Spicy tomato mussel pot on the braai

Courtesy of SASSI Braai Ambassador Chris Kastern

Ingredients

200 g butter
4 onions
8 cloves of garlic
1 finger ginger
4 can of chopped tomatoes (or an equal amount of fresh chopped tomatoes with a sachet of tomato paste)
2 punnets fresh basil
4 tbs sugar
3,5 kg fresh mussels (clean mussels and allow soaking in milk/water mixture for an hour in the fridge)
1 tbsp. turmeric
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
2 chilli, deseeded and chopped

Heat a potjie over moderate coals, add the mussels, a splash of water and then steam the mussels until they’ve opened up.
Discard any closed ones and keep the water they steamed in.
Next, in a separate potjie, sauté the onions, garlic and ginger in the butter, then add all the spices and the tomato.
Simmer for about 20 minutes, and then add the chopped basil and sugar and season to taste.
Add about 200ml of the mussel water (or mussel liquor as it is called), then add the mussels and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with basil leaves, black pepper and fresh bread on the side.