Southern Indian fish soup

Serves 4-6

This is a nice simple soup that makes good use of a mixture of fish and shellfish or just shellfish. If you are using prawns and lobster then you can put the shells in the fish stock to beef it up a bit. Like most recipes, you can make it as spicy as you wish – the chilli quantity is up to you.

1tbsp ghee or butter
2 small onions, peeled, halved and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 red chillies, sliced
1tsp cumin seeds
1tsp ground cumin
2tsp freshly grated turmeric or 1tsp ground turmeric
A good pinch of saffron strands
1tsp black mustard seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
A small handful of curry leaves
1tsp fenugreek seeds
1tsp tomato paste
1.5ltrs fish stock

To serve

1 large potato, peeled, cut into 1cm dice
24 or so mussels, de-bearded
12-16 raw prawns, peeled
120g firm white fish, cut into 1cm chunks
1 large, firm beef tomato, diced
2-3tbsp freshly chopped coriander
100g coconut milk

Heat the ghee in a heavy saucepan and gently cook the onion, garlic, chillies and spices for 3-4 minutes on a low heat. Add the tomato paste, then the fish stock and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Add the potato, fish and tomato and simmer for 5-6 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Stir in the coriander and coconut milk, bring back to the boil and serve.