Pilchards Curry
No one can and ever will make Pilchards like my dad. When I was little my father closed his shop very late and we’d often drive back home in the dark around midnight. By then, supper had long been digested and we’d all be hungry.
Sometimes, not often, when there were no leftovers on the stove, my father used to peel open a tin of pilchards and start cooking for us. My mum, brother and I were his main patrons and I remember well how we’d all get excited when he decided to cook. The way my family cleans pilchards is also very entertaining. We scrape the skin off, remove the bones and get rid of the unnecessary dark fleshy bits of the fish. Most of my friends tell me I’m wasting half the fish, but I can’t even imagine cooking it whole.
My father also added baked beans to the pilchards sometimes or boiled eggs.
Did you know: Pilchards is just longer sardines. It is an excellent source of high quality protein and contains omega-3 fatty acids. It’s also nutrient dense in vitamin B12, Iron, vitamin D and phosphorus.
Ingredients
1 tin Pilchards, de-boned and clean
1 tsp oil
1 onion, sliced
2 tomato’s, grated
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic
1 curry leaf stalk
2 green chilies slit down the middle
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp garam masala
2/3 tsp chili powder
Method
In a heavy-based pot, heat oil and add the following: Mustard and jeera seeds, 1 cinnamon stick and stem of curry leaves.
When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add onions and the 2 green chilies. Cook the onions until it’s translucent.
Add ginger and garlic and give it a good stir.
Add the following spices: Jeera powder, chili powder and garam masala.
Wait for the rawness of the spices to disappear before adding grated tomato.
Let your chutney simmer for 10 minutes and add some water if it starts sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Add the cleaned pilchards to the pot and let it cook well for 10 minutes in the chutney.
Garnish with coriander and serve warm with brown rice, fluffy millet or roti.
