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Nadan mathi curry (sardine stew)

Salma Kutty from Coconut Coast
This homely curry, made by village-local Salma Kutty, calls for freshly-caught sardines, tongue-tingling spices and plenty of shredded green chillies

Nadan mathi curry (sardine stew)

Method

1. Clean the sardines and set aside. For the spice paste, grind the chillies, coriander seeds, turmeric, ginger, garlic and coconut until smooth. It's best to use a mortar and pestle or a food processor for this.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the coconut oil over a moderate heat and toss in the mustard seeds followed by the curry leaves, shallots, ginger and chillies. When the onions are golden, tip in the tomatoes and add the crumbled kokum. The kokum will add a tang to the curry. Bring to a simmer and stir in the ground spice paste. Add about 250ml water and simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened.

3. Add the fish to the pan and continue cooking a further 10-15 minutes until the sauce has reduced and the sardines are tender. Serve with boiled rice.

Cooks Notes:
Kokum is also known as fish tamarind and is sold at ethnic grocers. You could substitute with tamarind paste which is sold at most supermarkets.

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Serves: 4

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 40 min

Ingredients

Ingredients

500g sardines, heads removed

For the spice paste

10 dried red chillies
2 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 piece of fresh turmeric (3cm), peeled
1 piece of fresh ginger (3cm), chopped
3 fat garlic cloves
150g grated coconut

For the sauce

50ml coconut oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
15 curry leaves
4 Shallots, sliced
1 piece of fresh root ginger (3cm), finely grated
3 green chillies, shredded
3 Tomatoes, diced
1 walnut-sized piece of kokum
250ml water