Easy Aubergine Tikka Masala

This easy Aubergine Tikka Masala with chickpeas is gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan! It's the silkiest, most delicious plant-based tikka masala I have ever made. With soft roast garlic, pulled roast eggplant, and creamy chickpeas. It’s honestly one my favourite curries, I think you’re gonna love it!

This eggplant tikka masala takes around 30 minutes to make and is super simple. Use an air fryer to roast the aubergine and garlic until soft and caramelised and just one pan to make the curry gravy. I love eating it on its own, but feel free to serve it with rice, naan bread, or anything you fancy!

WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• One Pot - this aubergine tikka masala only needs one pan. It's minimal effort, delicious, and requires little washing up. Trust me, once you try this recipe, you'll be making it on repeat!
• Comfort food at its finest - for those cold and wintery days, this curry is perfect. It's hot, full of gorgeous vegetables, and simply delicious.
• Vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free - this dish is super inclusive and can be eaten by a wide variety of people with intolerances!

If you love easy curries, why not check out my Butterbean & Spinach Curry, Butter Salmon Curry, or my favourite Mango Curry.

INGREDIENTS FOR AUBERGINE TIKKA MASALA

• Aubergine or Eggplant - one of the most versatile vegetables (well actually apparently it's biologically a fruit). For this recipe, we are roasting them in tin foil until they're soft and silky.
• Garlic - a whole bulb of garlic is used for this recipe. It may seem like a lot but when the garlic is roasted and soft, it has a lovely mild and sweet garlicky flavour.
• Onion - finely chopped red onions for the base of the curry gravy.
• Ginger - I love fresh ginger. You can use as much as you personally like. I used around 1 inch of ginger and then finely chopped it. It adds freshness to the dish and is very aromatic.
• Chillies - if you like things spicy, add in some chopped red chillies. If you'd like to keep things mild, you can leave this part out.
• Cumin - either comes ground or whole. For this recipe, I've used whole seeds of cumin. But you can always use ground if that's all you've got!
• Cardamom - green cardamom pods add a lovely warmth to this dish. Just make sure to fish them out when you're ready to eat!
• Turmeric - I've used ground turmeric for this recipe. It adds a lovely colour and flavour to the curry sauce.
• Garam Masala - is a blend of ground spices from India. Recipes for this spice mix vary, but I'm using one that has a blend of coriander, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, star anise, cumin, chilli, fennel, black pepper, bay, nutmeg, and cardamom.
• Tomatoes - I've used tinned chopped tomatoes for this recipe, but feel free to use fresh tomatoes that you chop and prepare in advance.
• Coconut Milk - to add creaminess to the gravy (curry sauce), simply add coconut milk from a tin.
• Sugar - I love adding a bit of sweetness to my curries. I use sugar, but feel free to use agave, maple syrup, or honey.
• Chickpeas - if you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that I'm obsessed with beans, and particularly, buying beans from a jar. Like the ones from Bold Bean Co!
• Coriander - if you'd like to add some greenery to the final plate, then I'd recommend adding some chopped fresh coriander leaves. If you don't like coriander, then feel free to leave this out!

SUBSTITUTIONS

• Aubergine - you could swap out the eggplant for courgette or sweet potato. Simply chop them into large cubes and roast them in the say way as the aubergine and garlic.
• Onion - I've used red but feel free to use white too, or shallots!
• Ginger - I would highly recommend using fresh ginger, but if you don't have access to it, use ginger powder, around 1 teaspoon.
• Fresh chillies - you can substitute fresh chillies for chilli flakes or chilli powder. Start by adding ½ a teaspoon and then add more based on your tolerance for spice.
• Tinned tomatoes - you can either use fresh tomatoes, or passata. The passata will give you a smoother and sweeter flavour.
• Coconut milk - you could use coconut yoghurt or coconut cream. If you'd like to make it dairy, then you could add in natural yoghurt.
• Chickpeas - if you're not a fan of these beans, you could add in butter beans, lentils, or just leave them out altogether.

VARIATIONS

• Non-vegan - if you'd like to make this dish not plant-based by adding in some meat, then I'd recommend frying some sliced chicken in a pan with the spices and onion at the start of the cooking process. Fry for a few minutes until sealed, then add in the rest of your ingredients.
• Spicy - if you like heat, then I'd recommend adding in more fresh chillies during the cooking process. You could also garnish the dish with sliced red chillies. Alternatively, if you don’t like spice, you can reduce or remove that ingredient.
• Quick - making this dish less than 20 minutes to make is actually quite easy, it just requires a bit of a change in the recipe. Firstly, you'll want to add 3 minced garlic cloves into the frying pan with the rest of your onion and ginger (instead of roasting it). For the aubergine, you'll want to peel it and slice it into small cubes, and then once again, add it in with your spices into the pan and leave to reduce and get soft.
• Air fryer - I've used the air fryer for this recipe because it's quick and easy. Once you've wrapped your aubergine and garlic in tin foil, simply click the "roast" setting on your air fryer and cook at 200C for 30 minutes.
• Oven - cooking the aubergine and garlic in the oven will take longer as you need to preheat the oven. So once you've done that and it's reached temperature, you can then add your wrapped aubergine and garlic to a tray and place it into the oven for 30 minutes at 180C fan.

HOW TO MAKE EGGPLANT TIKKA MASALA - STEP BY STEP

STEP 1 - AIR FRY YOUR AUBERGINE AND GARLIC

• Peel your aubergine and chop 2cm off the top of your garlic bulb so that the garlic cloves are visible.
• Place them onto their own pieces of tinned foil, drizzle with oil and salt, then wrap them up.
• Place them in the air fryer at 200C for 30 minutes until soft.

STEP 2 - MAKE YOUR CURRY GRAVY

• Place a frying pan on medium heat and drizzle with oil. Add in your onion, ginger, red chilli, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, turmeric, and garam masala. Stir and fry for 5 minutes.
• Next up, pour in your tinned tomatoes into your pan, a tin of water (use your tomato tin) and a big pinch of salt. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes and then add in your coconut milk.
• Once again, stir frequently and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

• Once your aubergine and garlic are cooked, squeeze out the garlic into your curry, and chop the head off the aubergine and add in the body of the vegetable. Lastly, add in your chickpeas and keep on the heat for another 3 minutes. Season to taste, you can add more salt, sugar, chillies, spices, whatever you fancy!

STEP 3 - SERVE UP

• Lastly, serve up with some rice and top with fresh coriander. Enjoy!

AUBERGINE TIKKA MASALA LEFTOVERS

This is the perfect recipe to make for meal prepping. You can store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze this recipe so you have a healthy meal for another time. If freezing, allow the Aubergine Tikka Masala to fully defrost before re-heating on a low heat until piping hot!

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