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Side dishes for curry

A big pot of curry on a table served with rice and/or naan is a beautiful thing but with a little extra work side dishes can offer so much to the experience. Offer brightness, modulate the heat or bring a textural contrast.

Tomato-chilli chutney.

Tomatoes (250g chopped roughly)
Chilli (as many as you like, green for preference)
Ginger (a thumb chopped)
Garlic (2 cloves, chopped)
1/2 Onion (finely chopped)
4 limes (juice and zest)
Sugar (a tablespoon)
Cumin seeds (or mustard seed, not both)
Nigella seeds (if you fancy)
Salt
Oil

1. Sautee the onion very gently until it's translucent not coloured.

2. Add a teaspoon of Cumin cook out briefly before adding in the chilli ginger and garlic.

3.  Sautee for about five minutes then add the tomatoes, salt, lime juice and sugar.

4. Cook until the tomatoes begin to break down.

5. Take off the heat. Add in the lime zest to taste.



Quick pickles.

I encourage serving some kind of pickle with a curry. I am not proscriptive about the exact type. I like carrot or Cauliflower.

Make a pickling liquor
1 part vinegar
1.5 water
5 spoons Sugar
Spices (cardemon for carrot or fennel for cauliflower. Coriander seed and peppercorns are almost always welcome)


Mix the ingredients, bring them to a rolling boil then pour hot directly into a jar filled with prepared veg.

When it's cooled it's done.

This isn't a recipe for a true pickle and they will not last forever but should keep for a few weeks in the fridge.


Carrot salad

10 Carrots 
An Onion 
A good knob of ginger 
A red chilli (a big mild one)
Lime 
Coriander 
A handful of Almonds (flaked)
  1. Put the almonds in a skillet and lightly toast them by heating them without oil untill they begin to change color and you can smell them. Remember to remove the almonds from the pan rather than just taking them off the heat (or they burn every time). 
  2. Grate the carrots and finly slice the oinion and chilli. Salt the onions and leave them to one side. 
  3. Grate the ginger using a microplane (or mince it).
  4. Finely chop the coriander. 
  5. Combine the ingredients in a serving bowl toss well with lime

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