Modifying a Chickpea, Onion and Chopped Tomato Curry to include Aubergine

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Amateur1

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I saw this recipe on a tin of East End chickpeas that I bought from Waitrose.
I'm thinking of doubling the tomatoes and adding an aubergine with just a 50% increase in the chickpeas. Can I just slice it the aubergine and add it or should I stab it a few times with a knife or fork then roast to remove bitterness then add? Or should I do something completely different with the aubergine? As you can probably guess, I want to retain as many of the nutrients in the aubergine as possible and avoid using too much oil. I suspect I don't need to double the 8 tbsp of oil.


Chickpea, Onion and Chopped Tomato Curry​

Ingredients

2 onions
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mild chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric
400g chopped tomatoes
1 tsp garam masala (recipe says 1 tbsp)
2 400g tins of chickpeas

Method

Drain chickpeas and wash
Heat oil and fry onions for about 7 minutes until they are golden brown
Add tomatoes, turmeric, salt and chilli powder
Stir the contents and fry on a medium heat until mixture is well blended and oil has separated.
Add chickpeas
Cover and cook on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes
Add water if it gets too dry
Sprinkle garam masala and stir.
Serve.
 
Oil is one of the few things you don't double when doubling a recipe and I'd not add Thai much to start off with personally.

Modern aubergines have been engineered to remove the bitterness so you don't need to do anything in that aspect. Back in the 80's or 90's yes, or if you were buying them in the Middle East you may still need to salt them first to draw out the bitterness, but not in the UK and not with modem varieties. They are much milder now and contrary to belief you don't need to cook aubergine in oil. You could just cut them into chunks and add them once the tomatoes start to release some liquid or if you really wanted to fry them, add them with the onions and watch them absorb the oil and resist the urge to add more. I'd probably add the aubergine after the onions, but before the tomatoes, along with a tin of water and allow a 5 minutes simmer because most of the water will boil off. Tomatoes being acidic have a tenancy to slow down cooking of vegetables such as potatoes & aubergine meaning you need to cook them for longer once tomatoes have been added.

Garam Masala is a slice blend. It is normal to use it is tablespoon quantities. I'd be adding 1-2 tablespoons for 2 cans of chickpeas personally, not adding ⅙th of the recommended quantity (you're doubling the recipe but dividing by 3 for the spices).
There are a number of recipes of homemade garam masala on CookingBites and you may benefit from understanding what it is to understand what quantities of it sound be used. My recipe (Recipe - Homemade Garam Masala) fills a large spice jar, yet only contains 2 tbsp of cumin seeds, 2 tbsp coriander seeds, of black peppercorns and so on. Even taking 1 tablespoon of garam masala, you're only getting a tiny fraction of this mix.
 
If I were making this recipe, I´d cube the aubergines then fry them in a little oil , then set them aside to be incorporated into the curry later on. I make several recipes which call for frying the aubergine first.
Alternately, you could cube the aubergines, toss them in a bit of oil and bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes. Same effect, less oil. Modern aubergines are not bitter - that´s been bred out of them with modern farming techniques.
Looks to me like you´ve got a version of Chickpea curry. I would NOT cut back on the garam masala; 1 tsp is very little for a dish which, after all, will have about 1.5 kgs of vegetables in it.
I´d also check the level if salt when you cook the dish, and maybe add a bit of chile powder or a couple of fresh green chiles.
 
I agree with karadekoolaid. What I'm finding odd about this recipe is that it states 8 tbsp oil. No way do you need that much, so I'd cut that right back to a maximum of 4 and use some to fry the aubergine (or oven bake). As has been said, don't cut back on garam masala.

I would add that this recipe is quite a lot of portions already so if it just for you then maybe its too much?
 
Agree with MG 8 tbsp is a lot. It's basically just a stew with some spices and all ingredients can be almost any amount and still work perfectly well, meaning it's hard to mess up and it's more about personal taste.
 
Perhaps I should rephrase to say I'm happy for it in small doses. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment.
 
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