Eggplant + Carrot: 19 recipes that cook them together

1. Sauté the peeled, diced eggplant in oil for 15–20 minutes until soft.
2. In a second pan, fry diced pepper, grated carrot and onion until golden.
3. Combine both pans, add diced tomatoes and season.
4. Cover and simmer gently about an hour, stirring, until thick and spreadable.
5. Keep it chunky — don't purée — and serve at room temperature or cold.

Amounts: eggplant 2 lb, peeled and diced; carrot 2–3 medium, grated

Serve with: crusty bread

1. Cut potatoes and carrots into large pieces; warm butter, oil and dried summer savory.
2. Cook the potatoes and carrots covered for 10–15 minutes until they start to soften.
3. Add the sliced eggplant, cover and cook 10 minutes.
4. Add peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chilli and salt; cover and cook 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the fresh herbs, cook 5 minutes, and rest before serving hot or at room temperature.

Amounts: eggplant 675 g small eggplants, sliced; carrot 300 g, in large pieces

Note: Uses butter; swap in oil for a vegan version.

1. Sauté diced onion and carrot in oil and butter until translucent.
2. Add garlic, crushed tomatoes, paprika, a pinch of sugar and bay leaves; cook 5–10 minutes.
3. Add some broth and simmer briefly.
4. Add peppers, eggplant, zucchini and the rest of the broth; cover and simmer 40–50 minutes.
5. Finish with parsley — or bake briefly at 350°F for a browned top.

Amounts: eggplant 1 large, peeled and diced; carrot 2 medium, diced

Serve with: bread, rice, polenta, or grilled meat or fish

Note: Uses 1–2 tbsp butter (ghee suggested as an alternative); leave it out for a vegan version.

1. Brown cubed beef or mutton in oil in a deep, heavy pot.
2. Add onions and fry until light brown; lower the heat.
3. Layer without stirring: carrots, turnips, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, cabbage, pumpkin, potatoes.
4. Salt lightly, add a small glass of water, cover and leave about two hours.
5. Add bay leaves and spices for the last 10 minutes; serve with dill or cilantro.

Amounts: eggplant 2, cubed; carrot 2, cut into 5–6 pieces

Serve with: fresh dill or cilantro

1. Toss eggplant strips with salt and drain at least 30 minutes.
2. Rinse, squeeze out the liquid and pat dry.
3. Sear in hot sesame oil in batches until golden.
4. Toss with peppers, chili, raw carrot, red onion, garlic, vinegar, cilantro and sugar.
5. Add sesame seeds and chill at least 2 hours — overnight is better.

Amounts: eggplant 2 large or 4 small, in strips; carrot 1 large, in thin strips

Serve with: meat or seafood, as a side

Note: The source calls it “Asian eggplant salad – Xe”; the Koryo-saram framing is ours.

1. Salt the eggplant chunks for 10 minutes, then blot dry.
2. Toss all the vegetables with olive oil, oregano, pul biber, salt and pepper on a large tray.
3. Roast at 200°C for 35–40 minutes, stirring halfway, until charred.
4. Mix tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and cumin into a sauce.
5. Fold the sauce through the vegetables and bake 20–25 minutes more; finish with parsley.

Amounts: eggplant 4 medium, in chunks; carrot 2 medium, sliced

Serve with: crusty bread or rice pilaf; feta optional

Note: No total time is given; 65+ min adds up the salting, roasting and baking steps.

1. Use tinned chickpeas, or soak and simmer dried ones ahead.
2. Peel button onions; cut carrots and courgettes into big batons.
3. Chunk pumpkin and potato, wedge the cabbage, and prick and halve the baby aubergines.
4. Simmer stock with ginger, saffron, spices, herbs and tomato purée; add onions, carrot, pumpkin and potato for 10 minutes.
5. Add the rest of the vegetables and chickpeas, simmer 20 minutes, and serve over couscous.

Amounts: eggplant 5 baby aubergines; carrot 2, in large batons

Serve with: couscous, herbs and harissa

Note: The 55 minutes assumes tinned chickpeas.

1. Heat the oven to 200°C; cut eggplant, zucchini and peppers into bite-size pieces.
2. Add garlic and potatoes cut a little smaller than the rest.
3. Add onion, tomato, thick carrot slices, herbs, tomato sauce and plenty of olive oil.
4. Toss, spread in a baking dish and add a splash of water.
5. Bake 50–60 minutes, stirring every 15–20 minutes; rest 15 minutes before serving.

