Vegetarian food doesn’t have to be bland, boring meals. 

My friend Kirosha Kamal, owner of Kirosha’s kitchen, so kindly gifted me some fresh produce from her garden. 

Honestly, I wish I had a garden too. Kirosha has the greenest fingers and grows a lot of our daily herbs and greens for salads. I often see posts of her bumper harvests and what she concocts with them. Today I’m delighted to share something I did with her brinjals. 

Ingredients

2 large brinjals

3tbsp butter

3 tbsp cassava flour (use any other flour at hand if you don’t have this ingredient)

3 cups milk

1/2 cup coconut milk (I used the lite version)

1/2 cup soya mince, uncooked

2 medium potatoes, or 8 baby potatoes

fresh thyme

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

chili spice

Method. 

1. Boil potatoes in 1 tsp of salt. Mash and let them cool.

2. Soak soya mince for 10 minutes.

3. In the meantime, arrange slices of the brinjal on a sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil over it and cracks of black pepper. Arrange a good lot of fresh thyme over it. Smash your garlic and place them on the sheet.

4. Bake at 190 degrees for 25 minutes.

5. While your vegetables are baking, in a hot pan, add a little bit of oil to it. Chop up some more fresh thyme and add it to the pan.

6. Toss the soya mince in there and add whatever spices you like. Don’t salt the mince.

7. To make your white sauce, heat butter in a large pan, add flour, and with a whisk let the two form a paste.

8. Add some more thyme to your dish by breaking it now.

9. Add coconut milk and milk and bring it all to a boil with the whisk. The white sauce should be whisked until it is thick.

10. Season well with salt and black pepper.

11. Remove your brinjal from the oven and arrange all your elements next to your casserole dish. You should have mashed potatoes, slices of brinjal, garlic, soya mince, and your white sauce.

12. Spray your dish with Spray and Cook before layering.

13. Start with brinjal, mashed potato, and then your mince. Pour the white sauce into the cracks and repeat. You may have some white sauce leftover, but not to worry. You can keep it in the fridge and use it in pasta at another time.

14. Bake for 30 minutes at 190 degrees and when it’s ready feel free to add some grated cheese to the top.