Sri Lankan Aubergine Moju
Our trip travelling around Sri Lanka was one of the best and most memorable holidays ever. It was the perfect mix of exploring, beaches, great food, beautiful people and almost daily workouts - the trip actually deserves it’s own post! We were so in love with the food we tried cooking classes for the very first time (we went to two in two weeks!). The second was whilst we were in Ella for a few days, tucked away up on a hill away from the busy main street, we stumbled across daily cooking classes at Lanka’s Restaurant. By far, one of the best experiences ever. Nothing glam, just us in Mr. Lanka’s backyard with a few chopping boards, the freshest spices and the open fire clay cooking pots.
We learnt how to make about 6 or 7 curries, one of the stand out ones was Mr. Lanka’s Aubergine Moju. This dish is a traditional Sri Lankan side dish which is both sweet, tangy and unbelievably simple to make. The ingredients aren’t all going to be in your local supermarket, but they are definitely worth buying because once you have them you’re keep using them. We luckily went to the spice market in Sri Lanka and bought everything there! Aubergine Moju is veggie and vegan friendly, and meat lovers will love it as it accompanies meat curries perfectly too.
Serves 4 | Total 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Oil (preferred oil to deep fry)
1kg aubergine
70g shallots
2 branches of curry leaves (find in local Asian supermarket - buy in bulk and keep in the freezer as it doesn’t last long. You can use it from frozen.)
3 inches of pandan leaves (optional)
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp of mustard powder
Salt, pepper to season
Dressing:
1 ½ limes
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp coconut vinegar
Salt
Method:
Slice aubergines into matchsticks, about 2 inches long. Peel and slice the shallots.
Heat a pan of oil, enough to deep fry your aubergine in two or three batches. Fry until brown, then let it rest on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.
Whilst the aubergine is cooking mix the dressing ingredients together and set aside.
Once aubergine is all cooked, get another pan and heat up oil to fry shallots until soft. Add the curry leaves, pandan (optional), slightly crushed cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add salt, pepper and mustard powder. Cook for for a minute before adding in the fried aubergine and mixing well. Cook aubergine in the spices for a couple of minutes only!
Serve the Aubergine Moju and add dressing as desired!