Tomatoes with brown mustard seeds

Serves 4-6

I'm toying with getting a greenhouse next year, but meanwhile it's been a good year for outdoor tomatoes so far. Once you start harvesting you have to think of new and interesting tomato recipes to use them up, especially if you have a few green ones on your hands. I've cooked this a couple of times with both green and ripe tomatoes and even a mixture. It goes really well with drier Indian meat dishes such as tandoori or tikka, or with grilled or barbecued fish such as swordfish or tuna. Or mackerel without the mustard sauce. Or have it with naan bread as a light supper.

Mustard seeds, both brown and white, are used extensively in Indian cooking either ground into a masala or whole.

3tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/2tsp chilli powder
1tsp turmeric, or 2tsp freshly grated fresh turmeric root
2tsp brown mustard seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
1kg green or red tomatoes, skinned and quartered
Salt
2tbsp freshly shredded coriander leaves

Heat the oil or ghee in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and gently fry the onion, garlic and spices for 3-4 minutes without colouring. Add the green tomatoes and a generous pinch of salt and simmer gently with a lid on for 15 minutes, stirring every so often, then add the ripe tomatoes and do the same for another 15 minutes. Remove the lid, add the coriander leaves and cook on a high heat for 4-5 minutes, or until the liquid has almost evaporated. Re-season if necessary.