Southern Indian Rice & Seafood Soup

Serves 4

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons brown mustard seeds

A handful of fresh curry leaves

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoons chilli powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

3 red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced

2 large thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 handfuls basmati rice

565ml water

600g fish, skinned, filleted and cut into 5-8cm chunks

800ml coconut milk

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

2 limes, juiced

A handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a big pan.

Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric.

Cook for a few minutes and you’ll get the most amazing smells filling the room from all these spices.

Then add the chillies, ginger, garlic and onions.

Continue cooking slowly until the garlic and onions are soft.

Add the rice and water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Add the fish and coconut milk with a pinch of salt.

Put the lid on the pan and simmer for a further 10 minutes, then stir well to break up the pieces of fish.

Taste and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper, then just before you serve add the lime juice and stir in half of the coriander.

Serve in warmed bowls with the rest of the coriander on top.

NB: A few prawns to go along with the fish are great in this soup. I think using a milder white fish (I used rockling) is best.

The Walkmen – Red Moon (zSHARE)

Tonight we made this dish from Neil Perry’s ‘Good Food’ and it was delicious – didn’t take long to make too. It has really nice flavours that went well with the creamy coconut rice. I really liked the snake beans, they’re much softer than regular green beans and cook really quickly.

Dry Prawn Curry

Serves 4

16 large green king prawns, peeled and deveined

4 vine-ripened tomatoes

vegetable oil

3cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

2 dried long red chillies, seeds removed and roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

8 snake beans, cut into 3cm pieces

2 limes, juiced

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Place the tomatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with a little oil.

Slow roast the tomatoes for 1 1/2 hours, or until they are soft. Allow them to cool slightly before removing and discarding the skin and mashing the fresh.

Pound the ginger and garlic in a mortar with a pestle to form a rough paste. Remove and set aside.

Crush the mustard seeds with the chilli in the mortar, then add the turmeric, salt and pepper, mix and set aside.

Heat some oil in a heavy-based frying pan and cook the ginger and garlic paste until lightly coloured and caramelized.

Add the prepared spices and stir over low heat until fragrant.

Stir through the tomato fresh and simmer the sauce for several minutes to reduce slightly. Set aside.

Heat a large wok or pan, add a little oil and fry the prawns over high heat until cooked. You will need to do this in 2 or 3 batches.

Remove the prawns and set them aside in a bowl.

Add the snake beans to the wok and fry to heat through.

Return the prawns and tomato curry to the wok.

Mix together well.

Finish with lime juice to taste.

Serve with rice.

NB: You can add 250ml of coconut milk to the curry to make more gravy for the rice.

Immuzikation – L.E.S.D.A.N.C.E. (Santogold vs. Justice) (zSHARE)