of cayenne pepper.

Amazing cauliflower soup

Make this soup and I can guarantee your taste buds will thank you, it is awesome. Cauliflowers have been cheap the past couple of weeks, I picked one up on my last big shop, along with a leek. 

Little shite was stealing pieces of cauli, but she won't eat
cooked veggies!

120 grams bacon, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek (about 170 grams of) sliced

1 head cauliflower(850 grams)

6 cups of vegetable stock (vegeta brand)

Cook bacon for a few minutes on medium heat.

Add sliced leeks and saute for 5 minutes, until soft. 

Add cauli and vegetable stock.

Bring to the boil, then simmer with a lid on for 30 minutes.

Blitz with a stick blender, season and serve.

Cauliflower and leek soup with fried pancetta and chilli oil.
To.die.for.

When I received our family tax benefit top up, I treated us to some luxury food. Scallops, even though frozen, still yummy, and a small block of pancetta. Looking at this now, it could have done with some of those little rosemary flowers I posted yesterday. I used the cauli soup as a sauce, yum!