Amounts: eggplant 2 medium (900 g); carrot 3 medium (275 g), thickly sliced

Serve with: feta and crusty bread

1. Brown the optional lamb or chicken with onion, garlic and spices; keep the broth.
2. Soak the rice; salt the eggplant, then roast it with cauliflower at 475°F for 20 minutes.
3. Fry carrot and garlic slices until golden; soften onion and stir in tomato and the rice.
4. Layer an oiled pot: potato, tomato, meat and chickpeas, then cauliflower, carrot and eggplant, then rice.
5. Add the liquid, simmer until absorbed, rest 15 minutes, and turn the pot out onto a platter.

Amounts: eggplant 1–2 medium, sliced and salted; carrot 2 large, sliced on the diagonal

Note: The source lists the meat as optional; skip it for a vegetarian pot.

1. Bring equal parts vinegar and water to a boil with turmeric; simmer the eggplant 8–10 minutes.
2. Drain the eggplant thoroughly.
3. Mix it with the carrot, cauliflower, celery, pepper, garlic, dried herbs, spices and salt.
4. Pack firmly into clean jars and cover with vinegar.
5. Seal and keep somewhere cool and dark for 10–12 days before opening.

Amounts: eggplant 5 medium, sliced lengthwise; carrot 2 large, cubed

Serve with: rice and khoresh, or kebabs

1. Pressure-cook the toor dal with turmeric until soft, then whisk smooth.
2. Add onion, tomato, carrot, beans, potato, drumstick and brinjal with water.
3. Stir in tamarind, sambar powder, jaggery and salt; bring to a boil.
4. Pressure-cook one whistle until the vegetables are tender.
5. Temper mustard seeds, urad dal, dried chillies, hing and curry leaves in oil; pour over.

Amounts: eggplant 2 brinjal, chopped; carrot 1, chopped

Serve with: steamed rice, idli, dosa or vada

1. Cut all the vegetables into even batons.
2. Grind coconut, green chillies, cumin and shallots to a coarse paste, no water.
3. Simmer the vegetables with turmeric and a little water until half done.
4. Add raw mango and salt, then fold in the coconut paste and tamarind; cook gently.
5. Finish with mustard seeds and curry leaves tempered in coconut oil.

Amounts: eggplant ½ cup, in batons; carrot 1, in batons

Serve with: steamed rice, adai or chapati

1. Rub tofu and tempeh with salt and turmeric and shallow-fry until golden.
2. Soak the glass noodles and beancurd sheets; chop the vegetables.
3. Blend shallots, dried shrimp and turmeric; boil with bruised lemongrass.
4. Add water, beancurd, noodles, carrot, long beans, cabbage and eggplant; cook 10 minutes.
5. Pour in coconut milk, then add prawns, tofu and tempeh and cook until the prawns are done.

Amounts: eggplant 1 Indian aubergine; carrot 1

Serve with: compressed rice, boiled eggs and sambal

Note: Leave out the prawns and dried shrimp for a vegan pot, as the source suggests.

1. Cook butter and flour into a dark roux; whisk in curry powder and garam masala.
2. Sauté onion, potato, kabocha and carrot, then cover and let them steam.
3. Add stock and a bay leaf; simmer until the roots are tender.
4. Pan-fry the eggplant until browned, then the other quick-cooking vegetables.
5. Dissolve the roux in the broth, return the vegetables, and finish with grated apple.

Amounts: eggplant 1 Japanese eggplant (115 g), in wedges; carrot 1 (85 g), rangiri-cut

Serve with: Japanese short-grain rice

Note: Most of the time goes into the homemade roux. Uses butter; the source suggests vegan butter or oil.

1. Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, sugar and mirin in a dish.
2. Add sliced onion, carrot strips, garlic and chilli to the marinade.
3. Score the eggplant skin and cut into short chunks.
4. Fry skin-side down until soft, then drop straight into the marinade.
5. Chill about an hour, turning occasionally.

Amounts: eggplant 500–600 g; carrot 1 small, in fine strips

1. Cook the jasmine rice and let it rest off the heat.
2. Char oiled eggplant chunks in a very hot wok for about 5 minutes.
3. Add carrot, spring onions, garlic and ginger; stir-fry 2–3 minutes.
4. Add soy, sugar and water; simmer until the eggplant is soft and glossy.
5. Serve over rice with lime-dressed edamame and radishes and sesame seeds.

