Here’s my recipe for baigan bharta - a delicious smoky flame roasted aubergine side dish, packed with spice and flavour!

Serves 2

What you need:

• 1 large aubergine

• 1 tomato

• 1 medium onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 inch ginger

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1/2 tsp garam masala

• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• Salt to taste

• Vegetable oil

• small handful of coriander, chopped

What you do:

1. Prick the aubergine and roast it on a medium flame, using a pair of tongs to turn it around every now and then. The skin will burn and shrivel and then char. You want to roast it until it’s shrivelled and cooked all the way through

2. Place on a plate and allow it to cool

3. While it’s cooling down, finely dice the onion and tomato, and make a paste with the ginger and garlic

4. Now chop the head off the aubergine and peel the skin off - it should largely just crumble away when you’re pulling it off. Mash coarsely with a fork

5. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan and when hot crackle the cumin seeds

6. Add the onions and sauté till starting to soften and change colour

7. Then the ginger garlic paste, mix through and cook for a few minutes - about 4-5

8. Then the chopped tomato and cook together, mixing every now and then until the oil starts to separate

9. Then the mashed roasted aubergine, the chilli powder, salt, turmeric

10. Mix through, making sure the aubergine is coated with all the spices. Cool for 5-6 minutes, stirring every now and then

11. Then sprinkle garam masala, and stir though

12. Then fresh coriander and mix through

That’s it!