Vegetable curry with rice

I'm pausing from South Africa photos to bring you a recipe inspired by food I had there. The staple in South Africa is meat, but they also make amazing curries. I had a particularly good, spicy vegetable curry at Mama Africa on Cape Town's Long Street. This recipe is very different from that dish, but tasty nonetheless. Invite some friends to dinner because this makes a lot, and serve with a flavorful white wine.

Vegetable curry

1/2 head cabbage
1 vidalia onion
1/2 bag frozen chopped spinach
1 yellow squash
1 medium eggplant
1 large tomato
1 can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 can chickpeas 
olive oil
3 bay leaves
1 T curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

Chop all vegetables and rinse chickpeas. In a large pan, sauté onion in olive oil and add bay leaves while onions are cooking. Add squash. Remove bay leaves and add eggplant and tomatoes, stir. Mix in cabbage, spinach and spices a little at a time. Heat on medium until the vegetables are soft, stirring often. Serve over brown rice.

(Recipe and photo by H. Farrell)