Years and years ago, the Indian Express Group of Publications gifted me with a cookbook. It has been a treasured possession since then. It is now badly torn with constant use, but I still keep referring to it. I love many of the vegetarian recipes in the book and try to modify them to suit WFPB principles. The beauty of the book is that it has many categories of recipes and from different states of India. One of my favourites is eggplant cooked in a yogurt base. I have made this several times and also served it to guests. It has always been a hit. I felt that my blog was incomplete without this dish – and so told Hari to prepare it so that I could click photographs. I hope all my readers will enjoy it as much as I had and continue to do. The book credits this recipe to Ms. Noreen Diehr.

Ingredients
250 gms small eggplants (the purple small round ones work best)
250 gms onions, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi, manjal podi)
100 gms tomatoes, sliced
2 tsp ginger-garlic, chopped fine
250 ml vegan yogurt (I used peanut yogurt, but you can use any unflavoured one)
Unrefined salt to taste
Method
Slice the eggplants and ‘fry’ in the air fryer till tender
Heat a wok and add the onions and ginger-garlic till they become light brown
Add turmeric powder, chili powder, salt and tomatoes
Sauté well till the tomatoes are mushy
Add the yogurt and mix
Immediately remove from flame
Add the eggplants and mix well
Serve hot or cold with steamed red/brown/millet rice or Indian flat breads
Enjoy!