From fish curry to lamingtons: Yotam Ottolenghi's coconut recipes

With summer vacation now looming on the horizon, it's time to start dreaming of sunsets, tropical islands and fruit. And if that dream is a reality for any of you, I'm raising a piña colada for your enjoyment. For the rest of us, though, it's a perfect opportunity to turn the dial to the tropical wherever you are. And that's where coconut comes in, along with lime leaves, lime juice, fresh herbs, fresh fish, and other sweet fruits like mango that work so well with it. It's a heavenly pairing, whether tropical or otherwise.

Seafood and plantain curry (pictured above)

This is inspired by tapado, a Guatemalan seafood soup that features a flavorful concoction of seafood, coconut milk, plantain, and cassava. Here I only use plantains and add lime leaves for a little twist. To make it a complete meal, serve with steamed rice or rotis.

Preparation 25 minCooking 2 hours For 4 to 6 people

40ml of vegetable oil8 peeled tiger prawns, peeled and deveined, heads and shells reserved6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed20g piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated½ scotch bonnet, minced, seeds and all (or remove them if you prefer less spiciness) 40 g bunched fresh coriander, 20 g finely chopped stems, leaves reserved for sambal 3 makrut lime leaves 2 red peppers, stems, pith removed, flesh cut into 2 cm pieces 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (180g)2 green plantains (600g), peeled and cut diagonally into ½ cm thick slices (350g) Fine sea salt ½ tsp paprika 2 tbsp. -3jlghf">For the coconut sambal150g fresh coconut2 makrut lime leaves2 limes – 1 finely zested, to make 2 tsp, and squeezed, to make 1 tbsp, the another c cut into 4 wedges to serve

Place a teaspoon of oil in a large saucepan with a lid over medium-high heat. Once hot, add shells and heads of prawns reserved and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes, until nicely pink Add 500ml of water, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Mash the heads and shells with a potato masher to extract as much flavor as possible, then pour the mixture into a medium heatproof bowl and set aside.

Wipe out the pan and put it on medium-high heat.Add a tablespoon of oil, the garlic, the ginger, the pepper ent, coriander stems and lime leaves, and fry, stirring regularly, for three minutes, until fragrant and golden. Add the peppers, onion, plantains, another tablespoon of oil and half a teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until tender. be translucent. Stir in half the paprika and all the tomato paste, and fry, still stirring so it doesn't stick, for five minutes.

Pour in the broth prawns through a sieve directly into the pan (discard the solids), add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, put the lid on and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the sambal. Put all the ingredients except a teaspoon of lime juice in a food processor and process for one minute, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the cod with a quarter teaspoon of salt and set aside. In a second bowl, toss the shrimp with the remaining quarter teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of vegetable oil and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.

When the sauce is ready, place a frying pan over high heat. Grill the shrimp for two minutes on each side, until they turn deep pink and start to char. While they are grilling, place the cod in the sauce, put the lid back on the pot and cook for four minutes.

Once cooked, put the grilled shrimp and the remaining teaspoon of lime juice into the curry pot and stir gently to combine. Divide the mixture into bowls, top each serving with a generous dollop of sambal and serve with the rest and lime wedges on the side.

Coconut rice with peanut crunch