Excerpted from Hoppers: The Cookbook: Recipes, Memories and Inspiration from Sri Lankan Homes, Streets and Beyond by Karan Gokani. Copyright © 2022. Available from Hardie Grant Publishing.

Mussels are one of those underrated, great value, sustainable products that ought to be used a lot more. Clams and cockles are popular in stir-fries and curries back home, but I prefer the sweeter, plumper mussels and find any opportunity I can to cook with them. They are dead easy to prepare and cook and cost a fraction of what you’d pay for a lot of other shellfish. I first cooked this dish at an event held at a friend’s pub; it was meant to be a Sri Lankan take on the classic Moules Frites. The dish was so popular that we ended up introducing it on our menu at our Kings Cross restaurant. We serve it with string hoppers, great for soaking up the gorgeous curry, and a samphire sambol.

Cook's Note:Prepare the mussels before cooking by rinsing well in clean water and scrubbing away any grit from the surface, then pulling away the beards. Check for any mussels that are open and discard any that won’t close when given a sharp tap on the worktop.

If you want to get ahead, you can prepare this recipe up to the end of step 1 and keep the sauce chilled in the fridge. Heat it up when you’re ready to cook the mussels.