BIG on FISH
Take the guesswork out of cooking with fish
TOM WALTON is renowned for his low-fuss, max-flavour, familyfriendly food. More Fish, More Veg is a collection of his go-to recipes that helps you put meals featuring sustainable seafood and seasonal veg on high rotation at your place.
Some people are a little nervous about cooking fish, but with a few super simple techniques in your toolkit you'll be confident to give it a go. Tom walks you through these key cooking methods step by step, plus he provides pointers on sustainability and seasonality that will take the guesswork out of what fish to buy.
He'll also show you how to make veg the star of the show with his vibrant vegdriven dishes that are full of life, colour and deliciousness.
Season by season, this book is bursting with easy-to-make recipes that celebrate the abundance of top-quality ingredients and make it a breeze for you to eat more fish, more veg.
RED LENTIL and COCONUT DHAL with FISH
Dhal has to be one of my all-time favourite dishes. I love to top it with roast veges or seafood to make it even heartier. Feel free to cook the dhal separately to the fish and serve it as part of a larger spread. For a plant-based version, serve it with some roasted cauliflower or eggplant (aubergine) instead of fish.
Ingredients
1⁄3 cup (80ml) coconut oil 4 sprigs fresh curry leaves
Sea salt flakes and ground black pepper 1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 Tbsp curry powder, plus 2 tsp extra 2 tomatoes, finely chopped, or 2 Tbsp tomato paste (concentrated pure´ e) 2 cups (410g) split red lentils
6 cups (1.5 litres) chicken or vegetable stock
1 x 400 ml (14 fl oz) can coconut milk 2 large handfuls roughly chopped kale or baby spinach leaves
400g Spanish mackerel fillet, skin removed, or any other firm white-fleshed fish, such as ling or blue-eye trevalla 2 Tbsp olive oil
2 handfuls coriander (cilantro) leaves Steamed basmati rice or naan bread, to serve (optional)
Method
Heat the coconut oil in a large shallow ovenproof frying pan over medium–high heat. Add half the curry leaves and cook for around 2 minutes, until crisp and translucent. Transfer to a plate, lightly season with salt and set aside.
Add the onion, garlic and a good pinch of salt to the coconut oil and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes. Add the ginger, the remaining curry leaves, the 2 tablespoons of curry powder and the tomatoes and cook for 1 more minute, then add the lentils and stir through.
Pour the stock into the pan and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the lentils are cooked and creamy. Tip in threequarters of the coconut milk and cook for 2 minutes, then add the kale or spinach and stir through until wilted.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
In a shallow bowl, combine the fish with the extra curry powder, some salt, pepper and the olive oil, until coated. Nestle the fish in the dhal, transfer to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until just cooked.
Remove the dhal from the oven, scatter with the coriander leaves and drizzle with the remaining coconut milk. Top with the fried curry leaves and serve with the steamed rice or naan, if desired. — Serves 4