Indian-style roast salmon with fried potatoes and cucumber & coriander raita

Ingredients (for 2 people)

For the salmon
2 salmon fillets, skin on and scored
A dash of teriyaki sauce
A dash of soy sauce
A few different curry blends, or some ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala
Few drops of sesame oil
Some fish sauce
Some tabasco sauce
Salt
Pepper
2 tsp honey

For the curry paste
Olive oil
1-2 chillies, finely sliced
3 cm of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs of curry leaves
1 tsp of curry powder
Some salt, pepper, sugar
1 tbs of mustard seeds
1 tbs of sesame seeds
1 tin of creamed coconut milk

For the vegetable base
All different kinds of finely sliced vegetables, enough to fill the bottom of an oven dish, e.g.:
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
A quarter red cabbage/savoy cabbage
A handful of mangetout
2 leeks
1 unwaxed lemon or lime
Some salt and pepper

For the raita:
500 ml plain yoghurt
1 bunch of coriander, chopped with stalks and all
1 cucumber, grated
Some mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of icing sugar
Some raita seasoning (mustard seeds, dried herbs)

For the potatoes:
6-8 waxy potatoes
1 tbs of turmeric
Salt, pepper

How to marinate the salmon:
Marinate the salmon a few hours before cooking. Score the skin a couple of times, put the fillets into a sealable bag, add all the marinating sauces and spices except for the honey (be quite generous) and put the bag in the fridge.

How to make the raita:
Mix all the ingredients together. You can do this a few hours before dinner, so everything blends. Take out of the fridge half an hour before serving and adjust the seasoning.

How to make the curry paste:
Add olive oil to a frying pan. Add all the ingredients except the coconut milk and fry lightly for 3-4 minutes. Add the coconut milk and reduce by about half, stiring occasionally.

How to make the potatoes:
Peel the potatoes, half them lengthways and boil for 10-15 mins until almost cooked, drain and cut them into chunks. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and add the potatoes. Leave them for a few minutes to catch, add the spices, then fry until brown and crispy. They will turn a nice yellow from the turmeric.

How to roast the vegetables and salmon:
Heat up the fan oven to 180 degrees.

Place the vegetables in the oven dish. It's important to slice them as thinly as possible to allow them to cook as there is only a little amount of liquid in the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Sit the salmon fillets on top, skin side up. Drizzle the honey over the salmon and vegetables. Cut the lemon/lime into 6 chunks, squeeze the juice over everything and distribute the chunks over the vegetables. Drizzle the curry paste over the vegetables, it's ok if some ends up on the salmon. If the paste seems quite dry, add some extra white wine, or sake, to the pan. Now cover the dish with foil and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, check that there is some liquid with the vegetables (add some more if necessary), add some salt to the salmon skins and put back in the oven for another 15 mins until the salmon is cooked to your liking.

To serve:
Lift out the salmon with some of the vegetables and put on a plate. Add some of the potatoes and raita. Voila!

Delicious druck wraps with peanut sauce

Ingredients

For the duck
1 duck breast - skin scored, breast halved (easier when marinating)
Teriyaki sauce
Soy sauce
Different curry blends
Ground cumin
Ground coriander
Ground turmeric
Sake, or Noilly Prat, or red wine, or white wine
2 tsp honey
Some more soy sauce

For the peanut sauce
Olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1-2 chillies, finely sliced
Ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp chunky peanut butter
Sake
Juice of 1 lime
Salt, pepper, sugar
1/2 can of coconut milk

For the wraps
Tortilla flour wraps
Savoy cabbage, finely sliced
2 carrots, finely sliced
1/2 cucumber, cut into thin slices length-ways

How to marinate the duck:
Marinate the duck a few hours before cooking. If you've forgotten, or don't have the time, 30 minutes to an hour will be fine, but about 4 hours or even the whole day would be ideal. Take a sealable bag, add the duck and all the above sauces and spices (you want the marinade quite liquid), shake the duck about a bit and put in the fridge. Turn the bag over in the fridge once in a while so the duck is evenly marinated.

When ready to cook, heat up the oven to 170 degrees, Umluft.

How to make the sauce:
Now make the sauce. Heat up a couple of table spoons of olive oil and fry the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger lightly for a few minutes until softened. Add a generous dash of Sake (or white wine, or Noilly Prat etc.) and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Then add the peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, seasoning and stir while simmering on a low heat, for about 2-3 minutes. The sauce will thicken, so switch off the heat before it is the consistency you want (it will keep thickening off the heat).

How to fry/roast the duck:
Take an oven dish that can also be used on the stove. Pat the duck dry a little and start by frying it for a few minutes skin-side down in some olive oil. Not too much heat as the skin scorches easily. Then switch off the stove, turn the duck over, put salt and pepper on the skin, add some liquid to the pan, just a dash, and put in the oven for 25 minutes (for just well done). Leave in foil for a few minutes, then brush with a honey-soysauce-mix and put under a grill for 5 minutes or so, taking care not to burn the skin (you want it crispy). Cut into thin slices - taste while doing so because it's delicious! - and put on the table.

Also on the table: sliced vegetables, peanut sauce (luke warm) and the tortilla wraps (after about 30 seconds in the microwave).

Now assemble and enjoy!