- Jun 1
- 6 min read

Sweet and sour curry with apple and spinach

This sweet and sour curry with apple and spinach—and many other ingredients— is another Indian Diasporan recipe from South Africa's Eastern Seaboard. It's default is vegan, but its most indulgent versions are lacto-vegetarian or use seafood or chicken. And, you can do them at the same time, making it ideal for mixed groups of diners.

Not a hottie 1

This is a recipe that was quite widely known when I first developed an interest in learning to cook "Natal Indian" cuisine, but somehow later took a back seat. It's by default vegan and works its way, incrementally, up through lacto-vegetarian to versions with chicken or seafood. This makes sense: with a relatively small population, no café or restaurant on South Africa's east coast could have afforded to not offer all options if they wanted to survive. Most places serving a mixed Asian African clientele catered to the full gamut, from Hindu vegans through to meat-eating Muslims. Oh yes, and me...

I used to call this one "sweet 'n sour curry" since I have no idea what it's actually called or much about its origins. You'll see why, though it bears no relationship to Chinese take-out favourites. It's simply a way to describe its unique balance of flavours. Furthermore, I've never really got anywhere trying to identify where in India it might have originated. This recipe uses a kind of fermented milk from South Africa—or soured cream as the best alternative—but there are so many types of fermented milks used in India, from dai and sinki to gundruk or handua—that it makes it almost impossible to trace its Diasporan roots.

When I used to cook regularly for swathes of kids, this was a favourite. Admittedly, those nippers were rather spice-agnostic—apart from the wee lassie called Joanie, who'd whinny on like a beast about it being "tae hot!"

Yep, this curry nets out in the realms of korma in terms of creaminess and sweetness, but admittedly it does pack a moderate punch. No worries: the way to solve that problem if you're not keen on "hot" is outlined below—if one must.

Not a hottie 2

This is another of those "sauce first" recipes where you cook the baseline vegan curry then add your dairy, chicken or seafood preference later during the cooking process, making it ideal for catering to a party of diverse dietary needs.

The heat in this dish comes primarily from the fresh red chillies—African-Indian cuisine often uses fresh chillies in contrast to the dried chillies favoured in much of the cooking of the Indian subcontinent—and the inclusion of chilli powder. But, it contains none of the cayenne pepper that make "Durban curries" infamously hot. De-seeding the fresh red chillies—I never do unless I'm planning to plant the seeds—and/or leaving out the chilli powder immediately reduces this to a much milder dish. Entirely up to you.

This version is for 3 to 4 diners, but you can easily scale up quantities..

3 top tips to get this recipe right:

While it's important to reduce the sauce, don't reduce it too much if you're planning to freeze some of it: you want a little moisture to cook down in the pan in the final stages after you've defrosted it and are reheating it, especially if you are adding chicken or seafood

This is truly an Indian-African fusion dish. In its pure form, it calls for the use of a kind of fermented milk known in Southern Africa as Amasi (in Ndebele, Zulu and Xhosa) or maas (in Afrikaans). It's often compared with cottage cheese or yoghurt but with a stronger flavour. If you can't get it, use soured cream as the best alternative

This dish pivots on a balance of amchoor (powdered unripened mango)—the sour—and the sweet—demerara (brown) sugar. But you can use jaggery, if you can get it.

Shopping list

for sweet 'n sour curry with apple and spinach

Approx. 2 tbspns sunflower oil
2 medium onions (red or brown), halved and thinly sliced
1 large leek, sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper (or red, but not green), sliced vertically
3 large carrots; peeled and cut into irregular batons
1 large ripe apple, peeled, cored and roughly grated
Approx. 120g whole leaf spinach; fresh or frozen, defrosted
Approx. 250g ripe tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes) chopped; not tinned tomatoes
4 or 5 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 large (or 2 small) fresh red chilli, sliced, not de-seeded
2 tspns garlic & ginger paste (or fresh equivalent, minced)
2 tspns garam masala
½ tspn whole cloves
1 tspn ground cumin (jeera)
3 tspns mild curry powder
½ tspn ground turmeric
2 handfuls of flaked almonds
500ml vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 bay leaf—dried or fresh
Approx. 250ml hot water
200ml soured cream (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

for the sides and condiments

Rice or naan breads. Traditionally it would be Durban yellow rice"—simply add 1 tspn turmeric, five green cardamom pods, a bay leaf and 1 tspn of ground cinnamon to the water in which you cook the rice
Raitha — I'm doing a version with chopped radish, coriander and flaked chilli
Sambal — a simplified version with chopped red onions and cucumber in vinegar

I tend to not use chutney with this dish: the sweet 'n sour is already built in.

