Aubergine Pachadi

You can think of this as a sort of South Indian raita – tiny, crisp cubes of aubergine are fried with mustard seeds and curry leaves, scattered with sea salt and served with yogurt as a side dish. If you come across any nice, fresh okra, this is a lovely way to use it as well – just remember to dry the okra thoroughly before slicing it into 1cm pieces and it’ll crisp up beautifully in the oil rather than go squashy. Much as I love using the oven instead of the hob, you want the crispness from fried aubergines rather than baked for this dish – and it’s quicker to do in a frying pan.