Over the following few weeks, the good sweetcorn harvest of the UK will start leaving farmers’ markets and supermarkets in abundance. I’ve been experimenting with alternative ways of dispatching them, and this curry is the consequence: the lovechild of a Gujarati sweetcorn-and-tomato curry (makai nu shaak) and a Punjabi achari “pickled” curry. It borrows the contemporary tomatoes from the Gujarati facet, whereas adopting some huge, sizzling, salty and bitter pickle flavours from the Punjabi, achari-style curry, into which the corn, with its pure sweetness, slots proper in.
Sweetcorn, tomato and runner beans with pickling spices
You’ll want a giant (say, 28cm), deep frying pan for this. If you happen to can’t get your arms on contemporary corn cobs, use frozen kernels – they’re typically half the value of (and style extra pure than) their tinned counterparts.
Prep 20 min
Prepare dinner 20 min
Serves 4
5 tbsp rapeseed oil
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
300g runner beans, trimmed and finely sliced on a steep angle
3 corn cobs, kernels sliced off, to get 350g
3 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
1 purple onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
750g combined tomatoes, chopped – vine tomatoes quartered, cherries halved, huge ones minimize into wedges
1 tsp kashmiri chilli
1¼ fantastic sea salt
Put the oil in a big frying pan on a medium warmth and wait till it’s correctly sizzling (you’ll be able to inform by holding your hand about 15cm above the pan). When sizzling, add the fennel, cumin, black mustard, fenugreek and nigella seeds, and depart them to sizzle for 30 seconds to a minute, however not. Add the runner beans and corn kernels, fry, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes, then add the garlic and onion, and fry for 2 minutes extra.
Tip the tomatoes into the pan, stir within the chilli and salt, then prepare dinner till the tomatoes are beginning to break down and letting out their juices, however nonetheless simply clinging on to their form, which ought to take about 10 minutes. Style, regulate the seasoning, if want be, and serve with rice or flatbreads.
