The acid brightness of the tomatoes is met with the sweetness of peas and the rich creaminess of the coconut rice, which is itself brought alive with the sharpness of the lime and punctuated by the gritty blackness of the seeds.
Serves: 4
FOR THE CURRY
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions (peeled and chopped)
1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon pouring salt)
4 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)
3½ pints cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp english mustard powder
1 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1½ cups frozen peas
FOR THE COCONUT RICE
1 tbsp garlic flavored oil
4 scallions (finely sliced)
2 tsp nigella seeds (or black mustard seeds)
1½ cups basmati rice
1 x 14 fl oz can coconut milk
2½ cups freshly boiled water
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon pouring salt)
juice of 1 lime (or to taste)
Heat the oil in a wide casserole or pan that comes with a lid, and add the chopped onions, sprinkling with salt, and stirring frequently as you cook them over a low to medium heat for about 7 minutes.
Stir in the chopped garlic, then add the halved tomatoes, before stirring in the spices, and cook for 20 minutes with the lid on over a low heat.
FOR THE CURRY
Cook the peas in another pan (in boiling salted water as usual), drain and add to the tomato curry for the last 5 minutes’ cooking time. By all means cook the peas directly in the tomato curry, but be prepared then to sacrifice both the vivid red of the tomatoes and the bright green of the peas.
FOR THE COCONUT RICE
Warm the oil in a heavy-based pan that has a lid, add the scallions and nigella seeds (or black mustard seeds) and cook for a minute or so, pushing this way and that with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the rice, letting it get slicked with oil and thoroughly mixed with the black-dotted green shreds.
Pour the coconut milk into a measuring jug and top up to the 1 liter (2 pints) mark with freshly boiled water, then add this to the rice, stirring it in with the salt.
Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and put on the lid. Cook for 15 minutes, by which time the rice should be cooked and the liquid absorbed.
Fluff up with a fork as you pour in the lime juice, and taste to see if you need either more salt or more lime.