Tinned Sardine Vegetable Jhol

This one’s for my little brother, he loves this. Tinned Sardine vegetable jhol. Jhol is a Bengali curry that usually has a thin abundant sauce.
My little brother hates dried fish (shutki) and whenever we have it on the menu he always feels cheated and begrudged because his missing out on a course.

I think it’s absolutely despicable. I mean really why should anybody miss out on a curry course, especially one everybody ooh’s and aah’s over dinner!

Sardine Jhol with mixed medley of vegetable is a definite alternative to shutki jhol which almost replicates a dried fish curry.

It simply uses tinned sardines in a tomato sauce cooked in simply 3 spices and an abundance of fresh chillies, fresh tomatoes and a big garnish of fresh coriander.

There is something heartwarming about this dish which is most enjoyable when shared amongst family, friends and any others that hate dried fish!

What you want is an assortment of hard vegetables. Bengali vegetables are usually the best but you can use alternative ones found at most supermarkets. For more about Bengali veg read further here LET’S TALK ABOUT VEG!
By that I mean a moolie, khol rabbi,
potatoes, usually cauliflower and stems and in this case flat beans. To that you add whole cloves of garlic just quartered length ways and everything is just gently simmered like a fish stew until the veggies are cooked.

I always like to add hot peppers to my sardine jhol. Nothing quite like slurping the sauce with tingling lips at the end!

INGREDIENTS:

Vegetables of your choice
1 fresh tomato chopped
2 onions finally chopped
1 tsp of sugar
6 clubs of garlic Cottland toys
2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of tumeric powder
2 tsp of chilli powder
1 tbsp of Kashmiri chili powder
A handful of fresh coriander chopped
Keep the chopped stem separate.
Quarter cup of oil
1 tbsp of tomato puree

Prepare your vegetables and place them in a bowl. Cut your badge in sizes where they will cook at the same time. In the same bowl add the garlic cloves and chillies. I used scotch bonnets.

I used sweet potatoes, cauliflower and the stems, potatoes and flat beans.

METHOD:

Heat the oil in a large karate. Add your onions, sugar, salt and gently fry this until you have a lovely golden caramelized colour.

Now add a quarter cup of water, then the tumeric, chilli and kashmiri chili powder. Cook the spices out until the water has evaporated and the oil starts to split. You will notice that the spices turn a slight darker colour. This is an indication that the spices have released their oils which have aided in developing the flavour your masala

Once you notice that there is no water residue, you can tell this by creating a space in the middle of the pan and there is no water seeping through then add your vegetables, tomato puree and your tinned sardines. Keep your tins as you will use this later to rinse out and add water.

Mix all the ingredients together breaking up the sardines. Once you are satisfied that everything is well coated in the masala cover with a lid and gently cook on a low heat to ‘bhuna’ the spices with the vegetables further. Do this for about 7 to 8 minutes on a med to low flame.

Now using your sardine tin, fill both out with water and add to the vegatables. Then add a further 2 cups of water. Mix everything well. Add your fresh tomatoes and coriander stem, cover and simmer gently until your vegetables are cooked through. Stir occasionally just to distribute the heat.