The aubergine is rarely seen without at least one of its close friends – olive oil, garlic, mint and the chickpea. But it is its happy partnership with cool, sour yogurt that got me to the stove this week.
I often trickle yogurt over a sliced aubergine whose flesh has been charred on the grill. Beaten together they make a sumptuous paste for spreading on heat-blistered flatbread. This week I tucked pieces of aubergine around a leg of lamb as it roasted for Sunday lunch, serving it with yogurt freckled with chopped dill and grains of black pepper.
Later I cooked wedges of the glossy black vegetable (botanically it’s a fruit), leaving it to putter over a low heat with a dazzling amount of turmeric, shredded ginger and ground cinnamon. I toned it down with a chilly cucumber and pistachio sauce. I had intended this dark and silky recipe to accompany cold rose-pink roast lamb but instead ate it as a dish in its own right. Something it clearly deserved to be.
Roast lamb, aubergines and dill yogurt
If you are concerned about the amount of olive oil the aubergine slices tend to drink up then you could salt them first. Put the sliced aubergines in a colander and sprinkle their surface generously with sea salt. Leave for 40 minutes, turning once or twice until their flesh has relaxed a little. Wipe them and cook as usual. I generally find they absorb less oil this way.
Serves 4-6
aubergines 600g
leg of lamb 1.5kg
thyme sprigs 15
olive oil 4 tbsp
For the accompaniment:
natural yogurt 200g
olive oil 4 tbsp
chopped dill 2 tbsp
black pepper
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Remove the leaves and stalk from the aubergines and cut each one into 2cm-thick discs. Put the lamb in a roasting tin. Pull the leaves from the thyme stems. Rub a little of the oil over the lamb then crumble over a generous amount of sea salt and half of the thyme leaves.
Put the aubergine slices around the lamb, pour over the remaining olive oil, then season with salt, ground black pepper and the reserved thyme. Roast for 45-60 minutes, depending on how you like your lamb. Turn the aubergines once during cooking so they brown lightly on both sides.
Put the yogurt in a small mixing bowl, then stir in the olive oil. A small whisk is good for this. Chop the dill finely and stir it in, then season with a little black pepper. If the oil and yogurt separate, which they occasionally do, whisk together just before serving.
Remove the lamb from the oven, cover with foil and leave to rest, in a warm place, for about 15 minutes before carving. Return the aubergines to the oven to brown and thoroughly soften (you could add more oil if they have drunk it all). Serve the lamb in thin slices, together with yogurt sauce and the aubergine slices.
This is for quite rare lamb. If you like your meat done a little more then adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Slow-cooked spiced aubergine
Olive oil helps change the texture of the aubergine’s flesh from inedible to delectably soft and silky. Another way to reduce the amount they consume is to cover them with a lid as they cook. They will part steam, part fry and you will use less oil. Start the recipe with 100ml of oil, adding a further amount, up to 50ml, if they become dry.
Serves 2 as main dish with rice, or 4 as an accompaniment.
Serves 4-6
aubergines 550g
butter 30g
olive oil 100-150ml
For the spicing:
fresh ginger 50g
garlic 2 cloves
salt flakes ½ tsp
black peppercorns ½ tsp, ground
turmeric 1 tsp, ground
cinnamon 1 tsp, ground
water 500ml
honey 1 tbsp
To finish:
yogurt 100g
cucumber 60g
mint leaves 6
pistachios 2 tbsp
Peel the aubergines and slice them in half, top to bottom. Cut each half into four thick wedges, then cut each wedge into two shorter pieces.
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a wide, shallow pan over a moderate heat. Place the pieces of aubergine in the hot butter and oil, cover with a lid and let them cook for a couple of minutes until pale gold on the underside. Turn each piece with kitchen tongs to cook the other side.
Peel the ginger, slice thinly, then cut each slice into matchstick-size pieces. Peel and crush the garlic. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan with the salt, pepper, turmeric and cinnamon. Let the spices sizzle briefly then pour in the water and bring to the boil.
Lower the heat so the liquid bubbles gently, then leave to simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until the aubergines are truly tender and silky. They should be so soft you could crush them between your fingers. Trickle in the honey.
To make the yogurt sauce, put the yogurt into a bowl, cut the cucumber in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard them, then coarsely grate the flesh. Stir the grated cucumber into the yogurt. Shred the mint leaves and stir them in. Roughly chop the pistachios and fold them into the yogurt sauce.
Serve the aubergines warm, together with the yogurt sauce.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
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