North African fish curry

A light, floral and perfectly spiced curry. The nutmeg gives this dish some serious back palate, which works perfectly with the juices of the seafood. Make sure the seafood is fresh as f***, though.

Serves 4

Curry

2 litres (8 cups) vegetable oil

2 onions, finely diced

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 Tbsp peeled and finely chopped

fresh ginger

1 cup Baharat spice mix (see below)

1kg tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2 whole preserved lemons,

roughly chopped

2 litres (8 cups) fish stock

250g shelled prawns

1kg mussels, scrubbed and bearded

1kg clams

1kg fresh calamari, cleaned and cut into thin rounds (ask your fishmonger to clean for you)

10 sardine fillets sea salt and freshly ground black pepper drizzle of olive oil

To serve

1 bunch of green leafage of your choice

Baharat spice mix

75g cumin seeds

75g coriander seeds 75g paprika

350g ground cinnamon 1 tsp grated nutmeg 1 tsp whole cloves

1 tsp chilli flakes

Equipment spice mill, coffee grinder or mortar

and pestle cooking thermometer

Method

To make the spice mix

Put all the spices in a dry frying pan and toast until fragrant, then add to a mortar and pestle, spice mill or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.

To make the curry

Heat 1 litre (4 cups) of the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion just starts to brown. Remove from the pan.

Add the remaining vegetable oil to the pan, bring up to about 180degC (checking the temperature with a thermometer), then add 1 cup of the spices. Fry all the spices for a couple of minutes until fragrant, then add the cooked onion, tomatoes and lemon to the pan.

Add the fish stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for one and ahalf hours, then check the seasoning.

Add the prawns, mussels, clams, calamari and sardines and cook for 5 minutes. Serve straight away with a side of green leaves and herbs and a drizzle of olive oil.