Roasted eggplant cilantro pesto

I love eggplant. I also love coriander (cilantro in American). And I like the idea of pesto.

So.

What goes into this pesto:

• Eggplant – 1 large
• Fresh coriander (cilantro) – 2 cups loosely packed
• Fresh garlic cloves – 1 to 3, to taste
• Almonds – 6 to 10, to taste
• Red chilli powder – 1/8 tsp, or more to taste (You can use paprika if you don’t have red chilli powder. I haven’t tried it, though.)
• Rock salt – 1/4 tsp (I used pink.)
• Salt – to taste
• Dry mango powder – a big pinch (If you don’t have this, replace with 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice.)

How it all comes together:

Roast the eggplant over a direct flame till cooked through. You need to turn and/ or move the eggplant every couple minutes. When cool, peel off charred skin, remove stem and mash pulp.

Toast almonds (easy peasy – 90 to 120 seconds on full power in a microwave oven. Or toss around for 3 to 4 minutes in a hot skillet.)

Blend all ingredients together, tasting and seasoning as you go along.

This pesto is delish as a dip or spread – if you can stop yourself from eating it by the spoonful, that is. I couldn’t.