Curried rice with cajun fish and prawns

Although this multi-component dish sounds like it comes with a lengthy recipe, it doesn't - well not really. I made it for lunch today because E and I were deciding between a salad (which we already had yesterday for lunch AND dinner) and curry with rice (now we're talking!). It is summer here in Australia and the last thing we really want to be cooking in our poorly ventilated apartment is a hot meat curry - then eating it. Imagine the repeating heartburn, the lingering heat from the stove and smell of spice in our little home. But we all know that a craving is harder to shake off than the sand in one's shoes so I went the curry path with a few summer-friendly tweaks.

The curried rice I made is very similar to kedgeree but without the smoked fish and the boiled eggs. Simply saute some diced brown onion in some butter and veg oil until soft then add spices of choice. Some ground cumin and coriander, turmeric for that bright yellow colour, some grated ginger root and a teaspoon of good curry powder is always nice. It's always a good idea to cook out the spices a little to release their aromatic oils before adding the rice. I used some vegetable stock to cook the rice by absorption method which ensures all the flavour and nutrients of the rice are not boiled away then discarded. Word of warning though, this method requires some attention otherwise you may end up with a pot encrusted with burnt rice, you may be put off cooking rice this way in the future.

Meanwhile, heat a heavy-base fry pan slowly whilst preparing the garnish that goes with the dish which is mainly some finely shredded iceberg lettuce, sprigs of coriander, diced ripe tomatoes with red onion, cheeks of juicy lime and minted yogurt. In my opinion, the flavours of this dish is taken to a whole new dimension with the minted yogurt. All it is is the best natural yogurt you can lay your hands on with some finely chopped mint, zest of a lemon or lime, a squeeze of the juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and allow flavours to come together.

Pour a few tablespoons of veg oil into the hot pan and it should start smoking. Don't be alarmed as this will seal your prawns and fish pieces quite nicely. 200g of each is more than adequate for 2 very greedy adults, with some leftover. I cannot stress this enough, eventhough seafood contains residual salt from the ocean, it does benefit from a good seasoning of salt - so don't be afraid to season. Instead of pepper, I used cajun spice and just as the fish and prawns appear to be cooked, I added a generous teaspoon of butter to the pan, allowed it to sizzle and burn a little. This imparts a very satisfying smokey and nutty flavour to the seafood.

So there you have it. I do think this will make a fabulous summer BBQ dish. You can prepare the rice and the garnish in advance and cook the seafood or meat on the barbie so you don't smoke your place out. Have a bit of fun with this dish - I am sure it will not disappoint and it makes a lighter alternative to meat curry and rice.

curried rice

1 medium brown onion, finely diced

2 tbsp butter

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup long-grain rice (basmati or jasmine is good)

1 3/4 cup vegetable stock or water

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

small knob of fresh ginger, grated

salt and pepper

1/2 cup minted peas

(serves 4 generously)

add butter and veg oil to a heated medium sized pot

add onions salt and pepper when butter is melted and cook slowly until soft and translucent

add spices and cook until fragrant being careful not to burn the spices (NB spices tend to catch to the bottom of the pot as you cook them so keep a keen eye during cooking)

add rice and stir coating with aromatic oil

add the stock or water and bring to a boil

lower the heat to a gentle simmer and place lid on the pot

stir occasionally and allow the rice to absorb the liquid (this takes about 5-7 minutes)

taste for doneness (rice grains should not be chalky in the centre) and seasoning

add minted peas at this stage

remove from heat

allow to stand for at least 15 minutes

fluff rice with a pair of chopsticks or large fork before serving.