I had salmon fillets in my freezer and wanted to change from the usual “straight to the oven” recipe. My dear sister who lives in London is a big fan of Nigel Slater. As a Christmas present, she gave me his latest cookbook The Kitchen Diaries II. I therefore searched for a salmon recipe and found a mild and fruity curry of salmon which sounded and looked perfect to me. I already had all the ingredients listed, except for the tamarind paste which I omitted. Besides, it was dead simple to prepare: just add all the ingredients and let the flavours melt and become fragrant!

You need:

• salmon fillet, skinned
• a large onion
• mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• small hot chillies – 2
• ground turmeric – ½ tsp
• ground cumin – a teaspoon
• ground coriander – 1 tsp
• tomatoes – I used chopped tomatoes from a tin
• 80ml water
• tamarind paste – 1 tbs (I omitted it and it worked fine)

Cut the salmon into thick cubes.
Peel the onion and chop it finely, then let it soften in the oil in a deep, non-stick pan.
When it has started to colour lightly, add the mustard seeds, finely chopped chillies, the turmeric, cumin and coriander and stir over for a minute or so.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and leave to soften for a minute or two before pouring in the water.
Stir in the tamarind. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer.
Leave for 10 minutes before adding the pieces of salmon, some salt and black pepper.
Now leave to cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the salmon is completely opaque.
Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for further 4-5 minutes.
Serve as it is, or if you wish, with fluffy rice.

You may also want to try the coconut dahl which is vegetarian and delicious (of course!).