Aubergine (Eggplant) Curry

Budget Tip:
Indian food is in general so inexpensive to make!  Once you have the collection of spices and herbs, you are set!  Everything else is easy to get and easy to afford ingredients.  Even the spices and herbs aren't expensive if you can find a nice Indian store where you can buy in bulk.   Server your recipes with rice or even quinoa to make it go further.

Ingredients:
(ok so you'll notice I didn't say suggested - thats because i'm not good enough at Indian cooking yet to say "suggested" but if you are, go for it!)

2 large aubergines - or 4 smaller ones
1 1/2 cups of white button mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 bunch of green onions (scallions) chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 fresh red chili, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp salt
1 14oz can of no salt added chopped tomatos
1 tbsp fresh cilantro (coriander)

Method of Cooking

Wrap eggplant in foil and then bake in the oven at 200 degrees until  soft - about an hour.  Unwrap and let cool. 

Cut the mushrooms in half or quarters, depending on how big they are.  Heat the oil in a nice heavy pan and stir-fry the mustard seeds until they start to pop and sputter.  Add onions, mushrooms, garlic, and chili - fry for about 5 minutes.  Add chili powder, cumin, ground coriander, tumeric and salt.  Fry for another few minutes - 3 or so. 

Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 more minutes. 

Cut the eggplants lengthwise and then scoop out the insides.  Smash in a small bowl with a fork or potato smasher.  Add the eggplants and fresh cilantro to the pan.  Bring to a boil and cook another 5 minutes.

This recipe can be made with zucchini as well but I haven't personally tried it.  I also found the eggplants didn't mash very well so I chopped them up instead.  It's a pretty spicy recipe so you might want to dialdown the fresh red chili if you are serving it to kids.