Serves two hungry people (or three more modest eaters) …

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion
• Thumb-sized nub of ginger
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 red chilli
• Coconut oil
• 1/2 cauliflower (or whole one if you want leftovers)
• 2 large carrots
• 2 handfuls of frozen peas
• 200ml coconut milk
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• Lime
• Fresh coriander
• 2 frozen fish fillets / 1/2 pack of halloumi (optional)

Method

Pulse the garlic, ginger (peeled), chilli (deseeded) and spices with a dash of water in a small blender / food processor until they form a smooth paste. Peel and roughly chop the onion.

Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and leave to sweat on a medium heat for a few minutes. When the onion begins to soften and turn slightly translucent, scoop in your spicy paste and stir, making sure the onion is well covered. To avoid wasting any of your paste, swill some water around the little mixer pot and tip into the pan. Don’t worry about excess liquid – it will all become a delicious sauce. Quickly slice the carrots and stir them to the mixture.

In the meantime, prepare your cauliflower. First cut it in half and then break into small florets. You can drop each one directly into the frying pan as you go along. Again, give all the vegetables a good stir to ensure they are well coated with the spicy sauce.

Leave for another five minutes or so, before adding in the coconut milk and the frozen peas. Use this time to halve the cherry tomatoes and chop the coriander.

Heat the mixture until the sauce begins to gently bubble. Check that the cauliflower is reasonably tender (though a bit of bite is lovely). Then, turn off the heat, throw in the tomatoes and squeeze in the juice of one lime. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Scatter on the coriander after serving.

If you fancy the additional protein – you can poach the fish for around 15 minutes, and serve on the side, being sure to generously drizzle it with the spicy, coconut sauce.

For the halloumi alternative: chop the halloumi into 2cm cubes, and fry in a separate pan until slightly browned. You’ll need to stir it frequently. Scatter the crispy halloumi on top of the vegetables after serving. (For three people, I’d use a whole block of halloumi.)  Fried prawns also work well.

Serve the dish with brown rice, or enjoy on its own.