Ingredients

• 20curry leaves plus 20 extra leaves, fried in oil, to serve
• 10gghee
• 4eschallots, finely sliced
• 4cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1cinnamon quill
• 2 teaspoonsfennel seeds
• 6cardamom seeds, cracked
• 1 teaspoonfenugreek soaked in water
• 1green chilli, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 teaspoonpaprika
• 1 teaspoonturmeric
• 1/2 kitchen spoon Sri Lankan fish curry powder
• 1kgdiced sweet potato (1.5cm dice)
• 250mlfish stock
• 150gcoconut cream powder mixed with 1 litre warm water

• 3 cupsbasmati rice, washed
• 4 1/2 cups water

• 1whole fresh coconut, grated
• 1tablespoon Maldives’ fish
• 3 teaspoonschilli powder
• 1spanish onion, very finely chopped
• 1 teaspoonblack pepper corns, crushed
• 1lime, juiced

• 500gplain yogurt
• 2medium Lebanese cucumbers halved, seeded and very finely chopped
• 1medium lemon, juiced
• 1small red onion, very finely diced
• 1 teaspoon roasted whole cumin seeds, ground
• ½ teaspoondiced green chilli
• ½ teaspoonsea salt

• 4vine-ripened tomatoes, scored and cored

• 10snapper fillets, about 180g each skin on and scored

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Method

• Heat ghee in a large pot over medium heat. Add curry leaves and cook, stirring until fragrant.
• Add cinnamon, fennel seeds, cardamom and fenugreek and cook, stirring until aromatic.
• Add the eschallots, garlic and season with salt and continue to cook, stirring continuously until eschallots are soft. Add green chilli, paprika, turmeric and curry powder – cook, stirring until spices start to stick to the pan. Add fish stock and sweet potato.
• Bring to the boil and cook until sweet potato is tender. It should be cooked but still quite firm.
• Remove sweet potato and whole spices with slotted spoon or spider and put into shallow tray to cool down quickly.
• Add coconut cream to curry sauce and season to taste.
• With the sweet potato – pick through and remove the cinnamon and cardamom. Be sure to remove all seeds and the quill.
• Keep sauce and potato separate. Re-heat for service after cooking the fish.

• Combine rice and water in a rice cooker and season with salt. Cook according to rice cooker instructions.

• Combine grated coconut, maldive fish, chilli powder, chopped onion and crushed black pepper in a mortar. Pound with pestle until well mixed. Add lime juice a little at a time to taste, season with salt.

• Place all ingredients into a bowl. Mix together checking taste.

• Blanch tomatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water for 10-12 seconds, transfer tomatoes to a bowl of iced water to cool, drain.
• Cut tomatoes in quarters and scrape out seeds. Chop tomatoes into 2cm dice.

• Season fish skin with sea salt. Cook fish 2 at a time on a flat grill plate, skin-side down for 2-3 minutes or until skin is crisp. Transfer to a tray, keep warm.
• Combine curry sauce and sweet potato in a large saucepan and re-heat.

• Bowl of coconut sambal
• Bowl of yoghurt raita
• 10 lime halves wrapped in muslin
• Pot of re-heated curry sauce
• Tomato garnish
• Coriander cress, picked
• Cooked basmati rice
• 20 fried curry leaves
• Extra grated coconut to serve
• Spoon raita and coconut sambal among condiment serving dishes with lime halves.
• Spoon curry sauce into bowls and top with tomato and coriander cress.
• Spoon rice onto plate and top with fish. Spoon a little grated coconut over the fish and top with fried curry leaves, then place curry sauce bowl onto plate.