Description
A vibrant and flavorful Tomato & Coconut Curry that combines toasted spices, fresh tomatoes, and creamy coconut milk for a comforting and aromatic dish perfect served with rice.
Ingredients
Scale
Spices
- 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
- 1 heaped tsp coriander seeds
- 1 heaped tsp fennel seeds
- 1 heaped tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
Vegetables & Herbs
- 10 curry leaves
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 1kg large ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 250g cherry or baby plum tomatoes
Other Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
- 400ml can coconut milk
- 2 heaped tsp tamarind paste
- 2 heaped tsp brown or palm sugar
- Cooked rice, to serve
Instructions
- Toast Spices: Heat a large dry frying pan over medium-high heat and add the cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds. Toast them until fragrant and lightly browned, then immediately remove from heat. Use a pestle and mortar or spice grinder to roughly grind the toasted seeds.
- Sauté Aromatics: Drizzle the oil into the same pan and add the curry leaves. Let them sizzle for about a minute. Next, add the sliced onions and fry for around 5 minutes until they turn lightly golden.
- Add Spices and Flavorings: Stir in the mustard seeds, the ground toasted spices, turmeric, sea salt, crushed garlic, and chopped green chilli. Fry this mixture for another couple of minutes to develop the flavors.
- Cook Tomatoes: Add all the quartered large tomatoes and cherry tomatoes to the pan. Fry everything together for about a minute, allowing the tomatoes to start softening.
- Simmer with Coconut Milk: Pour in the coconut milk, and add the tamarind paste and brown or palm sugar. Stir well and let the curry simmer gently for 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are very soft and the sauce has thickened slightly.
- Season and Serve: Taste the curry and adjust seasoning by adding more salt or sugar if necessary. Serve the hot curry over cooked rice. Optional: Fry extra curry leaves in a little oil until crisp and sprinkle on top for added texture and flavor.
Notes
- For an extra touch of flavor, crisp fried curry leaves can be spooned over the curry before serving.
- Use ripe, fresh tomatoes for the best taste and natural sweetness in the curry.
- Adjust the level of green chilli to suit your preferred spice tolerance.
- If you don’t have tamarind paste, lemon juice can be used as a substitute but will alter the flavor slightly.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian-inspired
Keywords: Tomato curry, coconut curry, vegetarian curry, Indian-inspired curry, stovetop curry, coconut milk recipe, tamarind paste curry, spiced tomato curry
