Says he: "I prefer the chicken"

I'm continuing on my cooking marathon and going back to the Indian chapter, which I haven't visited in a long time.

118. Aubergine Tikka - *Indian*

Last time I made tikka, it was a chicken tikka. At that time, I paired it with Tom's masala sauce. I remember how lovely it tasted, so I thought it'd be a good idea to pair the veggie version with the sauce as well.

I have to say at this point that Rafa was not too enthusiastic about eating a veggie curry. He has been craving curry, and so have I, but his cravings for anything usually include some sort of meat. He finally gave in, so I made this dish for two.

First, you 'marinate' the vegetables. The marinade is basically lemon juice, minced garlic and ginger, salt, cumin, coriander, light olive oil and smoked paprika. The veggies (aubergine, red pepper and red onion) are chopped and tossed in the marinade. Then, they are roasted for 40 minutes in a moderate oven.


I made the masala sauce and rice while the veggies were roasting. I didn't make any changes to the sauce, but did use red onions instead of white, to mirror the onions in the roast.

Once the vegetables were fully roasted...


I added them to the gorgeous and silky sauce. I then scooped them on top the rice and served dinner.


This was delicious!! Many of you know I don't like roasted vegetables, especially peppers, but they were nice and soft, and besides, this masala sauce is killer! I am thinking of making a couple of batches and bottling it for when Rafa is home alone, and he could make chicken tikka masala.

Speaking of which, I asked for Rafa's opinion of the veggie tikka masala.

Me: So, was your veggie tikka masala so bad?
He: I prefer the chicken.
Me: I know, but was it so bad?
He: It was OK, but I prefer the chicken.

Oh well, I tried. LOL.