Spicy Chicken with Fresh Tomato and Aubergine

When visiting a Spanish market you can never fail to be impressed with the variety of fresh fruit and vegetables on offer, in this part of the world the market day is special, special in the fact that you know you are going to find something fresh available that was not there the previous week and your imagination kicks in with new dishes to create or an old favourite comes into mind.
On our last market visit the weather was on the cool side, a mere 18C and I thought of something warming for onboard, perhaps a Chilli or Curry idea? .
So, a quick look at the potential ingredients on display and thinking of some of our store cupboard essentials to make up the dish it did not take long to decide on a Spanish market inspired spicy Chicken dish to put together on board now the weather is a little cooler.
To cook this on board we bought from the market: chicken, yogurt, onions, aubergine, ripe tomatoes, lemon, ginger, garlic and chilli's, in the herb and spice cupboard I knew we had bay leaf, garam masala, ground coriander and turmeric. All we needed to do now was get back to the boat and start cooking!
First cut the chicken into bite size pieces and fry in olive oil, when it has cooked through and browned take it out of the pan and put to one side, the add a chopped onion to the pan and cook. add the chopped aubergine (you need to add more oil for this as the aubergine is a very absorbent vegetable which likes its oil), then add a sliced chopped chilli or two, chopped ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Then to the spice cupboard, add a teaspoon of dried garam masala, coriander, turmeric and a couple of bay leaves, give this a mix and then add 10  fresh chopped tomatoes, season with salt and black pepper then you can add the cooked chicken back to the pan, give the pan a good old mix around, put the lid on and leave to simmer for 30 minutes. At this time it is advisable to get yourself a glass of Rioja and relax listening to the waves gently lapping against the boat as you take in the wonderful Mediterranean views.
When you are ready to eat, a squeeze of fresh lemon is recommended and yogurt should be a personal choice if you or the crew need to cool or add some creaminess to the dish.

As I said, the Spanish markets are something special and inspirational.