Charred aubergine salad with sugar-spice onions
By Sarah Cook
This exotic spiced salad combines griddled aubergines and lentils, studded with crunchy cashews and juicy pomegranate seeds
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Prep:30 mins
Cook:1 hrs
- Easy
Nutrition per serving
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kcal 576
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fat 34g
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saturates 17g
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carbs 45g
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sugars 30g
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fibre 11g
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protein 15g
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salt 0.3g
Ingredients
- 1 large aubergine, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1-2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 50g desiccated coconut
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 2 x 400g cans brown lentils, rinsed and drained
- bunch spring onions, sliced
- small pack coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped
- 150g pack pomegranate seeds
- 85g cashew nuts, bashed a few times
- 3 onions, roughly sliced
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tsp each ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
- 160ml can coconut cream
- juice 3 limes
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp onion seeds or nigella seeds
- 2 tbsp mango chutney
Method
Start with the sugar-spice onions. Put the onions, oil, 1/2 tsp salt and the spices in a frying pan and cook gently for 15 mins until really soft. Stir in the sugar and cook for a futher 2-3 mins until the onions are sticky and dark golden.
Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan over a medium heat and brush the aubergine slices on both sides with the oil. Griddle in batches, turning, until charred and soft.
Once the onions are cooked, tip them onto a plate and leave to cool. Clean the pan, tip in the coconut and turmeric, and toast gently until golden and just browning at the edges. Tip onto a plate and leave to cool. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients with some seasoning.
To serve, tip the lentils, spring onions, coriander, pomegranate seeds and cashew nuts onto a big serving platter or bowl. Add most of the coconut, plus the aubergine slices and sugar-spice onions. Drizzle over most of the dressing and use your hands to toss everything together well. Scatter the remaining coconut over to serve, with the extra dressing on the side for drizzling over.
