With the summer holidays now firmly on the horizon,it’s time to start dreaming of sunsets and tropical islands and fruit. And if that dream is a reality for any of you, I’m raising a piña colada to the fun you’ll have. For the rest of us, however, it’s an ideal opportunity to turn the dial to tropical wherever you are. And that’s where coconut comes in, as well as lime leaves, lime juice, fresh herbs, fresh fish and other sweet fruit such as mango that all work so well with it. It’s a match made in heaven, be it tropical or otherwise.
Seafood and plantain curry (pictured above)
This is inspired by tapado, a Guatemalan seafood soup that features a flavourful concoction of seafood, coconut milk, plantain and cassava. Here, I use only plantains, and add lime leaves for a little twist. To make it a complete meal, serve with steamed rice or rotis.
Prep 25 min
Cook 2 hr
Serves 4-6
40ml vegetable oil
8 shell-on tiger prawns, peeled and deveined, heads and shells reserved
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
20g piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
½ scotch bonnet, minced, seeds and all (or remove them if you prefer less heat)
40g bunch fresh coriander, 20g stalks finely chopped, leaves reserved for the sambal
3 makrut lime leaves
2 red peppers, stems, pith seeds removed, flesh cut into 2cm pieces
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (180g)
2 green plantains (600g), peeled and cut on the diagonal into ½cm-thick slices (350g)
Fine sea salt
½ tsp paprika
2 tbsp tomato paste
400ml full-fat coconut milk
450g skinned cod, or other meaty white fish, cut into 2½cm-thick pieces
For the coconut sambal
150g fresh coconut
2 makrut lime leaves
2 limes – 1 finely zested, to get 2 tsp, and juiced, to get 1 tbsp, the other cut into 4 wedges to serve
Put a teaspoon of oil in a large saucepan for which you have a lid on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the reserved prawn shells and heads, and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes, until deeply pink. Pour in 500ml water, bring to a boil then turn down the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Crush the heads and shells with a potato masher to extract as much flavour from them as possible, then pour the mix into a medium heatproof bowl and put to one side.
Wipe dry the pan and put it on a medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil, the garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander stalks and lime leaves, and fry, stirring regularly, for three minutes, until fragrant and golden. Add the peppers, onion, plantains, another tablespoon of oil and half a teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until translucent. Stir in half the paprika and all the tomato paste, and fry, still stirring so it doesn’t catch, for five minutes.
Pour the prawn stock through a sieve directly into the pot (discard the solids), add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium, put on the lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the sambal. Put all the ingredients bar a teaspoon of lime juice in a food processor and blitz for a minute, until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
In a medium bowl, sprinkle the cod with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and set aside. In a second bowl, mix the prawns with the remaining quarter-teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of vegetable oil and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
When the sauce is ready, set a griddle pan on a high heat. Grill the prawns for two minutes on each side, until they turn a deep pink and start to char. While they’re grilling, drop the cod into the sauce, put the lid back on the pot and cook for four minutes.
Once cooked, put the grilled prawns and remaining teaspoon of lime juice into the curry pot and stir gently to combine. Divide the mix between bowls, top each serving with a generous spoonful of sambal, and serve with the rest and the lime wedges alongside.
Coconut rice with peanut crunch
This is a great side dish to go alongside your protein of choice. The peanut crunch is super-special and will make more than you need here; store the excess in an airtight jar and use for sprinkling over salads and fruit. If you’re left with just a bit of coconut milk in a tin, after using what the recipe calls for, a neat trick is to freeze the rest in a compartment or two of an ice-cube tray – this means it won’t go to waste and will be at the ready whenever you need just a bit in the future.
