Cynthia Shanmugalingam, chef and proprietor of Rambutan in London SE1, presents a Tamil summer vegetarian feast featuring a cold cucumber yoghurt curry and a hot gooseberry pickle. The curry is a refreshing dish from Karnataka, India, widely eaten in Tamil Nadu, just 20 miles across the Palk Strait from her ancestral Tamil homeland in north and eastern Sri Lanka.
Cucumber Yoghurt Curry with a Silky Texture
In the development kitchen, Shanmugalingam and chefs Louis and Seb found that smacking the cucumbers gives them a silky texture, allowing the fragrant yoghurt base to penetrate all the nooks and crannies. The curry is wonderful with plain rice and a side of the fenugreek-heavy hot Tamil pickle, made with English gooseberries rather than superfood nelli. Both are said to make your skin shine and hair bouncy.
Hot Gooseberry Pickle
For the pickle, wash 250g gooseberries well and spread them on a cloth to dry. Put 250ml apple cider vinegar, 250ml water, 1 tbsp caster sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a saucepan, cooking on high heat until dissolved and simmering. Add the gooseberries, turn off the heat, and leave to pickle for 10 minutes. In a small frying pan, dry roast 1 tsp fenugreek seeds for about 60 seconds until fragrant, then cool. Grind the cooled fenugreek with 1 tbsp mustard seeds and 4 peeled and crushed garlic cloves to a paste. Scrape into a bowl, add the drained gooseberries, 3 tbsp vegetable oil, 4 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder, and salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.
Preparing the Cucumber Yoghurt Curry
For the curry, peel 2 cucumbers, reserving the skins. Wrap each in clingfilm and bash lightly with a rolling pin. Remove the clingfilm, keep the seeds, and cut the flesh on a slight diagonal into 1cm slices. Blend a few chopped cucumbers, the seeds, skins, 80g desiccated coconut (soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained), 2 roughly chopped green chillies, 4 peeled and roughly chopped garlic cloves, 30g fresh coriander (stalks and leaves), ½ tsp black peppercorns, and 2 tsp sesame seeds until smooth. Whisk 100g natural yoghurt in a bowl until smooth, adding water to get a pouring consistency. Add salt to taste, stir in the cucumber paste and remaining chopped cucumber, then chill in the fridge.
Tempering and Serving
When ready to eat, make the temper. Heat 4 tsp vegetable or coconut oil in a small frying pan on high heat, add 10 fresh curry leaves, and after about 30 seconds when sizzling, stir in 1 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional), 2 tsp mustard seeds, 2 tsp cumin seeds, and 3 dried red chillies (ideally cascabel). Stand back as the spices splutter. Pour the hot temper, oil and all, over the cucumber yoghurt curry and serve with plain boiled white rice.
