Ingredients

2×400g tins whole peeled tomatoes 3T oil 1t whole brown mustard seeds 3 whole, hot, dried red chillies 10–15 fresh curry leaves (if available) 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1T fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated 1t each of ground cumin and coriander 1/2t ground turmeric 11/4t salt 1/2t sugar (if desired) 450g calamari rings or strips 3T fresh coriander, chopped

Method

Empty the cans of tomatoes into a bowl and crush them with your hands. Pour the oil into a wide saucepan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as they start to pop, put in the chillies, which will darken immediately. Add the curry leaves and take the pan off the heat. Put in the garlic and ginger and stir off the heat for a minute. Add the cumin, ground coriander and turmeric, and stir briefly. Add the tomatoes with their juice. With the pan back over medium-high heat, add the salt, stir, and allow to simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the sugar if the tomatoes are too tart. Add the calamari and chopped coriander, and simmer over a medium heat, stirring as you go. The calamari should turn opaque quickly. Continue to simmer for a minute and turn off the heat. Serve with rice, bread or any kind of pasta or noodles. SERVES 4   Recipe Madhur Jaffrey Production Ohillippa Cheifitz Photograph Micky Hoyle This recipe originally appeared in HL Food 2014.   READ MORE: Orange blossom marmalade Veg tikka masala curry Rosewater panna cotta