Aubergine Moile from Goa

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 2.10 zl (42 pence UK, 0.63 cents US, 0.49 cents EURO)

Moile or molee or moilee, depending on which way you like it, is a South Indian style of cooking with a generous use of turmeric and coconut.

This one is a version with aubergine and goes well with rice. It's also a vegan dish.

No, I'm not a vegan.

One word about Indian vegetarian cuisine or Indian cuisine in general - it's not really a one-dish kind of thing. Generally speaking, an Indian meal consists of a variety of dishes served at the same time in the middle of the table and everyone tucks into whatever they fancy. So, I've written at the top "serves 4" as if it was just one dish and rice. However, it should really be serving 12 because there should ideally be 2 other dishes (also serving 4) on the table for you to nosh on. So, try this one with some other Indian stuff on this blog and fill your boots!

What you'll need:

2 medium sized aubergines
2 cloves of garlic
One inch cube of ginger
2 green chillies
1 medium sized onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 tsp red chilli powder (or paprika for a milder touch)
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup of coconut milk
1 tsp salt
some vegetable oil

Here we go!

1. Make a batter out of the turmeric and salt by adding a little water and whisking up.

2. Coat the aubergines in this batter and leave for around 15-30 minutes

3. In the meantime, get your other ingredients together - finely chop the chillies. Slice the onions nice and thin. Pound the garlic and ginger in a pestle and mortar.

4. Fry the aubergines in enough oil to just about cover them.

5. When golden remove and place into a sieve over a bowl to drain off any excess oil

6. Use any excess oil for the next stage. Heat a little oil in a wok and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop a bit, throw in the cumin seeds. When they crackle a bit, add the onion. Add a little salt. When they've cooked down a bit, add the ginger and garlic.

7. After a minute or two, add the green chilli

8. When the onion is golden, add the coconut milk. I used about a 1/5 of a block of creamed coconut diluted in a glass of hot water.

9. Add the aubergine and red chilli and cook down till the sauce slightly thickens.

10. Serve with rice.

Yum!

What it all costs:


aubergines - 4 zl
garlic, ginger, chillies, onion - 1.40 zl
spices and oil - 0.40 zl
coconut - 1 zl
rice - 1.60 zl

Total - 8.40 zl
Per person - 2.10 zl