Coming from the Midwest where dinners beyond meat, potatoes and corn was hard to come by, I never really had curries as a part of my diet. However, after cleaning up my diet, I found that I enjoy eating curries since they are easy to make and pack a lot of flavor. I recently found this recipe online and really liked it. I would recommend adding your choice of meat to it to make it more filling, but it does taste good on its own. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 5 small eggplants (you can use two large ones)
• 4 oz (1/4 lb) white mushrooms, quatered;
• 1 tbsp coconut oil;
• 2 green onions, finely chopped;
• 2 cloves garlic, minced;
• 1 red chili pepper (optional depending on how spicy you like you’re food);
• ½ tsp chili powder;
• 1 tsp ground cumin;
• 1 tsp ground coriander;
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric;
• 4 very ripe tomatoes, diced;
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped;
• 1/3 cup coconut milk;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. While the oven heats up, wrap each eggplant in aluminum foil. Place in the oven and cook for 50 minutes to an hour.
2. Remove the eggplants from the oven and let cool.
3. After the eggplants are cool enough to handle, cut them in half and spoon out the flesh. Discard the skin and keep the flesh in a bowl. Using a fork, break apart the flesh to ensure that there are no large chunks. Put aside for later use.
4. In a large skillet over a medium heat, saute garlic in the cooking fat. Allow it to cook for about two minutes, until fragrant.
5. Add the green onion, chili pepper and mushrooms to the skillet. Saute for about 5 minutes.
6. Add all the spices to the skillet. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes.
7. Stir in the tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender.
8. Add the eggplant puree, followed by the cilantro and coconut milk. Continue cooking for about 8 minutes, to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve on its own or over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.

REST DAY 10.23.11