South Indian haddock and corn chowder

“I love a big bowl of creamy, smoky, comforting chowder. However, Ayurveda is very vocal about not mixing dairy with animal proteins so I have made this chowder with coconut milk instead of dairy which is also cooling and balances the heating nature of fish.” Anjum Anand, Anjum's Australian Spice Stories

Credit: Anjum’s Australian Spice Stories

• serves

  1

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1-2 tsp vegetable oil
• ¼ tsp brown mustard seeds
• 7-8 fresh curry leaves
• ½ small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small green chilli, pierced with the tip of a knife
• 4 g piece peeled ginger, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 140 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 60 g corn kernels, fresh or frozen and defrosted
• 80-100 g smoked haddock fillet, skinned
• 120 g fresh haddock or ling fillet, skinned
• 150-200 ml coconut milk
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• salt, to taste
• large handful baby or whole leaf spinach (shredded if whole leaf)
• lots of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oil in a medium non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and as soon as they begin to pop, add the curry leaves, onion, salt and chilli and cook until the onions are light golden. Reduce the heat to low, then stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for 30-40 seconds or until the garlic is cooked. Add the potato and fresh corn (if using), then pour in enough water to half cover the potatoes and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Mash a few pieces of the potato to help thicken the soup. There should be only a little liquid left. Add the fish, coconut milk, garam masala, spinach and frozen corn if using. Cover and return to the boil. Simmer over low heat for 3-4 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through and flakes easily. Add a good grind of black pepper and serve as is, or with some rice as a curry.

Anjum's Australian Spice Stories starts Monday 4 April 2016 on Food Network Australia. Visit the program page for recipes and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.