Tomato Curry with Coconut Rice

Directions

For the Curry

1Heat 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.

2Stir 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.

3Cook 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

1Warm 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.

2Stir in the rice, letting it get slicked with oil and thoroughly mixed with the black-dotted green shreds.

3Pour the coconut milk into a measuring jug and top up to the 4 cups mark with freshly boiled water, then add this to the rice, stirring it in with the salt.

4Bring 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. As the coconut milk is so rich, the grains of rice will be slightly sticky rather than dry, which is perfect with the bright acidity of the tomatoes. If you have time, though, you can cover the pan with a clean tea towel, sit the lid on top, and leave the pan, thus covered, on the still-warm but switched off hob for 10-20 minutes.

5Fluff up with a fork as you pour in the lime juice, and taste to see if you need either more salt or more lime.