Coconut & Green Chilli Fish With Soy-Spiced Veg

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6 and boil a kettle

Peel and finely chop (or grate) your garlic and ginger then peel and finely slice half of your shallot[s] then chop your coriander finely, including the stalks (save a few leaves for garnish!)

Chop your green chilli[es] finely (deseed if you can't handle the heat!)

Add your chopped ginger, garlic, coriander, green chilli (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), ground cumin and sliced shallot to a food processor and blitz until smooth – this is your green chilli paste

Chop your creamed coconut roughly

Dissolve the chopped coconut cream and half of your soy sauce in 250ml [375ml] [500ml] boiled water – this is your coconut stock

Line a baking tray with baking paper

Top, tail, peel and chop your carrot[s] into quarters lengthways, then into batons

Deseed your pepper[s] (scrape the seeds and pith out with a teaspoon) and cut into thin strips

Peel and finely slice the remaining shallot

Add the carrot batons, pepper strips and sliced shallot to the tray with the remaining soy sauce, cumin seeds and a generous drizzle of olive oil

Give everything a good mix up and put the tray in the oven for 15-20 min or until tender – this is your soy-spiced veg

Add your basmati rice and 300ml [390ml] [600ml] cold water to a pot with a lid and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cook, covered, for 10-12 min or until all the water has absorbed and the rice is cooked

Once cooked, remove from the heat and keep covered until serving

While the rice is cooking, heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Once hot, add your green chilli paste and cook for 1 min or until fragrant

Once fragrant, add the coconut stock and bring to the boil

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 min – this is your coconut & green chilli sauce

Pat your basa fillet[s] dry with kitchen paper

Gently add the basa to the pan and cook, covered, for 5 min or until the basa is cooked through

Tip: Your fish is cooked when it turns opaque and flakes easily