Over Smashed Potatoes & Mayo Raita

• Washed potatoes

• Olive oil

• 1/3 red onion

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1/2 tsp pink salt

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1/2 cup cornmeal flour

• 2 rig fillets

• 1 cup rice flour

• 1 egg

• Frying oil

• 1 cup frozen whole corn kernels

• 1 lime

• For the mayo raita

• 1/2 Lebanese cucumber

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• Salt and pepper

• 6 mint leaves

1) First up, let’s get those potatoes cooking. Cube and place them into a large pot with water. Boil for 15-25 minutes until they are mostly soft and ready for smashing. To smash them, we use a flat-bottom glass and press down until the skin splits but the potato is still intact. Place the smashed potatoes into a roasting tray, drizzle over olive oil then season before roasting in the oven at 220°C until they are golden brown with some crispy edges forming.

2) Once your potatoes are boiling away, dice the red onion, place it into a small bowl, then cover with cold water. This will help take the edge off the taste of the onion.

3) To make the mayo raita, grate the Lebanese cucumber into a small bowl and strain the liquid out. Put the strained cucumber back into the bowl. Add the mayonnaise, salt and pepper and the finely chopped mint leaves. Stir together and leave in the refrigerator until you are ready to plate.

4) Next, get the rig underway. The key to this dish is the crunchy cornmeal coating over the rig. For our spice mix, add the following ingredients to a bowl – paprika, salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, white pepper and cornmeal flour. Combine the ingredients. Cut the fillets of rig into bite-sized pieces. Remove any excess moisture from the fish using paper towels. Toss the chunks of fish around in a bowl of rice flour (shake off any excess), then dip the chunks individually into the egg before rolling around in the spice mix until it is evenly coated. Set the coated rig on a large plate ready for frying.

5) With everything prepared and the potatoes in the oven roasting, it’s time to fry the rig. Either use an air fryer or shallow fry in a pan. Either way, avoid overcrowding the pan to prevent the fish sticking together (and to prevent the oil temperature from lowering significantly). Remove the rig once the coating has developed good colour and looks nice and crunchy.

6) While the rig is frying, you can quickly make the blackened corn. Take a cup of frozen whole corn kernels and place into a small pan on low to medium heat. Add the juice of half a lime and a pinch of salt. Continue to stir throughout cooking to avoid burning the corn excessively. Fry until half of the corn has some charring on it then, remove from the heat.

7) To plate up, place the smashed potatoes on a board and drip over some of the mayo raita. Add some of the drained red onion, corn and more mayo raita. Add the fish over the top and follow up with the remainder of the ingredients.