Eggplant Curry | Easy Delicious Vegetarian Coconut Curry Recipe (2024)

Published: Mar 4, 2016 · Modified: Mar 11, 2022 by Stephanie McKercher, RDN · This post may contain affiliate links · 20 Comments

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Eggplant Curry is one of my favorite vegan dinners to make at home. Spicy coconut curry with eggplant, chickpeas, and lots of flavorful spices make this meal a year-round staple.

This simple recipe for homemade coconut curry has convinced me to say goodbye (for now)to take-out andjarred curry sauce.

Why notmake curry from scratch when it's this simple and delicious toDIY?

Curry dishes have definitely become more of a staple on my table, soI decided it wasabout time I learn to make it from scratch.

Eggplant Curry | Easy Delicious Vegetarian Coconut Curry Recipe (1)

For some reason,I always perceived that homemade curry would be complicated, time-consuming, and difficult to execute.

Thankfully,I was wrong.

This curry is readyin 45 minutes and doesn't requiretoo many ingredients. (Many listed are just spices, so don't be intimidated by the recipe length!) This meal is also freezer-friendly and can be batch cooked ahead of time for added convenience.

I've started to really get to know what I like best in my curry dishes.

For starters, curry needs to be packed with veggies. One of my favorite additions isEggplant- I love the way it's spongy nature sops up all theflavors in the sauce. (Another favorite ispotatoes.)

Most recently, I tried roastingthe eggplant before cooking the curryand I'm in love with the results. The roasting process (with whole crushed garlic cloves) creates the eggplant that is extra sweet and flavorful.

My favorite curry sauces are also almost always coconut-based.

I just love the creaminess that coconut providesandlook for coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk to really get the creamiest texture. (If you use a light coconut milk, you'll probably need to add less water.)

Aflavorful sauce is also essential - I used a combination of coriander, turmeric, garam masala, cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne.

But, if convenience is your top priority, you could also just stir in a curry powder and be done with it.

I could definitely see this curry recipe becoming a favoritestaple disharound here. What's not to love about homemade curry that tastes better than take-out?

📖 Recipe

Roasted Eggplant Coconut Curry

Roasted eggplant and chickpeas are simmered in a spicy, Indian-inspired coconut curry sauce and served with rice.

4.20 from 42 votes

Print Pin Save Rate

Course: entree

Cuisine: Asian, Curry, gluten-free, Indian, vegan

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Equipment

▢
rimmed baking sheet
▢
large skillet

Ingredients

▢ 1 eggplant chopped
▢ 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or cooking oil of choice
▢ 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
▢ Salt to taste
▢ 1 tablespoon coconut oil or cooking oil of choice
▢ 1 onion diced
▢ 2 teaspoon loose grated ginger
▢ 1-15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
▢ 1 heaping cup tomatoes chopped (I used mixed grape heirloom tomatoes)
▢ 1 cup full fat coconut milk
▢ ½ cup filtered water
▢ 1 tablespoon ground coriander
▢ 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
▢ 1 tablespoon garam masala
▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
▢ Cayenne pepper to taste
▢ Black pepper to taste

For serving:

▢ 2 cups cooked brown basmati rice
▢ Fresh herbs (such as mint, cilantro, basil, and green onions)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Toss eggplant with grapeseed oil, crushed garlic, and salt and spread on baking sheet. Bake until browned, 20-25 minutes.
Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook until tender, 5-6 minutes.
Remove eggplant from oven and add to skillet. Stir in chickpeas, coconut cream, water. tomato, and spices. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.
Serve with cooked brown basmati rice topped with fresh herbs as desired.

Video

Nutrition

Tried this recipe? Tag me on Instagram!Mention @GratefulGrazer or tag #gratefulgrazer.

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Veggie Hummus Sandwich with Sweet Potato
Quick Pickled Carrots with Spicy Jalapeño Option

Reader Interactions

Comments

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auntie riv says
January 08, 2021 at 2:25 pm
love this recipe. don't much like eggplant, but LOVE this recipe. thanx for posting it!
Reply
- Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
  January 12, 2021 at 7:19 am
  So glad you found an eggplant recipe that works for you! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
  Reply
Prahlad Strickland says
April 17, 2020 at 6:43 pm
Nice recipe. Although is ur tablespoon of Garam masala and coriander meant to be a teaspoon? It’s extremely pungeant.
Reply
- Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
  April 22, 2020 at 8:06 am
  Hi Prahlad, thanks for your feedback. I'll have to make this again to see if there could've been a mistake. In general, I like a lot of spices but encourage you to adjust the recipe to fit your tastes. Thank you for trying the recipe!
  Reply
Emily says
December 18, 2019 at 4:03 pm
The recipe looks amazing! Could I replace tomatoes with red pepper??
Reply
- Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
  December 29, 2019 at 8:10 pm
  Hi Emily, I haven't tested this recipe with peppers but it should work. Let me know what you think if you try it.
  Reply
Kelly says
September 15, 2019 at 1:24 pm
Never says where to put the filtered water in?
I'm assuming its with the coconut cream and spices? Hope so!
Reply
- Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
  September 23, 2019 at 1:34 pm
  Hi Kelly, thanks for catching this mistake! I do add the water along with the coconut cream and spices. The recipe is fixed now! 🙂
  Reply
NyJimmy says
February 06, 2019 at 5:25 pm

Loved this recipe. Thanks very much. I will make it once a week. I just have one question. If it’s called eggplant curry shouldn’t it have curry? It was simmering and it dawned on me - dude, where’s the curry? You didn’t put the curry in.
Reply
- Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
  February 12, 2019 at 9:15 am
  Great question! Curry really just means a dish made when you simmer spices in sauce with vegetables or meat. Instead of using a single premade curry powder, you can also make your own curry mix with individual spices like I did here. The garam masala is sort of a premade mix, too, and you can use this in lieu of curry powder if needed. So glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
  Reply
Sofia says
December 02, 2018 at 7:42 pm

I made this tonight and it came out great. Threw some wilting broccoli in at the end and eye balled some measurements but besides that followed the recipe exactly. will definitely make again
Reply
- Stephanie McKercher, RDN says
  December 03, 2018 at 4:41 pm
  So glad you enjoyed it, Sofia! Thanks for commenting and rating. 🙂
  Reply
Jose Luis Espinosa León says
March 13, 2016 at 11:21 am

Felicidades!!! Gracias por tu generosidad de compartir .
Reply
- Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
  March 15, 2016 at 7:28 am
  ¡de nada, Jose! Me alegro de que haya disfrutado de la receta!
  Reply
Erin says
March 08, 2016 at 6:59 am
I LOVE all those flavors! This curry looks outstanding! xx
Reply
- Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
  March 08, 2016 at 7:09 am
  Thank you so much, Erin! I love coconut + turmeric with pretty much everything! 🙂
  Reply
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
March 04, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Curries are such an easy go-to for me! Any time I can bring out ALL my spices, I do and curry requires such 😉
Reply
- Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
  March 08, 2016 at 6:54 am
  Gimme all the spices! 😉 Totally agree, thanks Rebecca!
  Reply
Deanna Segrave-Daly says
March 04, 2016 at 12:10 pm
I roast eggplant all summer when my CSA share is bursting with these beauties - pinning this recipe to make for sure!
Reply
- Steph | The Grateful Grazer says
  March 08, 2016 at 6:53 am
  Thanks, Deanna! I can't wait for this year's CSA bounty. Let me know how you like the curry! 🙂
  Reply