Coconut Chilli Prawns

 23/09/2016

I absolutely love rolling my sleeves up in the kitchen to undertake a big Indian feast. Nothing pleases me more than mixing the fresh spices, toasting and grinding them to create beautiful aromas and tastes. But sometimes, there isn’t always time in the day to get so hands on as less important tasks such as the day job get in the way. That doesn’t mean that a wonderful Indian meal is out of bounds though. With the help of a jar of curry paste, you can whip up a delicious curry in about 15 minutes.

I’d like to urge that this recipe uses a curry PASTE and not a curry SAUCE. Ready made curry sauces are full of sugar and additives and don’t taste anywhere near as good as a freshly prepared curry. Paste, on the other hand, is a perfectly selected blend of freshly ground spices with the addition of ginger and garlic which are immediately preserved in vegetable oil so that the air does not get to them and alter their flavour profile.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons Rogan Josh curry paste (or your choice)
• 450g raw peeled prawns
• 50g creamed coconut, roughly chopped
• 150ml hot water
• 2 Tablespoons freshly chopped coriander
• 2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the curry paste and fry for a further 2 minutes until it looks like it is splitting from the oil.
2. Add the prawns to the pan and stir fry over a high heat for 3 minutes until pink. Add the creamed coconut and hot water and stir every now and then until the coconut had melted. Simmer for 1 minute.
3. Mix the coriander with the red chillies and spring onions. Stir into the prawns and serve immediately.

This is great served with rice and chapatis and even more fresh coriander.

Patrani Macchi

 17/02/2016

Yes, another fish dish. That’ll teach me to buy a whole side of salmon when it’s on offer.

From the western shores of India, this delicious baked fish dish looks very impressive when you serve it wrapped in banana leaves. As you unwrap it, release some mouth-watering aromas. If you can’t get banana leaves then you can use lightly oiled foil or baking parchment instead.

Ingredients:

• 2 thick salmon fillets, skinned
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• Fresh banana leaves (or oiled foil)

For the spice paste:

• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 50g creamed coconut
• 50g freshly grated coconut
• 2 fresh chillies, deseeded and chopped
• 50g fresh coriander, chopped
• 10g fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1tsp grated fresh ginger
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Make the spice paste by placing all the paste ingredients in a food processor and blending until fairly smooth.
3. Place the fish fillets on a plate. Sprinkle with turmeric, rubbing it into the fish, and keep to one side.
4. Cut the banana leaves into approx. 24cm squares and soften by dipping into a pan of hot water for a few seconds. Wipe dry and arrange on a work surface.
5. Spread the spice paste on both the fish pieces.
6. Place a piece of fish on each square and wrap it up like a parcel securing with bamboo skewers. If using foil, simply scrunch up to seal.
7. Place the parcels on a baking sheet and bake in the oven to 12 minutes or until cooked through.
8. Serve immediately with basmati rice, lemon wedges and maybe some minty yoghurt dip and poppadoms.

 

Tandoori Swordfish Skewers

 15/02/2016

Swordfish is so meaty when cooked. It is extremely versatile and can stand being grilled, baked, barbequed as steaks, stewed or whatever you decide. It can take on lots of flavours and is ideal for marinading as I have here. The use of cashews gives the recipe a satay sort of taste combined with the creamy yoghurt, fresh lemon and exciting spice blend to create huge flavour.

Ingredients:

For the fish:

• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 500g swordfish steak, cut into 5cm chunks

For the tandoori paste:

• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 50g natural yoghurt
• 30g cashew nuts
• 3cm fresh ginger, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to its highest setting. Mix together the lemon juice, chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Rub all over the fish pieces and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. For the tandoori paste, put the fennel seeds, caraway seeds, chilli powder and salt into a spice grinder and blend to a powder. Transfer the ground spices to a mini food processor with the yoghurt, cashew nuts, ginger and garlic and blend to a paste.
3. Rub the paste all over the marinated fish then skewer the fish on metal skewers and set over a roasting tin. Place on the top shelf of the oven. Cook for 5 minutes or until just cooked through. Serve with naan breads and salad.