Goanese Potato Curry

This was an unexpected delight. Pretty simple, on the whole. The recipe (as written) didn't have enough heat to balance the sweetness of the coconut cream, in my opinion, so I added some cayenne and cumin. It turned out wonderfully!

• 750 g Jersey Royal or other new potatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small red or green chilli
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds or 3 tsp ground coriander
• 200 ml coconut cream
• 500 g tomatoes
• 100 g petits pois
• 1 lime
• 1 handful cilantro
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel and rinse the potatoes, then boil them in plenty of salted water until tender to the point of a knife. Drain and leave to cool. Meanwhile, peel, halve and thinly slice the onions. Heat the oil in a spacious frying pan or similarly wide-based saucepan until very hot. Stir in the onions and let them brown lightly. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until limp and soft.

Meanwhile, trim and split the chile and scrape away the seeds. Chop. Peel and chop the garlic. Stir the chile, garlic, cinnamon and coriander seeds or ground coriander into the onions and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the coconut cream. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, then remove and liquidize the mixture to make a thick, creamy, speckled beige sauce. Return the sauce to the pan.

Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, count to 20, drain and peel. Chop the tomatoes and place in a saucepan with 250ml water. Boil for about 10 minutes, then sieve the tomatoes directly into the sauce, pressing hard to extract maximum pulp. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and add them too. Finally, cook the petits pois in boiling salted water and add them to the dish. Season generously with salt and lightly with pepper. Cook for a few minutes, then squeeze over the lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve. Excellent hot, warm or cold.