Fruity aubergine and chickpea curry

It was the hottest day of the year yesterday (so far), and I was cooking a curry for dinner, rather than having a light salad and an iced tea. I had two aubergines in a bowl on the kitchen window, and quite a few tins in the pantry to choose from. This is a variation on a curry I cook quite often, changing and swapping some ingredients, like a dairy-free coconut yogurt (or just coconut-flavoured dairy yogurt) instead of coconut milk, adding flaked almonds or cashews, raisins or tinned peaches etc, so it's a very much flexible recipe, depending on what you have and like.
It could be either vegetarian (if you use milk-based yogurt) or vegan, or if you can't live without meat, chicken would be really nice in this curry too.

Fruity aubergine and chickpea curry
Ingredients:
2 red onions
6tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli
2 cloves of garlic
1tsp mustard seeds
2 aubergines
2tsp Sri Lankan masala
1tsp turmeric
a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
about 100g soft dried peaches and mango
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (Polpa finely chopped tomatoes)
1 tin (400ml) light coconut milk
1 tin (400g) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Start by frying finely chopped onions in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the mustard seeds, garlic and chilli, as well as aubergines. Slice aubergines in half, then in half again lengthways, and then chop into chunks. As these aubergines are young, I didn't peel the skin.
Add more oil, and season well with sea salt, then sprinkle with all spices. Cook stirring for another 5 minutes, until the aubergines chunks are coated with the spices, oil and onion mix.
Next add the halved cherry tomatoes and chopped dried peaches and mango slices. After cooking for another couple of minutes, pour in the contents of tinned tomatoes and coconut cream.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas before adding to the curry. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and cook, simmering, for about half an hour, stirring from time to time. The aubergine chunks should be very soft, but still hold the shape.

Serve hot, with rice or without (I'm trying to cut down in carbs, so ate my curry without any rice).

This is a delicious, melt-in-the-mouth curry, not too hot, but very fragrant and flavourful.

I didn't specifically plan for this meal to be vegan, it just happened that the products I used were all vegetables and the cream is plant-based too.
I used the last of the Sri Lankan Masala curry mix from Steenbergs in this recipe, but any good masala mix will work. Next week I'm planning to go to the garden centre, where they have a lovely food shop, and I've seen Steenbergs' products there. If I can't find it there, then I'll have to order it online. Love the fruity flavours and aroma of this curry mix.

Mutti Polpa (Finely Chopped tomatoes) is one of the products from the latest Degustabox. This is a new Italian brand for me. Usually I buy Cirio tomato products. Mutti are winners of a prestigious Great Taste Award. Tinned chopped tomatoes were sweet and ripe, and worked beautifully in a vegetarian curry.

As I've finished the delicious curry mix, I'm adding this recipe to #KitchenClearout at Madhouse Family Reviews, hosted by lovely Cheryl.