Green Pepper and Tomato Curry

This recipe comes from Kumud Shah's Quick After-Work Indian Vegetarian Cookbook. I've adjusted it very slightly to change the amount of sauce and reduce the oil - I find this amount is plenty. The tomatoes should break down into a smooth sauce - don't expect them to remain whole! Measure out the spices before you begin cooking.

Serves 2

• 1 1/2 sweet green bell peppers
• 300g (10oz) ripe tomatoes
• 1 tsp sunflower oil, or other tasteless vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 tsp dhana jheera
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Peel the tomatoes if you can be bothered - if you don't, you'll get pieces of tomato skin in your sauce, but they'll be quite big and easy to pick out. I think they add a little extra flavour as well.

Cut the bell pepper and tomatoes into large chunks - peppers about 1 inch squares and tomatoes into quarters.

Heat the oil in a wide pan and add the cumin seeds. Stir about, then add the green pepper and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, mashing them down as they soften.

Add the salt, chilli powder, turmeric, dhana jheera, garam masala and brown sugar. Stir well, then simmer, covered, for 7 minutes, or until the pepper is cooked to your liking. Best served at once.

Kake's (Vegan) Cookery Site - http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/
This page added some time in 1997 - comments and questions to Kake L Pugh (kake@earth.li).