Charred chilli salmon with cabbage salad

For when you want a meal that’s filling and also feels a bit special, try this. You could use individual fillets instead of the whole fish, but the cooking time should be adjusted according to pack instructions. The gently spiced marinade works well for fresh mackerel, too.

SERVES 4 PREP 30 mins plus at least 1 hr marinating COOK 30 mins EASY

5-600g whole piece of salmon 1 tsp sunflower oil cooked basmati rice, to serve

(optional)

For the marinade thumb-sized piece of ginger,

peeled and grated

3 garlic cloves, grated

½ green chilli, finely chopped ½ lemon, juiced

1 tsp each garam marsala, ground turmeric, ground cumin and chilli powder

1 tsp tomato purée

2 tbsp natural yogurt

For the salad

400g white cabbage, sliced

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 green chilli, finely sliced

½ lemon, juiced, plus a few slices

to serve

½ cucumber, peeled, halved,

deseeded and sliced handful of coriander, leaves picked

and roughly chopped

1 First, make the marinade. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Lay the salmon, skin-side down, in a large container, then pour on the marinade and turn the fish to fully coat it. Cover and chill for at least 1 hr, or up to 12 hrs. 2 Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/ gas 9, or as high as it will go. Line the base of a sturdy, shallow roasting tin with baking parchment, then drizzle over the oil. Lay the marinated salmon skin-side down on the parchment and roast for 25-30 mins until the outside is lightly charred and the inside is just cooked. Meanwhile, for the salad, tip the cabbage, red onion and chilli into a bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and scrunch the veg with your hands to work in the salt. Stir in the lemon juice and set aside while the salmon is roasting.

3 Just before serving, stir the cucumber slices and coriander into the cabbage salad. Bring the whole salmon to the table with a few lemon slices on top to serve, then carve and plate up with the salad and rice on the side, if you like.