40g long grain rice, par boiled and tossed in butter
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Steps
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
Poach the fish: Put the milk, fish and bay leaves into a large saucepan over a low heat. Let it simmer gently for 5 minutes then switch off the heat and leave to cool slightly before draining and reserving the poaching milk for later.
Make the filling: Heat the butter in a large frying pan and add the mustard seeds. Once they start to pop, tip in the onion, leek and celery. Cook gently for 5-10 minutes, until starting to soften, then add in the garlic, chilli and rice. Stir well and cook for another 2 minutes, then add in the curry powder, cardamom and turmeric. Cook the spices for a few minutes, then add the flour and stir until it’s all combined. Gradually add in the milk, stirring often, until you have a thick sauce. Add in the cream then switch off the heat. Let it cool for a few minutes then add in the frozen peas, chopped herbs and lemon zest, before adding the chopped boiled eggs and flaking in the fish. Stir gently then tip into the oven dish and put to one side.
Make the topping: Peel the potatoes and slice them on a mandolin, or as thinly as you can with a sharp knife. Put them into a mixing bowl and tip over the olive oil. Toss the potato slices so they are all well covered in oil.
Spoon the cooked and buttered rice onto the oven dish, leaving a circle in the middle where the potato pattern will go. Arrange the potato slices in a scallop pattern in the middle - leaving rice exposed at either end for the head and tail. Use the last pieces of potato to fashion a scalloped potato tail then, lastly, add one pea for an eye. Sprinkle sea salt flakes and ground black pepper on top then cook for 35-40 minutes until piping hot inside and brown on top.