Flavourful and warming chicken and aubergine curry is a healthy and easy dinner. Lean chicken breast and roasted aubergine is cooked to perfection in a delicious sauce. Make it exactly as mild or as spicy as you want, and enjoy!
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Ingredients
- Chicken breast fillets – make up the protein in the dish.
- Aubergine (US: eggplant) – This vegetable has a great texture in a curry, and absorbs a lot of flavour.
- Onion, garlic – Adds lots of flavour.
- Turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika, garam masala and chili powder – Spices are essential to curries, and this combination is the best!
- Tomato passata – Or strained tomatoes. This forms the tomato base of the curry.
How to make the BEST chicken and aubergine curry
Preheat the oven to 190 C / 175 C fan oven / 375 F.
Dice the aubergine in bite sized pieces. Add them to a baking tray, and cover with 1 tsp oil and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat the aubergine evenly. Roast the aubergine in the oven until soft, about 15 minutes.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a large pot. Finely dice garlic and onion, and add them to the pot. Saute until soft and translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
Add diced chicken breast to the pot, and cook while stirring occasionally until the chicken pieces are mostly white on all sides. Then, add all the spices, and leave this to saute for 2 minutes while stirring.
Add the tomato passata and roasted aubergine to the curry, give it a stir and leave it to cook on medium heat covered with a lid for about 10 minutes to allow all the flavours to develop. Make sure that the chicken has fully cooked through before removing it from the heat.
Season chicken and aubergine curry with salt and pepper to taste, and add more chili powder if you prefer the curry to be spicy.
Adjust for spices
This curry is not particularly spicy. If you wish to spice it up a bit, you can add a diced chili, or a teaspoon or two of dried chili powder.
I recommend making curries rather mild, and then add spices to taste towards the end of the cooking time if you’re in doubt. This way you can make sure that the result is exactly how you want it.
Storing leftovers
Leftover chicken and aubergine curry can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Simply thaw frozen curry in the fridge overnight, then reheat it in the microwave or on the stove top until piping hot before serving.
Serving suggestions
Chicken and aubergine curry is traditionally served with rice. You can serve it with plain Jasmine or Basmati rice. I love to serve it with lemon and garlic rice.
You can also serve the dish with roasted vegetables or a salad on the side if you wish to include more veggies in the meal.
Frequently asked questions
What if I am missing one of the spices or herbs listed? – Curries usually include a variety of spices. If you are missing any of the spices listes, you can either simply omit that spice, replace it with something else, or even use a spice blend such as a curry powder.
Can I omit the chicken? – Absolutely! You can make a vegetarian version of this curry by replacing the chicken with something else. I think tofu, chickpeas, mushrooms or roasted cauliflower would be excellent alternatives.
More amazing currys and stews:
Try any of these flavourful meals.
- Chickpea and halloumi curry – a vegetarian curry with chickpeas and soft chunks of cheese.
- Vegan Thai green curry – a Thai style green curry packed with vegetables.
- Vegetable stew with dumplings – a tomato based vegetable stew with root vegetables and hearty dumplings.
- African chicken and peanut stew – this creamy peanut stew with chicken and potatoes is perfect comfort food!
Chicken and aubergine curry
Ingredients
- 1 medium aubergine
- 2 tsp olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 chicken breast fillets
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 300 ml tomato passata
- salt, pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 C / 175 C fan oven / 375 F.
- Dice the aubergine in bite sized pieces. Add it to a baking tray, and cover with 1 tsp oil. Sprinkle some salt, and stir to coat the aubergine pieces evenly.
- Roasted the aubergine in the oven until soft, about 15 minutes.
- Heat 1 tsp oil in a large pot. Finely dice garlic and onion, and add them to the pot. Saute until soft and translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add diced chicken breast to the pot, and cook while stirring occasionally until the chicken pieces are mostly white on all sides. Then, add all the spices, and leave this to saute for 2 minutes while stirring.
- Add the tomato passata and roasted aubergine to the curry. Stir to combine, then leave it to cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add more chili powder if you want the curry to be spicy.
mohan kumar
This look so fresh and delicious.thank you for sharing.
Tonje
Thank you for your comment! It’s really delicious, let me know if you try it 🙂
Andrea Metlika
I am an eggplant fan so very happy to find this curry recipe with it and chicken. Yum!
Tonje
Glad you like it, Andrea!
Julie Gordon
This sounds perfect for our upcoming snow storm as comfort food is needed. Flavorful dish too.
Tonje
Oh, be careful in the storm! 🙂
Alison
This is so delicious! I subbed tofu for the chicken to make it vegan and it turned out fantastic!
Tonje
I’m glad to hear it works well with tofu too!
Eric Jones
Such a flavorful dish and I love that you can omit the chicken if you wanted! Can’t go wrong with anything curry!
Tonje
I agree, curries are hard to beat!
Pam Greer
This curry is so flavorful. We like to kick the heat up just a little bit, it is sooo good!
Tonje
Thanks, Pam, I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it. We like to spice it up too 🙂