Transfer the beef to a mixing bowl. Season with the garlic paste and a sprinkle of pepper, nutmeg and salt. Then add half of the cinnamon, a teaspoon of madras curry and a teaspoon of grated ginger.

Knead the mince. Then taste a bit of the mince and add extra pepper or salt to taste. Then roll the beef mince into balls, each 1 oz (30 g) in weight. You should have 8 meatballs.

Then pour a little vegetable oil in a non-stick pan and place it over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs.

Bake them on all sides until golden for 6 minutes.

Transfer the baked meatballs to a plate and cover with tinfoil. Peel and chop the onion and garlic cloves. Add them to the hot pan (don’t remove the burnt bits from the meatballs - this will give extra flavor to your sauce).

Gently cook the onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Then dice the eggplant up and add it to the pan.

Stir well, add a little water and cook the eggplant and onion for 5 minutes. Then add the bay leaf, tomato paste, the rest of the grated ginger, cinnamon, madras curry and the cumin seeds. Season with a pinch of pepper, nutmeg and salt.

Stir the eggplant well and add ½ cup (120 ml) of water to the pan. Bring this to a good boil and simmer the eggplant sauce 7 minutes until soft. Then add the browned meatballs.

Stir and cook for 8 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. Add extra water if necessary. In the end add the yogurt and half of the chopped mint.

Then check the seasoning. Add extra pepper or salt to taste. Scoop the eggplant curry and meatballs onto plates. Sprinkle with chopped mint. Serve hot.