Slow Cooked Aubergine

Ramadhan is over and its back to normal working hours and school hours. Eid week turned out pretty good.  Hope it had been a good week for all my readers :) ..

I rarely cook with aubergines/brinjal/ eggplants, usually, it turns into a curry or sambal. I found this recipe of slow-cooked aubergines in Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course.  It had one of my favorite ingredients; butter beans.
I didn't have any pomegranate molasses and decided to just leave it out and add a bit of spice. The salty feta gave it a nice taste, even hubby enjoyed them which is a surprise as he likes a bit of meat or fish in his food.  Even though I have served this with a baguette you can serve this like a curry or stew with the bread or flatbread used to scoop it up.

Recipe : Slow Cooked Aubergine recipe adapted from Slow cooked aubergine recipe in Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course.

1 large round eggplant/ aubergine /brinjal
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 can of chopped tomatoes ( or use half of a whole tomato can)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
a generous pinch of red chilli flakes (or a finely sliced green chilli)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 can water ( using the emptied can of chopped tomatoes)
handful of mint and coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/2 can of butterbean
salt
feta cheese
olive oil
1/2 a baguette

1. Cut your eggplant into cubes, place in a bowl sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set aside for a few minutes. Wash under tap water and drain all the water, pat dry on a kitchen towel.

2. Heat a  generous amount of olive oil in a small ( preferably nonstick) cooking pot or casserole.  Fry the eggplants till they start to go golden.

3. Add the onion and garlic and stir fry till the onion starts to go soft.  Stir in the chopped tomatoes, spices, butter beans ( but don't add salt yet!) and sugar. Pour water using the can of tomatoes ( yes I know I said  1/2 can, just pour the remaining half of the tomatoes into a plastic container to use for another recipe and use the can!!).  Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower heat, cover and cook ( stirring occasionally) for 35-40 minutes.

4. Once the mixture has reduced and the eggplant is all pulpy, taste and add salt. Stir in chopped mint and coriander ( use either of them or both).

5. Slice the baguette at an angle, brush with olive oil and place on top of a hot dry frying pan. Toast each side, remove and spoon some of the eggplant butterbean mixture and crumble in the feta on top. Serve immediately.

Submitting this over to "Cook Like : Gordon Ramsay" event at  Zoe's  from  Bake for Happy Kids  , who is   co-hosting this event with Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich of Piece of Cake.