Meera Sodha's vegan recipe for Sri Lankan-style aubergine and tomato rice

The Guardian

12 hours ago

Some recipes are easy to describe, a variation on this or that. Others, such as this one, are more challenging. But imagine this: seared aubergines cooked with sweet onions and tomatoes, spiced with aromatics such as cardamom, chilli, mustard seeds and smoky curry leaves, then melted into a pot with rice, water and time, until wetter than a risotto but less homogeneous than a congee. A perfect meal to cook on a cool summer's evening to slow yourself down, both to stoke an appetite and to warm the belly.
Fresh curry leaves are now sold in most large supermarkets, so never settle for dried ones. Box or wrap any you don't use and freeze for another time; much the same applies to green finger chillies, too.
Prep 15 minCook 1 hr
Serves 4
9 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 medium aubergines (600g), cut into 3cm x 3cm dice2 tsp fine sea salt
2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced30 fresh curry leaves
2 green cardamom pods, lightly bashed5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
360g cherry tomatoes, halved250g arborio rice
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 green finger chillies, stalks discarded, the rest finely chopped
Pour three tablespoons of the oil into your widest nonstick frying pan and set it on a high heat. When the oil is very hot, add half the aubergines, sprinkle over a quarter-teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring often, for about eight minutes, until browned on the outside and nearly cooked through (ie, not completely soft). Transfer to a large plate, add another three tablespoons of oil to the pan and repeat with the second batch of aubergines and another quarter-teaspoon of salt.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in the same frying pan and, once it's hot, add the onions, half the curry leaves, all the crushed cardamom and a teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic and cook for two minutes more.
Put the fried aubergines and the onion mix in a large pot (keep the frying pan for later), add the halved tomatoes and cook on a medium heat for four minutes, until they're starting to soften. Measure a litre of water into a jug or pan and have it ready by the side of the stove. Add the rice and the final half-teaspoon of salt to the aubergine mix, stir in a third of the water, then leave it to bubble away on a medium heat for about eight minutes, until the rice has soaked up the liquid. Add another third of the water, cook for another eight minutes, so the rice sucks that up, too, then add the final slug of water and cook for a final five minutes – the rice should be soupy.
Put two tablespoons of oil in the frying pan on a medium heat and, when it's very hot, add the mustard seeds, chillies and remaining curry leaves. Cook for two minutes, pour all over the rice and serve.