A couple of weeks ago I was shopping at a supermarket in Aosta. They had a special deal on salmon fillets, and my beloved found an aubergine he rather liked the look of. This is the dish I created to use both those ingredients.

for four

• 4 salmon fillets
• ⅛ tsp crushed, dried chillies
• ½ tsp turmeric
• Plain seasoned flour to dredge
• Sunflower oil for frying
• 1 teasp smoked salt, and lots of grinds of Indonesian long pepper
• 1 red onion
• 1 large aubergine
• 500g coconut milk
• Half a lime and its zest

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C
2. You may want to get the rice going – go here for the technique
3. Chop the aubergine into dice and fry in the oil – not too much. Keep stirring it around
4. Chop the onion, add it to a separate part of the frying pan, add a bit more oil
5. Mix in the chillies and the turmeric. Season
6. Continue frying until the aubergine and the onion are more or less cooked (they will get half an hour more cooking in a hot oven)
7. Take them out and put in an ovenproof casserole
8. Dredge the salmon fillets with the flour and then fry them for about three minutes on each side.
9. Lay them on top of the vegetables
10. Pour over the coconut milk and the lime juice
11. Simmer in the oven for about half an hour
12. If the fillets still have their skin, peel it gently off. Serve the salmon on top of the vegetables and the steaming, fragrant Basmati rice in deep plates leaving the juice in the ovenproof dish. Tip it up a little and whisk it with a cappuccino whisk – this will make it look frothy and professional.
13. Pour the sauce artistically around and garnish with the lime zest

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