Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion
2 cm (3/4 in) piece of foot ginger, peeled
and chopped
2 whole garlic cloves
20 g (3/4 oz/¼ cup) freshly grated
coconut
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon turmeric
10 kokum or mangosteen
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) clams
1 green finely chopped green chili
1 teaspoon of fresh coriander chopped
For the Sol Kadhi
2 X 300 ml cans coconut milk
250 ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) water
10 kokums
1 green chilli
1 garlic clove
½ cup fresh coriander (cilantro)
2 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
To make the sol kadhi, pour the coconut milk, water and kokum into a saucepan, bring to the boil over medium heat and boil for 5 minutes, until the colour turns to violet. Remove from the heat and take out the kokum.
Blend the green chilli, garlic and coriander into a paste in a blender. Mix the paste with the coconut milk and add the sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve then strain through a fine sieve. Leave to go cold, then refrigerate and serve cold with the hot clams.
To make the clams, in a saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onion for 3-4 minutes or until it turns golden brown. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and chilli and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the coconut, coriander and cumin seeds, turmeric and kokum, and sauté for another 2 minutes. Remove the kokums, set aside and blend the remaining ingredients in a blender until a fine paste. Sauté the paste with 1 teaspoon of oil until the oil starts separating.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat 1 teaspoon of oil, tip in the clams and heat until they open. Discard any unopened clams. Take the meat out of the opened clams and discard the shells. Add the clam meat to the paste and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in some fresh coriander leaves.