I really hesitated before writing “vegan” in the title as it can really throw some people out. I understand, I have one of them at home, called my husband, and I often lie to him first before telling him what is in the dish. For him, that evening, as he was guessing the ingredients, we were having pork or chicken stuffed aubergines with tomatoes and onions: a compliment!

INGREDIENTS

4 large aubergines ( the ones you cook not the purple&white kind for stir fry)
2 big red finely diced tomatoes
1 large finely diced onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 finely diced fresh bean curd ( 150g)
4 fresh finely diced chitake mushrooms
1 and 1/2 tsp paprika powder
some chopped fresh coriander
extra virgin olive oil
a 10cm long chunk of bread ( dry left over bread is perfect)
seavsalt and white pepper (to taste)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven 200°C.
2. In a small bowl put the bread to soak in 3 tbsp of olive oil and 3 tbsp water until damp.
3. In a frying pan, on medium heat, fry onion and garlic together until lightly golden brown.
4. Cut the green part at the end of the aubergine off, cut the aubergine in half and carve out some of its flesh ( see picture). Finely dice the flesh that you carved out and put it in a big bowl.
5. Set aside the carved out aubergines on the oven’s dripping pan ( make sure it is clean).
6. In the big bowl with the diced aubergine, add: diced tomato, onion, garlic, chitake, bean curd, paprika, salt and white pepper. Stir.
7. Generously stuff the aubergines.
8. Pour some water in the dipping pan, aubergines should dip half way in water.
9. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until aubergines are soft. Add more water half way if necessary.
10. Put on a serving plate, add a dash of olive oil on each aubergine and some chopped coriander. Disregard left over water in dipping pan.

Serve immediately. can be served with red rice.

Cost: fresh bean curd 3 for 1SGD, 4 aubergines 3SGD, 4 chitake 1SGD , 2 tomatoes 0,40SGD(all from wetmarket)+ other ingredients approx 2 SGD = 7 SGD