Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-4 green chillies, whole
thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and pounded into a paste in a pestle and mortar
4 garlic cloves, peeled and pounded into a paste in a pestle and mortar
salt, to taste
½tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
3 tomatoes, chopped into large cubes
1kg / 2¼lb mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
60g / 2oz desiccated coconut
handful fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
Directions:
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium non-stick pan and fry the onion until golden brown.
Add the chillies, ginger and garlic pastes, salt, turmeric, garam masala and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have softened and start to break down.
Meanwhile, cook the mussels in a large pot of boiling water for about three minutes, until they have opened. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reserve the water.
Add the coconut, coriander and a splash of the cooking water to the spices and tomatoes and stir. The spice mixture should be thick enough to coat the mussels and enter the shells.
Remove some of the mussels from their shells and leave others in their shells, for a dramatic and appetising effect. Add the mussels to the spice mixture and stir thoroughly. Serve with basmati rice.
I didn’t start eating mussels until I was in my twenties, but I soon made up for lost time, especially during the three years that I lived on Cape Cod. What is most fun about this soup is being able to sip the saffron-colored broth out of a mussel shell instead of a spoon. Its complex flavor comes from the combination of tomatoes, white wine, and fish stock, with curry powder and ginger spicing it up. The mussels open during cooking, and the tender meat can be nudged out with a fork.
