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Spiced Spinach and Aubergine Stew

This is a wonderfully fragrant dish, full of warming spices and complex flavours. I like to serve it with brown basmati rice and a good dollop of houmous. I have used baby-leaf spinach for this recipe as it is more delicately textured and flavoured; you can use the larger-leaf variety, but I would recommend that you remove any tough stalks and chop it roughly before adding to the aubergine and tomato.

Serves 4

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1 large onion

3 aubergines

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cinnamon

100g/3½oz soft dried apricots

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

100g/3½oz baby-leaf spinach

Sea salt and freshly

ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Finely chop the onion and dice the aubergines into 1cm/½in chunks. Place the diced aubergine in a roasting tin, cover with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until soft and golden.

While the aubergine is cooking, place the cumin and coriander seeds in a heavy-based frying pan and dry-fry over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes, shaking the pan regularly to ensure they don’t burn, until lightly smoking and fragrant. Remove from the heat and grind to a coarse powder using a pestle and mortar. Alternatively, place in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.

Heat the remaining oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry the onion over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes or until soft but not browned. Add the freshly ground cumin and coriander, along with the paprika and cinnamon, and mix into the onion. Cut the apricots into quarters and add these and the roasted aubergine to the pan, then pour over the chopped tomatoes and stir to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid from the pan, add the spinach and stir it in. Cook for a few more minutes until the spinach has completely wilted, then season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.