What spices go with aubergine

Aubergine takes up a great deal of fat, and nigella is a spice that needs fat to open up, so the two arrive at the table having done each other a favour. The seed's slight bitterness also cuts the richness that makes fried aubergine heavy.

How: In the oil before the aubergine goes in; Scattered over a roasted aubergine with yoghurt

Add alongside: Cumin, Turmeric, Yoghurt

Aubergine is spongy and absorbs fat readily, which makes it an efficient carrier for anything bloomed in oil. Cumin is the base note from baba ganoush through baingan bharta to Sichuan yuxiang aubergine — three traditions that agree without contact.

Add alongside: Garlic, Coriander seed, Sesame seed

Roast aubergine is rich and slightly flat, and it wants acid rather than more depth. Sumac supplies sourness without liquid, which is the whole reason it exists as a seasoning and why a squeeze of lemon is not the same thing.

Add alongside: Sesame seed, Garlic, Yoghurt

Smoked paprika and aubergine is a Spanish and Balkan pairing, and it works because the smoke reinforces what charring the aubergine already started. On unroasted aubergine the effect largely disappears.

Add alongside: Garlic, Tomato, Cumin

Aubergine is rich and absorbent and turns heavy without an acid to cut it. Tamarind does that job across South Indian and Southeast Asian cooking, and unlike citrus it survives the long cooking aubergine needs.

How: In a South Indian aubergine and tamarind curry; In a sweet-sour braise with jaggery

Add alongside: Mustard seed, Fenugreek, Chilli flakes

The same Bengali logic applied to a vegetable that absorbs rather than releases. Ground poppy seed thickens the sauce and its oil content enriches aubergine that has already taken up a good deal of fat, which sounds excessive and works.

How: In a posto-style aubergine dish; Ground into a wet masala base

Add alongside: Nigella, Mustard seed, Chilli flakes

Aubergine absorbs fat and needs something with body to season it rather than something merely hot. The fruitiness reads through the richness where a sharper chilli would be lost in it.

How: In the oil before roasting; Scattered over a smoked aubergine dip

Add alongside: Garlic, Cumin, Yoghurt