There was seemingly nothing in the kitchen.

But I gathered what we did have in the fridge (one eggplant, no other veggies, and some parsley), the pantry (enough rice for dinner, but not more), the cabinet (one onion, no garlic or ginger root, no potatoes), and looked for inspiration on the spice shelf (no curry powder, but some nice boxed mixes).

And I came up with this:

• Eggplant curry (onion, eggplant, tomato puree, lentils, a spoonful of garam masala spice mix)
• Yogurt sauce (plain yogurt, cucumber, salt, cumin powder)
• Basmati rice (what else to say?)

Then there really was nothing else to make into a meal.