EITHERuring the coming weeks, the UK’s bumper sweetcorn crop will begin to leave farmers’ markets and supermarkets plentiful. I’ve been experimenting with different ways to deliver them, and this curry is the result: the love child of a Gujarati tomato and sweet corn curry (police officer shaak) and a Punjabi achari “pickled” curry. It borrows the fresh tomatoes from the Gujarati side, while adopting some big, spicy, salty and sour pickle flavors from the Punjabi achari-style curry, in which the corn, with its natural sweetness, fits perfectly.
Sweet corn, tomato and beans with spices for pickling
You’ll need a large (say, 11-inch) deep pan for this. If you can’t get fresh corn on the cob, use frozen kernels; they are often half the cost (and more naturally flavored) than their canned counterparts.
Homework 20 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
It serves 4
5 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
300g green beanstrimmed and thinly sliced at a steep angle
3 ears of corngrains cut into slices, to obtain 350 g
3 garlic clovespeeled and grated
1 red onionpeeled, cut in half and thinly sliced
750 g of mixed tomatoeschopped: quartered vine tomatoes, halved cherries, large ones cut into wedges
1 teaspoon cashmere chili
1¼ fine sea salt
Put the oil in a large pan over medium heat and wait until it is very hot (you can feel it by holding your hand about 15 cm above the pan). When hot, add the fennel, cumin, black mustard, fenugreek and nigella seeds and let them sizzle for 30 seconds to a minute, but no longer. Add the beans and corn kernels, fry stirring for three or four minutes, then add the garlic and onion, and fry for two more minutes.
Tip the tomatoes into the pan, add the chili and salt, then cook until the tomatoes start to break down and release their juices but still hold on to their shape, which should take about 10 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed, and serve with rice or flatbreads.
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