South Indian Brinjal Eggplant Curry by Nagi
Roasted Eggplant:
- ▢2 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola)
- ▢700g / 1.2 lb eggplant (aubergine) , 2 medium (Note 1)
- ▢1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Curry:
- ▢3 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola)
- ▢3/4 tsp black mustard seeds (Note 2)
- ▢14 curry leaves, fresh (Note 3)
- ▢1 red onion , quartered and thinly sliced
- ▢3 tbsp passata or tomato pulp (or canned tomato) (Note 4)
- ▢1 tbsp garlic , grated (4 cloves approx)
- ▢1 tbsp ginger , grated (1.5cm piece approx)
- ▢1 1/4 cups water
- ▢3/4 tsp salt
- ▢3 tbsp coconut milk or cream, full fat (Note 5)
Curry Spices:
- ▢1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- ▢1/4 tsp ground clove
- ▢1/4 tsp black pepper
- ▢1/2 tsp chilli powder or cayenne (NOT US Chilli Powder)
- ▢4 tsp coriander powder
- ▢4 tsp cumin powder
Serving
- ▢Basmati rice
- ▢Yogurt , highly recommended
- ▢Coriander/cilantro leaves , optional
- ▢Easy flatbread (as naan!) , optional
Instructions
Roasted Eggplant:
- Preheat oven to 240°C / 450°F (220°C fan). Line tray with parchment/baking paper.
- Cut eggplant into 2cm / 4/5″ slices, then cut into 2cm / 4/5″ batons.
- Place in large bowl, toss with oil, salt and pepper.
- Spread on tray, roast 20 minutes. Turn, roast for a further 10 minutes – edges should be caramelised, soft inside, but they’re not shrivelled up and dismal. Use per recipe.
Curry:
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, let them sizzle for 15 seconds.
- Add curry leaves, stir, leave to sizzle for 15 seconds – seeds might pop, Indian cooking is very dramatic!
- Add onions, cook 5 minutes until golden brown.
- Add tomato, cook for 1 minute, stirring.
- Add garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes.
- Add Curry Spices and salt, and cook for another 3 minutes – it will be a thick paste and might stick to the bottom of the pot, don’t let it burn (if it starts to, remove from stove and quickly add splash of water to loosen).
- Stir in water, and then add the eggplant.
- Gently stir, partially cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes. Stir carefully once or twice (so the eggplants don’t break up completely), add more water if it dries out.
- Stir in coconut milk, taste then add more salt if needed.
- Your result should be a very thick, juicy, strongly flavoured curry with eggplant partially intact but half collapsed.
- Serve with basmati rice and a dollop of yogurt and fresh coriander leaves, if you want.
Recipe Notes:
1. Eggplant – smaller the better eg. 2 x 300g eggplants, they hold together better. Asian eggplants ok too.
Alternative to roasting – pan fry in a little oil over medium high heat, rotating to brown all sides. Don’t worry if it’s a little raw inside once the outside is golden, it will finish cooking in the sauce.
2. Black mustard seeds – key ingredient for authentic flavour. Look like poppyseeds, wasabi bite, Indian aroma! ~ $1.50 in small packs at Indian grocery stores (my local is Indian Emporium in Dee Why, Sydney). Also sold in the Indian food section at some Woolworths (Australia) $1.70, otherwise try online.
Substitutes (starting with best):
- Brown mustard seeds
- Yellow mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder*
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala* (different flavour, but is intended to make up for absence)
* Add with rest of spices
3. Fresh curry leaves – another key ingredient for authentic flavour! Sub 10 dried curry leaves. Fairly accessible nowadays for Sydney-siders, sold at Harris Farms, most Coles and Woolworths.
Substitute:
- dried curry leaves (not quite the same, but it’s the best sub);
- 1 tsp Garam Masala powder (add it with rest of spices).
4. Tomato – anything is fine here, pulp or passata (base recipe), or canned crushed tomato (crush it more by hand to make it more fine) or even a dollop of tomato paste.
5. Coconut milk – no point using low fat because this is added to add a hint of richness. You can’t taste coconut. Can sub a splash of cream.
Leftover coconut milk: Freeze the rest in ice cube trays and use in recipes that call for a splash of coconut. Otherwise, do a recipe search for “coconut milk” and select “Using this ingredient” and it will bring up a list of recipes that have coconut milk in the ingredients. Most recipes won’t suffer if you are short just 3 tbsp. Partial can uses: Gado Gado peanut sauce, scaled down batch of Thai Satay Peanut sauce (it makes a LOT!).
6. Storage – leftovers keep for 5 days int he fridge. Should freeze fine (haven’t tried), just stir carefully when reheating so eggplant doesn’t turn into complete mush.
