Sardine Curry & Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 4 tins of sardines in oil (400 g drained, 1 tbsp of the oil kept)
• 300 g basmati rice
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400 g) + 150 ml water
• 2 brown onions (about 100 g each)
• 3 garlic cloves + 15 g fresh ginger
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ lime
• Salt

🍴 Utensils

• Sauté pan with lid
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Fine grater
• Chef's knife
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Peel the garlic and ginger, then grate them. Drain the sardines over a bowl to catch their oil, keep 1 tbsp of it for cooking and set the whole sardines aside on a plate.
2. Heat the spoonful of sardine oil in the sauté pan over a medium heat. Cook the onions for 8 min, stirring, until soft and nicely golden. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 min without letting them burn.
3. Lower the heat, add the curry powder, turmeric and chilli powder and stir for 30 s: the spices should toast lightly in the oil to release their aromas, without blackening. Don't lean over the pan: heated chilli stings the eyes.
4. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and 150 ml water, season lightly with salt and stir. Leave to reduce for 15 min over a medium heat, uncovered, stirring from time to time, until you have a thick sauce in which the spoon leaves a trail.
5. While the sauce reduces, rinse the rice in the sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Cook it for 10 to 12 min in the large pan of boiling salted water, then drain: the grains stay nicely separate.
6. Remove the tails from the sardines and, if you like, the backbone by opening each sardine in half. Gently lay them in the sauce, cover and warm through for 3 to 4 min over a low heat, without stirring, so they stay whole.
7. Squeeze the half lime over the curry, taste and adjust the salt. Serve straight away over the basmati rice, spooning up the sardines with the sauce so they don't break.