This is a little recipe inspired by a thai curry dish served by one of my favourite Cape Town restaurants, Kitima's. To put it simply, their Salmon Penang with poached pear is to die for and I order it just about every time I go there for dinner. So about a year ago I decided to make up my own version by adding veggies to break the richness and topping the dish with fresh mint and basil to bring out all the fragrant flavours. I also alternate between using a penang and red curry paste- both are equally good to use! I'm one of those sweet and savoury nuts (think brie and onion marmalade, dates and bacon and salted caramel... you know here I'm going with this) and it's the salty salmon- sweet pear combination in this dish that has me making this dish over and over again.

I recommend coupling these magical thai flavours with a wooded chenin blanc or a glass of buttery chardonnay. I'm much more of a wine than a cocktail drinker, but do yourself a favour and try Kitima's Strawberry Rose martini infused with basil and clove; it must be the best cocktail I've ever tasted this side of the continent!

Salmon Pear Thai Curry (my version)

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

800g- 1kg of fresh shashimi quality salmon cut into 125-150g pieces
2 x 400ml cans of quality coconut milk (Wellness Warehouse have a mean selection)
1 tablespoon coconut oil (if required)
2 x packet Penang Thai curry paste (or use red curry paste)
4-5 pears sliced into 8 pieces each
1-2 sliced red peppers (length ways and 1 cm wide)
150g green beans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2.5 tablespoons fish sauce
A big handful of basil and mint
4 red chilli's
Salt to taste

Method

1. Scoop a table spoon or two of cream off the top of the coconut milk and mix in the curry paste in a heavy pan. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes until the oil seeps to the top. Tip: This is known as "cracking" the coconut milk which involves separating the cream into its oil, and then using the oil to fry up the spices. Coconut milk however is homogenised and therefore the oil can be lacking. To avoid this I recommend adding a tablespoon of coconut oil to the coconut cream to ensure a more fragrant thai curry flavour emerges.

2. Add the pear, red peppers and green bean and cook for 2 minutes, then add the coconut milk and stir the ingredients. Let this simmer for another 3 minutes.

3. Finally add the salmon so that is mostly covered by the coconut milk and then immediately turn down the heat and let the ingredients simmer in the coconut milk for another 5 minutes or so, until the pear has softened. Be careful to not over cook the salmon. You want to poach it in the coconut milk so that there is a slightly translucent pink colour in the very middle.

4. Tear up the basil and mint and stir into the curry just before serving and garnish with chopped red chilli's. You can use salt to taste if required but I usually find it's unnecessary.

5. Serve with Jasmine rice or cauli-rice lightly fried in coconut oil.

Yup it't that time of year for curries and stews. I don't know about you but it's been quite an adjustment getting into the winter swing of things. One of my favourite winter dinners is a good old hearty indian curry.

My friend Nina came around for dinner the other night and we decided to concoct our own curry with left over vegetables in our fridge. We had enough fresh ginger, garam Masala, cinnamon, cumin, and crushed coriander seeds to make it work! We also added a bit of paprika, regular curry powder and some dried crushed chilli's for an extra kick. The base of the curry was tomatoes and some yoghurt at the end. We added a squeeze of lemon juice, some sugar and salt to get the "tomatoey" balance right.

Whilst the curry was tasty, the naan bread was the highlight of our dinner. I found an easy stove top recipe online and just changed it a bit here and there. It is so easy to make and FLOP proof. The breads are soft and puffy but solid enough to scoop up the curry. You will knock the socks off your dinner guests by making this, and the best part is it's so easy! I've made it 3 times over the past 3 weeks.

NAAN BREAD RECIPE:

Makes 6 small Naan breads (10 cm ovals)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour ( or use a mix of tapioca and almond flour for a carb-free version)
20 ml sugar
Pinch of salt
2.5 ml baking soda
70ml yogurt a little water if dough too dry
chopped garlic (optional) or crushed coriander seeds for a variation

Method:

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the Yoghurt and Knead in the bowl until smooth. Cover for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough int 6 balls and roll into oval shapes 40 millimetres thick using flour on the surface and rolling pin to prevent sticking.

Heat up a cast iron pan with a tiny dash of oil or butter ( even tastier) and fry for 25 seconds either side or until the dough puffs up and browns ever so slightly.

Once cooked I brushed some garlic butter on mine to give it a bit more flavour. Only Including the garlic in the dough is also very tasty or you can even do both, or leave the garlic out all together depending on what you prefer.

Serve with any Indian curry or stew : -)

TIP: You could also take this exact recipe and make pita breads

If you get a chance to make this recipe, please let me know how it goes!