What to eat tonight: Goan coconut cod curry

Goan Coconut Fish Curry
Serves 4

Ingredients
For the curry paste

• 30g cashew nuts
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 1 large red chilli, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• medium bunch of coriander

For the curry

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp hot chilli powder
• 5 curry leaves
• 400ml tin coconut milk
• 160ml coconut cream
• 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 100g baby spinach
• 200g raw peeled prawns
• 200g cod fillet, skinned, cut into chunks
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• juice of 1 lime

Method

1  To make the curry paste, toast the cashew nuts in a dry frying pan until just charred, then remove from the heat and put into a blender or food processor with the shallots, chilli, garlic, ginger, vinegar and half the coriander. Blitz to a thick mush, adding a little water until you have a loose, aromatic paste. Scrape into a small bowl.

2  To make the curry, heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and add the red peppers while the oil warms. Cook for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Once the peppers have collapsed, stir through the curry paste and continue to fry gently for a further few minutes. Add the spices and stir again – keep the heat up while they cook for another minute or so.

3  Add the curry leaves, coconut milk and cream and 100ml cold water. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, before lowering the temperature and simmering for 10-15 minutes. Add the chickpeas and cook gently for a further 5 minutes.

4  Finally, add the spinach, prawns and cod to the pan and poach for 2-3 minutes until the fish is just opaque. Garnish with the mustard seeds and the remaining coriander and squeeze over some lime juice to serve.