Hot and sour monkfish with kachumber salad

Preparation method

1. For the marinade, mix together all the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish. Add the monkfish and rub it all over with the marinade; set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, for the sauce, tip the cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and coriander seeds into a dry frying pan over a moderate heat. Once the spices begin to colour, transfer them to a spice grinder and grind to make a fine powder.

3. Heat the vegetable or corn oil in a medium frying pan, add the garlic and fry until it starts to turn golden-brown. Add the onion and chilli and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.

4. Stir in the ground spices briskly to prevent them burning.

5. Add the tomato purée, cook for two minutes then stir in the stock (or water). Season, to taste, with salt.

6. Add the marinated monkfish to the pan and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, for the kachumber, place the diced cucumber, carrot and tomato into a mixing bowl.

8. In small bowl, whisk together the salt, sugar, lemon juice, olive oil and coriander to make a dressing. Pour the dressing over the diced vegetables and mix until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

9. Serve the monkfish curry with boiled rice and the salad alongside.

Required techniques

• De-seeding tomatoes
• Knife skills: how to finely chop
• Knife skills: how to finely chop
• Learning to chop: dicing an onion
• Knife skills: how to finely chop