Lebanese aubergine and lamb bake for the slow cooker

This was an interesting lamby, auberginey, yummy thing. I'm not sure why it didn't get photographed but it wasn't particularly pretty so maybe that's for the best, but it was very nice indeed.

Ingredients for 4:

2 aubergines (eggplant)
500g/1lb lamb mince/ground lamb
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp cinammon
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp garam masala
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried mint (or 2 tsp fresh)

Directions:

Chop the aubergines in half lengthwise. Lay them skin down in the slow cooker. I only got 1 1/2 down in mine which is a huge cooker so I chopped the rest into chunks and popped it in between the aubergines. Fry the onion until slightly transparent then add the lamb to brown off.

Add the spices to the meat mixture then top the aubergine with it. Cook on Low for 3-4 hours. Serve with a garnish of mint, preferably freshly chopped but we know what life's like (!) and with a large blob of natural yoghurt.

Verdict:

The aubergine was gorgeous and meltingly tender. However, the lamb was a bit too "complicated" in the spice department and it didn't quite work. It was the garam masala.. I've been making a similar lamb dish for years which an old house mate taught me where you just add the cinnamon and the cumin, plus some raisins and toasted, flaked almonds. I think that's what I'll do next time because overall the underlying recipe is lovely.