A simple, five-ingredient recipe for curry roasted eggplant that's perfect with any entree!
This easy side of curry roasted eggplant will leave you licking your fingers and your plates. And if you don't love eggplant? Well, it'll turn you into a raving fan.
Cooked thoroughly and correctly, eggplants are creamy and delicious, and they effortlessly take on the flavors of the ingredients you are cooking with. You can use them to make tasty foods like grilled eggplants, eggplant curry, vegan eggplant parmesan and vegan moussaka.
Eggplants are also really, really good for you. That purple skin is due to anthocyanins--antioxidants that fight free radicals in your body. Eggplants are also packed with other nutrients, including vitamins, and are proven to be effective at fighting cancer, heart disease and lots of other bad stuff.
Now, don't you love them just a little bit more?
Why you'll love this recipe
- Delicious. Try serving it instead of fries with a veggie burger (like this hearty bean and oats burger) or a tofu steak (like these Irish whiskey tofu steaks) and watch it disappear.
- Easy. There's no real skill needed for this recipe. So long as you know how to use a knife, you are golden.
- Five ingredients: Yep, that's all. Eggplant, curry powder, rice flour, vegetable oil and cilantro. And salt, of course. You can also sprinkle on some ground black pepper if you like more heat.
- Versatile. You can tweak it to the spices you have and to your taste. I used my homemade curry powder, but if garam masala is what you have, carry on.
- Kid-friendly. You might never have imagined your picky eater actually eating eggplant, but this recipe is definitely kid-approved with flying colors.
Ingredients
- Small Italian eggplants. I like using the smaller eggplants in this as the skins are not as tough but the flesh holds it shape after roasting.
- Curry powder: A really good curry powder (try this recipe for curry powder I posted recently) makes all the difference to this recipe. You can also use garam masala at a pinch for a different, but delicious, flavor.
- Rice flour: Rice flour helps soak up moisture and flavor of the spices and makes the eggplant just slightly crispy on the outside.
- Coconut oil: Coconut oil is a fine oil to use here and it goes with the south Indian flavors in the curry powder. But you can use another oil like peanut, avocado or sunflower oil.
- Salt
- Cilantro: For garnish. You can skip, but it tastes amazing with the flavors of this dish.
- Ground black pepper: This is completely optional and add it only if you like your food quite spicy. There is already some heat in the curry powder. Ground black pepper is a really nice flavor in combination with the eggplant.
How to make curry roasted eggplant
- Buy eggplant that has shiny, firm, deep purple skin with no brown spots. The eggplant should feel heavy for its size when you hold it in your hand. Wash and dry the eggplant and cut it into 1-inch cubes.
- Place the eggplant cubes in a bowl and add the curry powder, rice flour, salt and oil.
- Toss everything together until well-mixed.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the eggplant cubes on it in a single layer.
- Bake 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet around halfway through, or until the eggplant is golden-brown on the outside but still creamy on the inside.
- Serve hot.
More yummy roasted vegetable recipes
Curry Roasted Eggplant
Equipment
- Large baking sheet
Ingredients
- 3 medium Italian eggplants (cut into 1-inch cubes)
- 2 heaping tbsp curry powder
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper (optional. The curry powder has some heat already, but black pepper complements eggplant very nicely)
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (chopped, for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/235 degrees Celsius
- Place the eggplant cubes in a large bowl. Add all of the remaining ingredients and toss well to mix.
- Place the eggplant cubes in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake 30 minutes, rotating the sheet once halfway through baking to ensure everything cooks evenly.
- Remove the eggplant from the oven and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot or warm.
Hannah
Hey I want to make this but unfortunately do not have rice flour or chickpea flour and do not have access to a supermarket that will stock these.
Can I use regular flour or cornflour?
Vaishali
Cornstarch would be fine.
Robby
We made this tonight and it was delicious! Excellent recipe, and yes you were right, the kids loved it!
Vaishali
So happy to hear that!
Lisa Borodovsky
Outrageously delicious and so easy! Thank you!!
Vaishali
So happy you made it! 🙂
Brenda
No rating yet because I haven’t made it but it looks yummy. Can you use another flour instead of rice flour? ?? thanks
Vaishali
Chickpea flour would work!