When time's short in the kitchen, fish and shellfish are a real life-saver: they're healthy, tasty and damned quick to cook.
Before the fishermen go on holiday and Christmas turns the world upside down, I tend to eat a lot of fish. I don't have much spare time to spend cooking in the lead-up to Christmas - there are too many stocking fillers to buy, presents to be wrapped, last-minute errands to run - so I turn to fast, enticing dishes, redolent with spices, to warm us up and ward off bugs. You can get fresh turmeric and curry leaves at larger supermarkets and Asian food shops; if you can't find them, use ground turmeric instead of fresh and coriander instead of curry leaves.
A simple bowl of curried mussels
The sauce is so lip-smacking that I've been known to it eat as it is, scattered with cubes of paneer or feta. Over mussels - a terrific and cheap fast food - it becomes an extraordinarily comforting bowl of rich goodness. Serves four.
4 tbsp vegetable (or rapeseed) oil
1 and a half medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
5cm piece fresh turmeric, finely grated (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 tsp cumin seeds, freshly ground
1 tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground
2 400g tins plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2kg live mussels
20 curry leaves (or a handful of roughly chopped coriander leaves)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
Pop a large saucepan on a medium heat. When hot, add two tablespoons of oil and the onion, and sweat, stirring, for five minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin and coriander, cook for five minutes, then add the tomatoes (break them up in the pan with a wooden spoon) and sugar. Season generously, bring to a simmer and leave to bubble gently for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, scrub clean the mussels and tug off their beards; discard any mussels with broken shells or that do not shut when tapped firmly on the side of the counter. (If you prepare the mussels in advance, put them in a bowl and keep in the fridge, but not in water.)
Put a large casserole pan with a lid over the highest heat. When smoking hot, add the remaining oil, then the curry leaves (if using) and mustard seeds. Once the seeds start to pop, tip in the mussels with a few tablespoons of water, clap on the lid and cook for about five minutes, or until all the mussels have opened (discard any that do not). Pour the sauce on top; if you are using coriander instead of curry leaves, add it now. Bring back to a simmer, and serve at once.
A proper kedgeree
Kedgeree is my favourite Christmas Eve dish: buttery, fluffy rice scented with subtle spicing and seasoned with flakes of poached haddock is the perfect way to kick off the festivities. Serves four to six.
275g basmati rice
600g undyed smoked haddock
60g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 tsp cardamom pods, freshly ground
2 tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground
1 and a half tsp cumin seeds, freshly ground
5cm piece fresh turmeric, finely grated (or 1/2 tsp dried)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g frozen peas
3 free-range eggs, soft-boiled
Several large handfuls flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
Lemon wedges, to serve
Rinse the rice in cold water a few times, then cover in water and leave to soak for 10-15 minutes. Put the haddock in a pan over a medium heat, cover with boiling water, and leave to simmer for a few minutes, until barely cooked. Turn off the heat and let the fish cool in its bath.
Put a casserole on a medium heat and add three-quarters of the butter. When sizzling, add the onions and spices, season generously with pepper and a little salt, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Drain the rice and stir into the onion pot, making sure to coat all the grains in the fat. Pour in 500ml of the fish poaching liquid, bring to a simmer, and leave to bubble gently for 15 minutes. Stir in the peas, adjust the seasoning to taste, and leave on the heat.
Meanwhile, pull the skin off the haddock, and allow the fish to fall into a bowl in nice, big chunks. After the rice has been cooking for five minutes longer, turn the heat to its lowest possible setting (or heat the oven to low) and lay the fish gently on top of the rice. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for 10 minutes (or until the rice is tender): this allows the rice to finish cooking in its steam. Meanwhile, boil the eggs in gently simmering water for six minutes, drain and cool under cold, running water.
When you are ready to eat, shell the eggs and cut into quarters. Gently stir the parsley and remaining butter through the rice and spoon into a serving dish. Top with the quartered eggs, squeeze over half a lemon and bring to the table with warm plates and more lemon wedges for squeezing.
And for the rest of the week...
Leftover kedgeree is the breakfast of kings: gently reheat in a pan with a splash of water and more butter and parsley. And buy a slightly bigger piece of haddock than you need and use the excess in fishcakes, gratins, croquetas and the like. Leftover mussels are also a treasure: shell and put them in the fridge with any remaining sauce, and use in a silky mussel sauce for spaghetti by pureeing them with a little cream and topping with chopped coriander. Fresh curry leaves usually come in large bags, so freeze any left over: they keep brilliantly, make almost any curry taste better and can be used straight from frozen.
Photo Credits: Turn to seafood when time is short. Food styling: Katie Giovanni Photograph: Johanna Parkin/Guardian
Thomasina Miers is co-owner of the Wahaca group of Mexican restaurants.
