This is the simplest of simple pickles. So simple, it doesn’t really require its own blog post. But hell, it’s such a great go-to recipe that I thought I’d give it one any way. Interestingly, I didn’t think there was that much about this pickle, (because a pickle’s a pickle’s a pickle, right?) but both my flatmates asked me to make it time and time again, so there’s clearly something in it.…
Any food blogger worth their salt seems to be playing around with ndjua at the moment, so when I came across the glistening meaty log at Broadway market last week, I couldn’t resist jumping on the band wagon myself. And what a super jump it was….
Am just off to eat the leftovers of this delicious vegetable curry for lunch.
Cheap, healthy and really, really tasty!
Ingredients (for 4)
2 red onions
2 chillis
1 (200g) tin of chickpeas
2 (200g) tins of tomatoes
1 large aubergine
1 teaspoon of cumin
Coriander (fresh or dried)
4 garlic cloves
250g fresh spinach
Start by dicing the red onion, and gently cooking it in a heavy-bottomed pan with a bit of oil. Add the chopped chillis, crushed garlic, cumin and coriander (only if you’re using dried coriander – if you’ve got your hands on fresh coriander, then add it at the end with the spinach). Next, drain and rinse the fresh chick peas, then chuck them in. Then chop the aubergine into 2cm cubed chunks, and add that to the pan as well. Cook for five to eight minutes on a medium-low heat.
Pour in the tinned tomatoes, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Taste some of the sauce, and check that it’s seasoned to your liking—add some more spices, salt or pepper if you fancy.
As you’re reaching the end of cooking, then stir in the fresh spinach until it’s fully wilted, and (if you’re using fresh coriander) then add that too.
This could work as a delicious vegetable side dish with lamb. Serve with rice for a conventional curry—though we just ate it with some flatbread so we could mop up all the juices.
At the moment I’m reading The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas, and it’s making me wistful about my stay on Dal Lake.
One of my resounding memories was of the saffron sellers who drifted round the houseboats, explaining the subtle differences of their wares—trying to pedal their most expensive, deep red crocus stigmas….
Hello – I'm Rachel Walker – food writer and cook. I live in East London with my very tolerant husband, who is often alarmed to find pig trotters or brining lamb tongues floating in the fridge.
