Fitzfishsupper

SERVES 2 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 1 HR 45 MINS (PLUS CHILLING, RESTING)

“Chips with curry sauce has to be one life’s most horrifyingly delicious snacks,” says Hill. “Every chippy in the UK has its own recipe, generally based on Keen’s curry powder. As far as a fish supper goes, this ticks all the boxes. To achieve perfectly crisp, crunchy chips, you need to cook them twice, leaving them for up to two hours in between.” Start this recipe a day ahead to make the curry sauce and chips.

Vegetable oil, for frying 8 large sebago potatoes, washed, cut and pre-cooked (see note)

1 whole flounder (800gm),

cleaned and scaled

50 gm butter, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 sprigs curry leaves

Zest of ½ lemon

Lemon wedges, sliced white bread and soft butter, mushy peas and pickled onions, to serve

CURRY SAUCE

125 gm butter

1 small onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, sliced

50 gm raisins

1 tbsp Keen’s curry powder 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 5 fresh curry leaves

2 tsp hot English mustard 50 gm Greek-style yoghurt 2 tbsp lemon juice

POTATO SCALLOPS

2 medium Dutch cream potatoes, peeled

Chicken salt, for seasoning 2 large scallops (without roe),

halved horizontally

180 gm plain flour, plus extra

for dusting

325 ml cold beer (preferably

Resch’s) 1 For the curry sauce, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally until mixture starts to caramelise (6-7 minutes).

Add raisins and stir to combine. Add curry powder and cook until fragrant (1-2 minutes).

Add Worcestershire sauce and 250ml water, stirring to deglaze the pan. Add curry leaves and mustard, bring to the boil, then remove from heat. 2 Cool slightly, then blend until smooth. Add yoghurt and stir to combine. Stir in lemon juice and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Curry sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

3 For chips, preheat oven to 120°C. Pour 10cm of oil into a large saucepan and place over medium heat until it reaches 190°C. Fry chips, in batches, until they form a crust (1-2 minutes). Remove chips with a slotted spoon (reserve saucepan with oil), transfer to a large oven tray and place in the oven until dried out (1 hour). 4 For the potato scallops, slice Dutch cream potatoes into four 2.5cm-thick rounds. Using a 2.5cm round pastry cutter (or the diameter of the halved scallops) cut a hole in the centre of each slice. Steam or boil gently in salted water until just tender (10 minutes). Season lightly with chicken salt, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate (30 minutes).

5 Increase oven to 185°C.

Heat an ovenproof frying pan, large enough to fit the flounder, over high heat. Add 50ml vegetable oil and heat until just smoking (30 seconds). Season the flounder skin with salt.

6 Cook flounder in the hot oil until golden (3-4 minutes), then carefully turn and add butter and garlic. Transfer pan to the oven and cook until flesh is just cooked through (4 minutes). Remove pan from oven and return to stovetop over medium heat, basting fish with pan juices until golden and crisp (1 minute). Set aside to rest in the pan juices (6 minutes).

7 Meanwhile, for the batter, gently stir flour and beer in a bowl until just combined.

Set aside to rest (5 minutes).

8 Reheat the oil in the reserved saucepan to 190°C. Push a scallop half into the hole of each potato round. Toss potato scallops in extra flour, then, working one at a time, dip into batter. Remove with a slotted spoon and lower into the hot oil. Fry until the batter is deep golden (2-3 minutes). Drain on paper towel. Season well with chicken salt and keep warm.

9 Fry chips, in batches, for a second time until golden and crisp (5 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon, drain season and keep warm. Carefully add curry leaves to the pan and fry until crisp (10 seconds).

Drain and set aside.

10 Warm curry sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat (3 minutes). In a large bowl, add curry sauce to chips, top with fried curry leaves, lemon zest, and flounder pan juices. For an authentic Old Fitz experience, serve alongside the flounder and potato scallops on a platter lined with butcher’s paper, with lemon wedges, white bread and butter, mushy peas and pickled onions.

Note To pre-cook the chips, wash and cut potatoes into thick chips. Steam or boil in a saucepan of salted water until just tender but not falling apart (10 minutes). Place on a clean cloth or tea towel in the fridge to dry overnight.