This roasted mashed eggplant curry with tomato recipe is served over rice. Mashed eggplant cooks with fresh tomato, tomato paste, curry powder, onions, garlic and ginger and forms a smooth sauce.
Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet for easy clean up if preferred.
Take a knife and puncture whole eggplant several times. Place on baking sheet and cook for ~1 hour (turning once at 30 minutes) or until deflated, tender, and leaky.
Let eggplant cool 15 minutes (careful it's hot!). Cut in half lengthwise and peel (it should peel easily)
Scoop all the flesh from the skin and mash with your hands, pulse with a food processor, or roughly chop. Seed removal is optional. I remove large seed clumps but leave the rest.
Make the eggplant curry:
Bring a large pan to medium high heat and add olive oil and onions. Cook 3-5 minutes or until translucent.
Add garlic and ginger and cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
Add fennel seeds, mustard seeds, and curry powder, and ½ tsp salt. Cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add more oil if dry.
Stir in the tomato paste (it will be clumpy). Add more oil if dry.
Stir in fresh diced tomatoes, 1 cup water, eggplant, and ½ tsp salt.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes. This is a thick curry but feel free to add a little more water if it's too thick.
Add olive oil, salt, and a splash of vinegar to taste.
Serve over rice and garnish with fresh cilantro and green onions.
Notes
Removing big chunks of eggplant seeds is optional. I leave most of them but will remove some of them sometimes if there is a huge cluster that removes easily.
Fennel seeds and mustard seeds are optional but do give extra dimension to the sauce. I also make this recipe all the time without them.