Cooking Method

the sweet 'n sour curry with apple and spinach

In a large pan or kadai, heat the oil on a medium heat. Add 2 tspns of the mild curry powder, 1 tspn of the garam masala, the jeera, and the cloves. Once the aromas are released, add the onions and stir thoroughly. After a minute or so, add the red chilli. Reduce to a low-medium heat and sauté gently. If it begins to stick, add a small amount of stock, about 2 tbspns
When the onions are notably softened, add the yellow pepper and the garlic and ginger paste and stir in. Continue to sauté, adding a little more stock, until the peppers have notably softened; approx. 6 to 7mins
Once the peppers have softened, add the grated apple and stir in. Season with salt and pepper. Increase the heat slightly and stir until the apple cooks and starts to caramelise (but don't wait until it fully caramelises). Pour in approx 150ml of the stock, increasing the heat until it begins to simmer gently
Add the leeks and stir in. Ensure that they are fully coated in the juices and allow them to wilt very slightly. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir in and simmer gently for approx 6mins, adding more stock as needed to keep the pot with approx 1cm of liquid simmering under the ingredients
Add the turmeric, chilli powder and remaining mild curry powder. Stir in and cook for approx. 1min; until you smell the aromas being released. Add the carrots. Pour in the remaining stock and enough water to ensure that the ingredients are almost fully covered. Bring to a healthy simmer, cover and cook for approx 10mins, stirring occasionally
Add the brown sugar and stir in. Then add the amchoor and stir in. Cook at a healthy simmer with the lid off, allowing the sauce to reduce. It will probably take at least 10mins. After about 7mins, add the spinach. Add the remaining garam masala and stir in and cook for 1min. At this point, decant and portions that need to be vegan or portions you wish to store in the freezer
To the portions that are vegetarian, add the soured cream and stir in. Cook for 2min more and remove from the heat. NB: If you are doing a version with chicken (or seafood), first sauté these in a separate pan in a little oil, seasoning with salt, pepper and a tiny amount of garam masala. You should do this before you start reducing the sauce in the large pot. When almost cooked, add to the main pot after step 6 above, when the sauce has begun to reduce. Then complete adding the garam masala and soured cream
Whichever version you're serving, plate and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Take to table with rice or warmed naan breads and desired condiments

Alternatives

This dish is by default vegan and progresses through vegetarian to versions with chicken or seafood.

If you're also cooking for those who eat chicken or seafood:

If you know all of your dining party eat chicken, use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock in the first stages of the recipe. Yes, it really does make a difference. But otherwise cook just as in the recipe above
First sauté these in a separate pan in a little oil, seasoning with salt, pepper and a tiny amount of garam masala. You can actually do this some time before. But, you should do this at the latest before you start reducing the sauce
When almost cooked, add to the main pot after step 6 above, when the sauce has begun to reduce. Then complete adding the garam masala and soured cream. Plate, sprinkle on the flaked almonds and take to table

My favourite pescatarian versions is pretty indulgent: langoustine tails. But, it's also great with large prawns or mussels. In the case of the latter, simply pour them, cleaned, into the curry in the last three or four minutes of cooking and fold in. Wait until all the shells have opened before plating. With the pescatarian versions, I prefer to garnish with fresh chopped mango rather than the flaked almonds.

Pairings

Somehow, I mostly seem to end up having this one without alcohol—iced cucumber water is a particular favourite.

Like most curries, it's great with beer and I usually default to South African go-to beers such as Castle Lager . Here in the UK, I've also learned to love it with Camden IPA that has this wonderful aromatic character that works very well with Indian food.

On the wine front, I think it's another of those agnostic ones that can work well with both red or white.

The most memorable experience for me was with a Vionta Albariño, Rías Baixas, the perfect match with the langoustine tails version, though I can’t remember the vintage. But this is another dish that works wonderfully with chilled, butch whites—those peppery South African Chenin Blancs or Sicilian sun-bleached Catarrattos.

On the red front, I've liked it with softer tone wines without to much going on such as a Bourgogne Pinot Noir on the higher-end of a UK supermarket chain's offer, generally sticking to pinot noir/pinotage or the right kind of Côtes du Rhône. As always, Karel will know far better.