Molee is a creamy Indian dish with a delicate flavour that is just perfect for pairing with some fillets of coral trout.

The ingredients for the Molee are readily available in most large supermarkets. The curry leaves are also available in good greengrocers and in the produce section of your supermarket. A handy hint is to make sure that your dried herbs and spices are fresh to ensure the wonderful flavour hit. Sometimes we forget how long ago we purchased our dried spices and wonder why the flavour of the finished recipe is a bit hit-and-miss.

Molee ingredients

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely grated

2 small green chillies, seeded and finely chopped

3 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

2 cloves

8-10 curry leaves (with extra for garnishing)

400g tin coconut cream

salt and freshly ground pepper

500g coral trout fillets

Preparation

• Heat the oil in a heavy based frypan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about five minutes or until onions are softened. Put the garlic and chillies into the pan with the onion and continue to cook for a further five minutes. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin and cloves to this onion mixture. Continue to cook the spices with the onion for a couple of minutes, stirring gently with a wooden spoon. Add the coconut cream, curry leaves and salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about twenty minutes or until the liquid has thickened slightly.

• Slice each fillet of fish into two large pieces, add them to the sauce and bring it back to the simmer (you will loose a little heat from the sauce when you add the cold fish to the pan). Continue to simmer for about five minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Check the seasoning, adding more salt if required.

• Serve the Molee with a sprinkling of chopped curry leaves and some warmed roti bread.

This is a quick recipe that adds a taste of India to the batter covering the fish. Besan flour can be found in supermarkets and health shops.

Ingredients

4 fillets of fish, skinned and cut into three

green or red chillies

Fish batter

100gm besan flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 small green chilli, very, very finely chopped

cold water

Preparation

• Combine the besan flour, cumin, turmeric and chilli in a large bowl and add just enough water to make a batter. The batter should be of a thickness that will lightly coat the outside of the fish.

• Heat about half a cup of good quality cooking oil in a deep frypan or wok. Dip the fish pieces into the batter, drain slightly and then place them into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on one side and then turn the fish over to cook on the other side. This will only take a couple of minutes depending on the thickness of your fish. Remove the golden fish from the pan and drain on some paper towel. Dip the whole chillies into the remaining batter and drop them into the hot oil. Cook for a minute or two and remove from the pan and drain.

• Serve the battered fish pieces and chillies with a small bowl of lime pickles or green mango chutney.

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