Prep 25 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 8
45g virgin coconut oil, plus 1 tsp extra
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped (360g)
3 makrut lime leaves
Fine sea salt
30g desiccated coconut
200g white basmati rice, washed until the water runs clear, then drained
300ml full-fat coconut milk
200g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
250g runner beans, trimmed
1½ tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
20g coriander leaves
10g mint leaves, roughly chopped
For the topping
10g virgin coconut oil
2 tsp chilli flakes
60g salted peanuts
40g desiccated coconut
40g crisp fried onions (shop-bought)
1 tsp soft light brown sugar
Put the coconut oil, onions, lime leaves and half a teaspoon of salt in a large saute pan for which you have a lid. Put the pan on a medium-high heat, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent and lightly coloured. Stir in the desiccated coconut, cook for another three to five minutes, until lightly browned, then stir in the rice. Pour in the coconut milk and 200ml water, cover the pan, turn the heat down low and cook gently for 15 minutes. Take off the heat, leaving the lid on, and set aside for 15 minutes. When ready, lift off the lid, fluff the rice with a fork and leave to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, make the topping. Melt the coconut oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat. Add the chilli flakes, peanuts and coconut, and cook, stirring frequently, for four to six minutes, until toasted and fragrant. Off the heat, stir in the fried onions, brown sugar and half a teaspoon of salt, stir to combine, then tip on to a tray and leave to cool. Once cool, transfer to a food processor, pulse three to five times, until the peanuts are roughly broken, then tip into a bowl and set aside.
Wipe the frying pan clean and put it on a high heat. Once the pan is smoking hot, add the sweetcorn and cook, stirring, for three to five minutes, until the kernels are popping and slightly charred. Tip into a bowl and return the pan to the heat. Drizzle the beans with the remaining teaspoon of coconut oil, then drop into the pan. Use tongs or a smaller pan to press them flat, and char for about two minutes a side. Transfer to a board and, once cooled slightly, cut the beans at an angle into 1½cm-thick slices. Add these to the sweetcorn bowl, then stir in the lime juice, olive oil, herbs and a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
Arrange the rice and charred vegetable mixture in alternating layers on a platter, sprinkle over a third of the topping and serve with the rest in a bowl alongside.
Mango and lime lamingtons
These funky-looking cakes are one of Australia’s greatest pastry exports. They are traditionally made with strawberry and chocolate, but this version has been given a tropical lift. Amchur powder can be found in Asian grocery stores, but these cakes are still great without it.
Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 20 min
Rest 1 hr
Makes 20
For the labneh filling
175g labneh (store-bought), or 175g thick-set Greek yoghurt
1½ tbsp icing sugar
For the sponge
260g room temperature unsalted butter
260g caster sugar
5 eggs
340g self-raising flour
Fine sea salt
2 limes – 1 finely zested, to get 1 tsp, and juiced, to get 1 tbsp, the other left whole
150ml whole milk
250g desiccated coconut, for coating
For the mango sauce
340g tinned mango puree (alphonso, for preference)
210g condensed coconut milk
55ml vegetable oil
2½ tbsp amchur powder (AKA mango powder) – optional
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. First, make the sponge. Grease and line a square, 20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment in place and mix on medium-high speed for two minutes, until pale and fluffy. Turn down the speed to medium and mix in the eggs one at a time (don’t worry if the mixture curdles). Turn the speed down to low, add the flour, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of lime zest, then pour in the milk to create a batter. Transfer to the lined tin and spread out evenly.
Bake for 40 minutes, until deeply golden and a skewer comes out clean, then remove and leave to rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Invert on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
While the sponge is baking, make the coating. Put a large frying pan on a medium heat, add half the coconut, and toast, stirring frequently, for seven minutes, until golden. Tip into a large bowl, add the remaining untoasted coconut and half a teaspoon of lime zest, and set aside.
For the sauce, whisk the mango puree, condensed milk, oil, one and a half tablespoons of amchur, if using, and the lime juice in a large bowl until well mixed.
For the filling, whisk the labneh and icing sugar in a medium bowl. Use a small, sharp knife to peel off the skin and pith of the remaining whole lime, cut in between the membranes to release the segments, then roughly chop them. Weigh out 20g of chopped lime segments (save the rest for another use) and stir into the labneh bowl.
Trim the top and bottom crusts off the cooled cake, thereby removing the “bump” on top and levelling it off, then cut in half horizontally to make two equal layers. Spread the filling over the inside of the cake, then sandwich the two slices back together. Cut the crusts off the sides, to neaten it, then cut into 20 4cm x 5cm squares.
Working one at a time, carefully dip each side of each square cake into the mango sauce, so it’s covered on all sides. Dip in the desiccated coconut mix, toss gently to coat all over, then put on a serving plate and repeat with the remaining cakes, sauce and coconut.
Dust the cakes with the remaining tablespoon of amchur, if using, and serve.