7. Sources – As mentioned, a yearning to recreate New Shakthi Sri Lankan Restaurant’s eggplant curry sparked the initial inspiration! We studied brinjal (a term for eggplant in India) recipes by South Indian and Sri Lankan food bloggers and YouTubers, including the totally awesome Village Food Factory Youtube channel to create our version.
8. Nutrition per serving, curry only (no rice).
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The simple act of looking at a piece of visual art can boost your wellbeing, a new research study has found, and this benefit can be gained in a hospital setting as well as an art gallery. Via Science Daily.
Artworks which were included in the review include famous pieces such as The Scream by Edvard Munch, The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, and other pieces of modern and contemporary art.
The authors of the review have called on healthcare providers and policy makers to integrate art into mental health strategies as a low-cost and easily-accessible resource.
Previous research has suggested that viewing art might influence mood or stress, but the research was limited and inconsistent, they say. This study examined decades of scattered research, providing for the first time a clear and comprehensive overview of when, where and why art viewing is used to promote wellbeing.
The review of 38 previously published studies covering a total of 6,805 participants was conducted by team of psychologists from University of Vienna, Trinity College Dublin, and Humboldt University of Berlin. It has been published this week in The Journal of Positive Psychology.
The study found that viewing art can improve eudemonic wellbeing, this is wellbeing associated with meaning in life and personal growth.
These benefits were observed in a variety of locations — in museums and galleries as well as clinics and hospital settings and also through the medium of virtual reality. A wide range of art types including figurative, abstract, modern and contemporary paintings, photography, sculpture and installations were found to boost wellbeing.
“People often think of art as a luxury, but our research suggest that viewing art — whether as a hobby or as a targeted health intervention — can meaningfully support wellbeing,” said MacKenzie Trupp, lead author and researcher at the University of Vienna and Radboud UMC, Donders Institute.
“By reframing art as a low-cost, accessible wellbeing resource, this research opens up exciting possibilities for integrating art into everyday environments and public health strategies.”
Claire Howlin, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, Trinity, added: “While the mental health benefits of creating art have been widely explored, the impact of viewing art has been under-researched and undervalued. Yet visual art is present and accessible in everyday spaces — museums, galleries, hospitals, and at home. Understanding its effects can unlock new avenues for promoting wellbeing through everyday encounters with art.
“Since 2019 the WHO has recommended that creative approaches are used alongside routine clinical care. Art can satisfy people’s need to search for meaning in life, build self-esteem, and develop positive identities which are important factors for coping with the chaos of life. Departments of health and arts councils across Europe are looking for high quality evidence to identify which types of arts can be used for each type of medical outcome. This review will help to plan larger scale studies in the future.”
The study also found a lack of methodological inconsistency across previous studies, prompting the creation of a new set of guidelines — Receptive Art Activity Research Reporting Guidelines (RAARR) — to standardise future research.
This research was funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 ART*IS project.
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Monopoly wasn’t invented by the Parker Brothers, nor the man they gave it credit for. In 1904, Monopoly was originally called The Landlord’s Game, and was invented by a radical woman. Elizabeth Magie’s original game had not one, but two sets of rules to choose from.
One was called “Prosperity”, where every player won money anytime another gained a property. And the game was won by everyone playing only when the person with the least doubled their resources. A game of collaboration and social good.
The second set of rules was called “Monopoly”, where players succeeded by taking properties and rent from those with less luck rolling the dice. The winner was the person who used their power to eliminate everyone else.
Magie’s mission was to teach us how different we feel when playing Prosperity vs Monopoly, hoping that it would one day change national policies.
When the Parker Bros adopted the game, they erased the “Prosperity” rules and celebrated “Monopoly”.
And so capitalist greed reigned upon the earth and all of the workers earned fuck all while begging from scraps falling from the table – also called trickle-down economics. Via Mastodon and Public Domain Review.
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The Angel is Human After All – Anatomy of an Angel by Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst’s The Anatomy of an Angel (2008) is a haunting collision of classical beauty and cold anatomy. Carved from pristine Carrara marble and inspired by Alfred Boucher’s L’Hirondelle, the sculpture presents an ethereal angel—part divine muse, part medical model. With elegant limbs and serene grace, her exposed cross-sections reveal muscle, organs and bone, challenging our idealisations of purity and perfection. A stark reminder of mortality beneath the sacred, this is Hirst at his provocative best: poetic, clinical and unforgettable. Via Design Is This
Did you enjoy this collection? let me know what you think of it below. Thank you for reading my dear friends!
Content Catnip 
Ooh, I just picked up eggplant at the farmer’s market this morning, so I’ll need to try this curry recipe this week. Thanks! And that wholesome meme is the best. Finally, Damien Hirst’s art reminds me of artist Daniel Martin Diaz who has similar themes, though different mediums; you might appreciate it.
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Delicious. One of my favourites x
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