Coconut Milk Fish Stew with Red Lentils
This aromatic coconut milk fish stew with red lentils is gluten and dairy-free, and makes a healthy and delicious dinner idea. I made this recently for friends and they all adored it.
Ingredients
- 4-6 large very fresh hake fillets, skinless and boneless. Get your fishmonger to prepare this for you. If you wish you can also use cod or haddock.
- 160g red lentils rinsed
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves only, finely chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1-2 inch of fresh ginger finely chopped
- 1 small red chilli finely chopped and deseeded
- 400 g canned tomatoes
- 400ml full fat coconut milk
- Vegetable oil for cooking
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- ½ lime juice
Instructions
- I throw my onion, garlic, ginger and chilli into my food processor and give it a whizz. This takes away all the chopping required! If you don’t have a food processor just finely chop yourself.
- In a large pot heat up the oil, add the garlic, ginger, chilli and onion, and gently cook for 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add the lentils, stir and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, tarragon and salt, stir, cover, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often (don’t let the lentils stick to the bottom of the pot).
- Pour in lime juice and stir.
- If you are not ready to serve straight away turn off and you can heat up later on a gentle simmer before adding the fish.
- Add the fish, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to stand, covered, for about 3 more minutes.
- Garnish with some coriander and serve up in the middle of the table with crusty bread. I also put extra lime wedges and some natural yoghurt on the table if people want to add to their dish.
*Remember fish cooks very quickly once it gets added to the stew so don’t put in till the very end just before serving!! Overcooking the fish might make it tough and stringy, but do ensure it is cooked through before you serve it.
