A Tamil summer vegetarian feast: Cynthia Shanmugalingam’s cucumber yoghurt curry and gooseberry pickle

This lovely summery “curry” is a cold, refreshing dish from Karnataka in India, and is eaten widely in Tamil Nadu, just 20 miles across the Palk Strait from my ancestral Tamil homeland in north and eastern Sri Lanka. Along with chefs Louis and Seb in our development kitchen, we decided that smacking the cucumbers helps give them a silky texture, and means the fragrant yoghurt base can get into all the nooks and crannies. It’s wonderful with plain rice and a side of fenugreek-heavy hot Tamil pickle, made with English gooseberries rather than superfood nelli, both of which are said to make your skin shine and hair bouncy.

Hot gooseberry pickle

Cynthia Shanmugalingam’s hot gooseberry pickle.

Prep 10 min
Cook 10 min
Pickle 10 min
Chill 2 hr+
Serves 4

250g gooseberries
250ml apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp mustard seeds
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
Some salt

Wash the gooseberries well, then spread them out on a cloth and leave to dry.

Put the vinegar, 250ml water, the sugar and salt in a saucepan and cook on a high heat until the sugar and salt have dissolved and the liquid is simmering. Add the gooseberries, turn off the heat and leave to pickle for 10 minutes.

In a small frying pan, dry roast the fenugreek for about 60 seconds, until fragrant, then leave to cool. Tip the cooled fenugreek into a small spice grinder or mortar, add the mustard seeds and crushed garlic, then blitz or grind to a paste. Scrape the mix into a small bowl, add the drained gooseberries, the oil, chilli powder and salt, then cover and put in the fridge for at least two hours.

Cucumber yoghurt curry

Cynthia Shanmugalingam’s cucumber yoghurt curry.

Prep 15 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 4

2 cucumbers
80g desiccated coconut (frozen or freshly grated), soaked in water for 15 minutes, then drained
2 green chillies, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
30g fresh coriander, stalks and leaves
½ tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp sesame seeds
100g natural yoghurt
Salt, to taste
Boiled white rice, to serve

For the temper
4 tsp vegetable oil, or coconut oil
10 fresh curry leaves
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 dried red chillies, ideally cascabel

First, make a coconut-cucumber paste. Peel the cucumbers, reserving the skins. Wrap each cucumber in clingfilm, then bash them lightly with a rolling pin. Remove the clingfilm, keeping the seeds, and cut the flesh on a slight diagonal into 1cm slices. Put a few of the chopped cucumbers, the cucumber seeds and skins into a blender, add the drained coconut, green chillies, garlic, coriander, black peppercorns and sesame seeds, then blitz smooth.

Put the yoghurt in a medium bowl, and whisk until smooth, then beat in enough water, if need be, to get it to a pouring consistency. Add salt to taste, stir in the cucumber paste and remaining chopped cucumber, then pour into a serving bowl and put in the fridge to chill.

When you’re ready to eat, make the temper. Put the oil in a small frying pan on a high heat, add the curry leaves and, after about 30 seconds, when they’re sizzling, stir in the fenugreek (if using), mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chillies – stand well back, because the spices will probably splutter. Pour the hot temper, oil and all, over the cucumber yoghurt curry and serve with plain boiled white rice.

• Cynthia Shanmugalingam is chef/proprietor of Rambutan, London SE1