Spicy Stewed Eggplant
This is a creamy, spicy, rich-tasting, very morish eggplant sauce. It's great on rice, noodles (try it on Shirataki noodles for a practically calorie-free meal), or just in a bowl with a spoon, maybe with a sprinkle of parmesan on it, it's that good on its own. It makes a good sized batch, so it will feed a crowd or keep you going for quick suppers throughout the week. Many people were put off eggplant over the years by being served undercooked, raw-tasting eggplant. This dish might cure many of them of their eggplant phobia. Using a pressure cooker concentrates the flavours and ensure the eggplant is thoroughly cooked to a rich creaminess.
Ingredients
- 1 can Tomatoes diced large can (around 800 ml / 28 oz), with juice
- 2 tablespoons Oregano dried
- 1 tablespoon Basil dried
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Anchovy Paste
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground Pepper
- 3 pinches Chile Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder
- 4 Bay Leaves
- 1/2 Lemon juiced
- 2 Bell Peppers chopped
- 2 stalks Celery chopped
- 3 Eggplants chopped
- 1 tablespoon Kitchen Bouquet
Instructions
- Put ingredients in pressure cooker in order listed (don't use the steamer basket.) Put top on, set pressure to high. When it comes to pressure, let cook 10 minutes. After that, natural release.
- When done, stir in the tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet (optional, for colouring) and mix well.
- Remove bay leaves before serving.
Notes
Instead of the canned tomato, you can use 2 cup fresh, chopped, plus 1/2 cup (125 ml) water.
It may take a few minutes for the pot to come up to steam; that's why we put the liquid ingredients at the bottom, in order to protect the other ingredients from any possible charring during the initial high-heat phase.
Feel free to crank up the spice in it. The 3 pinches of chile flake assumes chile flake that are very fresh and very hot. If yours are older, you may need to compensate. But it all depends how spicy or mild you like stuff -- you may even want to leave the chile flake out. We like it quite spicy, and even splash some bottled hot sauce to it when serving.
If you don't have a lemon handy, try a tablespoon of some kind of vinegar -- just something acidic to brighten up the taste.
The Kitchen Bouquet gives it an appealing, "curb appeal" dark-coloured appearance so that it doesn't look pale and bland (because it isn't!)
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!