This is the default dish we turn to when we pick aubergines. It’s from an old Sunday Times Magazine article by chef Lucas Hollweg with the wonderful headline ‘Deep Purple’, which I was tempted to use for this blog but didn’t because I don’t like copying. And I couldn’t make ‘Purple Rain’ fit.Anyway, the salad has a wonderful Moroccan feel to it which seems appropriate as here we are closer to North Africa than to Seville [its 95km from Ronda-Ceuta, 101km from Ronda-Seville]. It is ultimately forgiving: it freezes well and tastes just as good in winter eaten hot with rice, as on a hot summer’s day eaten with chilled cous cous.

This is the summer’s day version. It is still nudging 30° here but after a couple of days of eating very light salads and bowls of melon, we long for something more satisfying. The quantity here makes a main meal for two, plus the same to freeze.

400g aubergines
4 large cloves of garlic
1 red onion [but an ordinary white onion works perfectly well]
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ tsp ground cumin [this is more than the original recipe, but cumin is one of our favourite spices]
Generous handful each of pine nuts and raisins/sultanas
2 roughly chopped tomatoes, or one large can
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar Cut the aubergines into 2cm cubes. Peel the garlic and slice thickly. Peel and slice the onion thinly.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan, on a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Turn up the heat under the pan and add another 4 tbsp oil, add the aubergines. Fry, stirring often, for a few minutes until the aubergines cubes are soft and starting to brown. Sprinkle in the cumin, pine nuts and raisins, and cook for another minute or two. Return the onion mix to the pan with the tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes have softened.
Add the sugar and vinegar to the pan, stir until well combined. Take the pan off the heat and set aside to cool. We eat this at room temperature on a bed of cous cous [plain cous cous with lots of freshly-ground black pepper, the juice of a lemon and a handful of fresh chopped mint], with crumbled feta on top. 5 to remember
morado/a – purple
el artículo – article
el chef – chef
más cercano – closer
el Marruecos – Morocco