Well, alcohol-free August is going remarkably well! Half way through the month and I am feeling cleansed and full of energy….. well actually that is not true but I am sure it must be good for me!!!

Dinner this Saturday night was delicious. A fragrant fish curry, which I believe is one of my best.

We eat alot of fish curries these days in the French-Thomas kitchen, and most are tomatoey based, but this one is all spices and coconut and very tasty. Here’s the recipe:

Lime and Coconut Fish Curry

300g fish- monkfish, cod or salmon

400ml coconut milk

1.5 tbsp fish sauce

120g sugarsnap peas

4 spring onions, sliced

Handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Paste-

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

4 red chillis , chopped

2cm piece of ginger, chopped

Handful coriander stems, chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, chopped

2 kaffir lime leaves

Squeeze of lime juice

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

2-3 tbsp water

• Pop all the paste ingredients except for the water into a food processor and whiz into a paste. Add the water a bit at a time until the paste is quite smooth: you might need a little more that in the recipe.
• Heat some oil in a wok, add the paste and stir for 2-3 mins, until fragrant smells are in the air!
• Add the coconut milk and fish sauce and bring up to a simmer.
• Add the sugarsnap peas and fish and simmer for about 10mins, or until the fish is cooked through. Add some water if the sauce becomes too thick.
• Serve scattered with the spring onions and coriander, and a little spritz of lime juice.

It is lovely to eat something so light and full of strong flavours, which only takes about  half an hour to cook from beginning to end. Delicious.

On Sunday I made a tagine, based on the chicken and artichoke tagine in Claudia Roden’s book Arabesque. We used to have this alot, but not so much recently- and the next time I’ll take a photo and share the recipe!