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🥘 Skillet & One-Pan · Vegetarian · Turkish

Grilled aubergines with spicy chickpeas & walnut sauce

Name: Grilled aubergines with spicy chickpeas & walnut sauce
Prep time: 9 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons Olive Oil; 1 chopped Onion; 1 chopped Red Chilli; 2cm piece Ginger; 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin; 400g Chickpeas; 200g Tomato; Juice of 1/2 Lemon; 2 Aubergine; 200g Greek Yogurt; 1 Garlic Clove; 25g Walnuts; Handful Coriander

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Vegetarian recipe with Turkish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 42 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 27 min total

4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 chopped Onion
1 chopped Red Chilli
2cm piece Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
400g Chickpeas
200g Tomato
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
2 Aubergine
200g Greek Yogurt
1 Garlic Clove
25g Walnuts
Handful Coriander

Step-by-step instructions

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, add the onion and fry until soft and lightly browned, about 10 mins. Add the chilli, ginger and spices and mix well. Stir in the chickpeas, tomatoes and 5 tbsp water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins. Add a little salt and pepper and the lemon juice.
Arrange the aubergines over a grill pan. Brush lightly with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grill until golden. Flip them over, brush again with oil, season and grill again until tender and golden.
Mix the yogurt with the garlic, most of the walnuts and coriander and a little salt and pepper. Arrange the aubergine slices over a warm platter and spoon over the chickpea mix. Drizzle with the walnut sauce and scatter with the remaining walnuts and coriander.

Why this works on a weeknight

Grilled aubergines with spicy chickpeas & walnut sauce genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Grilled aubergines with spicy chickpeas & walnut sauce actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Vegetarian Turkish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner