Julie Lin’s recipes for cooking for one: yellow curry with baby aubergine, and Chinese-style spicy garlic celery

Fragrant, vegetable-led cooking for nourishing one-person feasts

Celery divides people, perhaps because most of us are introduced to it in the form of batons dipped into hummus, which I don’t feel is its best form. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy raw celery – it has an earthy pepperiness that I find quite moreish – but I adore it in cooked form, especially with soy and garlic, and today’s recipe is a take on a wok-fried celery dish that we often eat at large banquets in Malaysia. But first, a silky, fragrant curry with tender baby aubergines and a golden coconut base that’s perfect with hot steamed rice and a scattering of fresh herbs. These baby purple aubergines are perfect for one person, and hold their structure well in a curry. I adore them.