Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry
Our Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry is an easy-to-make dish that you can tailor to your desired heat level. Along with the two main vegetables it also features tomatoes, mustard seed, cumin, coriander, fresh ginger and cayenne.
At the time that I developed this recipe for Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry we only had one eggplant recipe on the site – and that was not nearly enough!
So I went on a bit of an eggplant frenzy and developed this dish as well as our Lighter Low FODMAP Eggplant Parmigiana and also our Hearty Low FODMAP Eggplant Parmesan. Eggplant lovers unite!
Eggplant & FODMAPs
Eggplant, also called aubergine, is Green Light Low FODMAP in amounts of 1 cup or 75 g. It doesn’t become Moderate for FODMAPs until it reaches a very generous quantity of 2 ½ cups or 182 g, so there is a lot of wiggle room.
Buying Eggplant
The most common eggplant, the glove eggplant, is perfectly fine for this dish. Choose eggplants that are heavy for their size and the skin should be shiny and taught – no softness or wrinkles.
Potatoes & FODMAPs
Hopefully by now you know that potatoes contain no FODMAPs. You can learn all about them in our Explore An Ingredient: Potatoes.
The tender and rich potatoes and creamy texture of the eggplant combine in this Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry recipe to create a really lovely hearty side dish or a lovely light main dish. I like to add some poached eggs on top for a more substantial meal.
And while serving it with rice might seem like overkill, given the potatoes, it is actually a fabulous addition.
This dish was inspired by a recipe in How To Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman. Among other differences Mark asks for butter, and you could use it, but if you have ghee available, this is a perfect time to use it.
Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry
Our Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry is an easy and hearty vegetable focused main-dish.
Ingredients:
- 3- pounds (1.4 kg) eggplant, (choose two or three, not one gargantuan eggplant)
- Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Garlic-Infused Oil, made with vegetable oil, or purchased equivalent
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
- ¼ cup (57 g) ghee
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
- 6 medium fresh beefsteak tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped; see Tips
- 3- pounds (1.4 kg) Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Cilantro; optional
Preparation:
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Cube the eggplant, place in a colander in the sink, salt the eggplant and toss well to distribute salt evenly. Let sit 1 hour.
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Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over low-medium heat and add mustard seeds. Cook until the seeds begin to pop, then stir in the ghee, ginger root, coriander, cumin and cayenne and cook until ghee melts, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
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Add the tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and water. Season with salt and pepper. Give everything a good stir, then cover the pot and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat and cook for about 30 minutes or until potatoes and eggplant are tender and everything has come together. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add more cayenne, if desired. Stir in lime juice. Your Low FODMAP Potato Eggplant Curry is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped cilantro, if you like. The dish can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes:
Tips
- You can peel the fresh tomatoes if you wish. I never bother.
- I have also made this recipe with canned, peeled tomatoes and also canned diced tomatoes and it works just fine. Just eyeball these canned products to equal the amount of fresh tomatoes called for.
If You Can Tolerate
- Fructans: If you have passed the fructan garlic Challenge, add 1 or two minced garlic cloves to the ghee and spices and sauté.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more. For a more detailed explanation, please read our article Understanding The Nutrition Panel Within Our Recipes.
Can I freeze this recipe? Thanks
I have never frozen this dish. You could try but I imagine the texture of the potatoes will suffer. If you do try freezing it, let us know your results to help others!
I am confused by the recommended serving sizes. The only ingredient in this recipe that has FODMAPs is eggplant, if I am reading it correctly. And dividing the recipe among ten servings — rather than 20, as indicated — would keep the eggplant FODMAPs in the recommended range. So why such tiny servings? I do understand that one element of trying to achieve gut-health involves not overloading our guts, but….but 97 calories seems to me to be an awfully tiny serving. As a side-dish, sure, but as a main dish?
Hi Maggie, the Green Light Low FODMAP serving size of eggplant per Monash is 75 g. With the amount of eggplant called for in the recipe, this would necessitate dividing into 20 servings. BUT, and this is a big BUT, this is if we take a strict approach. I am fond of saying “you are not a lab”. None of us are! The lab tested amounts made available to us by Monash and FODMAP Friendly are guidelines. They tell us what the lab results show. Please review our article What Is A Low FODMAP Serving Size? Basically, if you can tolerate more, then by all means eat more! I do fine with more and enjoyed a generous serving size with rice alongside. All of us, after a well structured Challenge Phase will come out with a unique FODMAP roadmap and will know our own tolerances.
I re-checked my math, and you’re absolutely right; my apologies.
I really like this dish- which is a good thing because it made an insane amount and I cut the recipe in half! I could reduce by half again and still have plenty since my husband thinks it is too eggplanty. I froze half – it will be interesting to see how the texture changes when thawed. The curry spice combination is outstanding when paired with potatoes, eggplant, and tomatoes. Thanks for creating recipes full of interesting ingredients and flavors. Your website is my go to for new dishes to try.
Leslie, we are so happy to be part of your low FODMAP lifestyle. Let us know how the freezing works!
hi. ive purchased the ingredients and it seems like a lot of food to put in one pot. Is the pot not going to be overcrowded? Do you have a particularly large pot? Forgive me, i dont cook much 🙂
thanks, Elly
A large Dutch oven, such as a 5 or 6 quart will work fine.
hi again. Sorry if this is a daft question but what sort of colander do you have that allows you to put all that aubergine into it? a very big one?
You can do this in stages if you like, a smaller batch at a time.
I made the recipe with half the eggplant and two-thirds of everything else (plus a dash of low fodmap curry powder) to make 10 slightly bigger servings that still stick within the limits for elimination phase. It is very yummy, only challenge is sticking to the serving size!
Maria, remember, the serving sizes are low FODMAP and a good place to start, but as you move along with the diet you can experiment with larger portions to find YOUR tolerance limit. It might very well be more. This is a great late summer, early fall dish! I have to make it again myself.
How much is a serving? I see there are 20 but about how much is 1/20th of this recipe? Does anyone have the serving in oz, cups, grams, or any other measurement?
This recipe does not present weights or volumes because upon on repeat testing, it varied too much due to cooking down and reducing in volume (or not). One batch of potatoes would be more absorbent, etc. However, the amounts of the ingredients stay the same and it is more accurate to assess FODMAP load in this manner, by dividing and using that math to ensure no Stacking.
Hi, I’m going to make this recipe tomorrow. I don’t have mustard seeds but I have 100% mustard powder, can I use that instead?
Yes, add a little bit.
We made this dish because we love curry and eggplant. I agree that the batch is huge and will only make a half batch next time. The curry flavours were not full enough for our tastes and we did double the cumin right off the bat. The tomato flavour was a little strong so we also decided to try further reducing the tomato portion. Optionally, we are toying with the idea of cutting the tomato acid by using a small amount of coconut milk while increasing the cumin and cayenne. All that being said it was a great comfort food meal.
Sounds like some great tweaks that kept the dish low FODMAP. Thank you for taking the time to write.
Hi Dédé. I was looking to make this recipe, but saw that there was something missing at the end of the first sentence of Step 3: “(when readand water.” Is there something special we should do to the eggplant before adding it to the pot? Thanks in advance.
Fixing it now….nothing special needed