400ml tin coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons yellow (or red) Thai curry paste
350ml fish stock (I use boiling water and a slug of Benedicta Touch of Taste Concentrated Fish Bouillon; cubes would do)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm sugar or caster sugar
3 lemongrass stalks, each cut into three and bruised with the flat of a knife
3 lime leaves, de-stalked and cut into strips
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1kg pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled and cut into large-bite-sized chunks
500g peeled raw prawns
pak choi or any other green vegtables of your choice
juice of 1/2-1 lime, to taste
coriander, to serve
Skim the thick creamy top off the tin of coconut milk and put it, over medium heat, into a large saucepan or casserole with the curry paste. Let it sizzle and, using a fork, whisk or wooden spoon, beat milk and paste together until combined. Still beating gently, add the rest of the coconut milk, fish stock, fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, lime leaves and turmeric. Bring to a boil and then add the pumpkin. Cook on a fast simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 15 minutes, although different sorts of pumpkins can vary enormously in the time they take to cook; some squash take as little as 5 minutes.
As I mentioned, you can cook the curry up till this part in advance, maybe leaving the pumpkin with a tiny bit of bite to it (it will soften and cook as the pan cools). Either way, when you're about 5 minutes away from wanting to eat, get ready to cook the seafood.
So, to the robustly simmering pan, add the salmon and prawns (if you're using the prawns from frozen they'll need to go in before the salmon). When the salmon and prawns have cooked through, which shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes, stir in any green veg you're using - sliced, chopped or shredded as suits - and tamp down with a wooden spoon. When the pak choi's wilted, squeeze in the juice of half a lime, stir and taste and add the juice of the remaining half if you feel it needs it. Take the pan off the heat or decant the curry into a large bowl, and sprinkle over the coriander; the point is that the coriander goes in just before serving. Serve with more chopped coriander for people to add to their own bowls as they eat, and some plain Thai or basmati rice.
Serves 4-6.
I think this should be all the info you need, she has a page of blurb before this but I think she is just enthusing about the recipe.
I do not have Nigella's money and have to make do with our local Asda or Tesco so tend to use dried lime leaves and lemongrass (you can't eat the dried lemongrass) but it still tastes nice. I tend to skimp a bit on the salmon and prawns, Asda do a pack of 200g frozen raw tiger prawns for £2.99 and I tend to use two of these rather than the 500g stated, there is still plenty as she is always a bit extravagant anyway.
Hope you enjoy it!
PS Tonight we had spinach in it as Pak Choi seems to be a bit rare round these parts, although it is nice if you can get it!
I usually find the above quantity does us for two nights, two adults, one four year old I make the recipe up until just before you put the fish in then take half out for freezing or the next night and only use half of the fish & veg recommended and keep the other half for next time.
Thank you again for your advice about the prawns.