Amounts: eggplant 1, in chunks; carrot 1, shredded

Serve with: a rice bowl with lime

1. Heat the oven to 400°F / 200°C and oil a large sheet pan.
2. Cube the eggplant; cut carrots into batons.
3. Toss both with harissa, honey, salt and olive oil; spread in one layer and roast 15 minutes.
4. Add cumin-tossed chickpeas and roast 10–15 minutes more, adding almonds for the last 5.
5. Pile over salad leaves with olive oil, lemon and cilantro.

Amounts: eggplant 2, cubed; carrot 1 lb (450 g), in batons

Serve with: feta or avocado, or over quinoa, rice or couscous

Note: Vegan if you use the maple-syrup option instead of honey.

1. Soften onion in olive oil, then add the carrot until tender.
2. Add the diced eggplant and cook about 10 minutes until it collapses.
3. Stir in garlic, chilli and tomato paste; cook out the paste.
4. Deglaze with wine, then add crushed tomatoes, cashew milk and seasoning.
5. Simmer covered 20–30 minutes; serve over pasta with basil.

Amounts: eggplant 4 cups diced (about 1 medium); carrot ½ cup, finely diced

Serve with: pappardelle or rigatoni, basil and vegan parmesan

1. Quick-pickle sliced radishes in hot salted water with mirin and vinegar.
2. Fry onion, carrot and sweet potato, add garlic and ginger, then cover to steam.
3. Stir in curry powder and flour, add stock, soy and ketchup, and blend smooth.
4. Dip eggplant slices in a flour-and-water paste and press into panko.
5. Bake until crisp on both sides; serve on the sauce with rice and the radishes.

Amounts: eggplant 2 (600 g), in 0.5 cm slices; carrot 2 medium (200 g), finely diced

Serve with: rice, salad leaves and the pickled radishes

1. Sauté onion, garlic and ginger until the onion softens.
2. Add half the pork with water and a shrimp cube; simmer covered 20 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato and shrimp paste; cook 3 minutes.
4. Add the squash and sweet potato; cook about 7 minutes.
5. Add string beans, okra, bitter gourd and eggplant for 5 minutes, then fold in the rest of the pork.

Amounts: pumpkin ½ kalabasa squash, cubed; eggplant 1 Chinese eggplant, sliced

Serve with: warm white rice

1. Coarsely chop all the vegetables, pumpkin included, into a big stockpot.
2. Add butter or oil, parsley, salt, pepper and optional garlic.
3. Pour in broth to barely cover the vegetables.
4. Boil, then simmer partly covered 30–40 minutes until soft.
5. Cool briefly, blend smooth, thin with broth and re-season.

Amounts: pumpkin 1 wedge, rind removed; carrot 12 medium, peeled

Serve with: bread such as khobz or batbout

Note: Vegan with vegetable broth and olive oil; the source also allows chicken broth or butter.

1. Cube the kabocha, slice the chicken and tear the lime leaves.
2. Fry the curry paste in thick coconut cream for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the chicken, then the rest of the coconut milk and some water.
4. Add squash and lime leaves; simmer until tender.
5. Season with fish sauce and sugar, then stir in Thai basil.

Amounts: pumpkin 2 cups kabocha, peeled and cubed

Serve with: jasmine rice

1. Fry garlic, brown sugar and turmeric in olive oil for a minute.
2. Add tomatoes and simmer 7–10 minutes into a thick, caramelized sauce.
3. Peel, seed and cut the squash into pieces.
4. Simmer the squash briefly in broth in a covered pan.
5. Pour the tomato sauce over, cook gently 10–15 minutes, and serve under garlic yogurt.

Amounts: pumpkin 1 medium sugar pumpkin or butternut squash

Serve with: pita or Afghan naan

1. Seed the kabocha, cut into cubes and pare off most of the skin.
2. Steam about 15 minutes until tender.
3. Salt thinly sliced red onion and squeeze it dry; slice the ham.
4. Mash the kabocha coarsely and season.
5. Fold in onion, mayonnaise, cream cheese and ham; chill at least an hour.

Amounts: pumpkin ½ kabocha (about 1 kg)

Serve with: any meal, as a side