Aubergine, red pepper and tomato dip

Method

Heat a large griddle pan on a high flame. Toss the aubergine, peppers, tomatoes and chilli in a tablespoon of oil. Once the pan is very hot, add the vegetables in stages and cook, turning every so often, until deeply charred all over and soft – about 10 minutes for the tomatoes and chilli, 35 minutes for the aubergines and peppers.

As each vegetable is cooked, remove it from the pan and set aside on separate plates to cool for about 10 minutes. Once cool, peel the pepper, discard the skin, stem and seeds, and finely chop the flesh – you should end up with about 80g. Peel and roughly chop the tomatoes, to leave you with about 250g flesh and juice.

Peel the aubergines, discard the skins and stems, but leave some of the char on the flesh to add smokiness to the dish, then put in a sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for 15 minutes. Finely chop the aubergine flesh, to leave you with about 200g. Discard the stem and seeds of the chilli, and finely chop the flesh.

Heat two and a half tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan on a medium-high flame. Fry the onion until softened and lightly browned – about seven minutes – then add the spices, garlic, cooked chilli and tomato paste, and cook for a minute more. Add the aubergine, pepper, tomato, a teaspoon of salt, a good grind of black pepper and 100ml water, turn the heat to medium, then cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces.

Slowly add the eggs, stirring continuously, and cook for two minutes on a medium-low heat, until they are just cooked.

Transfer to a shallow serving bowl and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Scatter over the mint and walnuts, drizzle with the remaining oil and serve hot with warm bread to scoop it all up.