Ingredients

• 200g/7oz fresh root ginger
• peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 fresh curry leaves
• 75g/2¾oz palm sugar
• 50g/2oz tamarind paste
• pinch salt
• 25g/1oz caster sugar
• 1 apple
• cut horizontally into 12 thin slices
• 10g/½oz butter
• 8 thin slices pancetta
• 8 x 1cm/½in thick slices black pudding
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 large scallops with roe
• ½ lemon
• juice only
• 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• to serve

Directions

• Bring the ginger
• curry leaves
• palm sugar
• tamarind and 500ml/18fl oz water to the boil in a large saucepan
• then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly
• then blend to a fine purée in a food processor. Season with a pinch of salt.
• Heat the caster sugar in a frying pan over a low to medium heat until melted and beginning to caramelise. Add the apple slices and cook in the caramelised sugar for a few seconds before adding the butter. When the butter has melted
• add a splash of water to the pan and swirl the contents
• without stirring
• until the caramel is smooth and the apple slices are coated in caramel.
• Dry-fry the pancetta slices in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat
• until crisp on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add the black pudding slices to the same pan and dry-fry for 30 seconds only on each side
• until just crisp on the outside but still soft on the inside. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Drizzle the scallops with a little of the oil
• then add them to the same pan and fry for 1-1½ minutes on each side
• or until golden-brown on both sides and just cooked through. Squeeze over the lemon juice then remove the scallops from the pan.
• To serve
• cut the scallops in half widthways. Place one disc of caramelised apple into the centre of the serving plates. Top with a small spoonful of the spice purée
• then a slice of black pudding
• then half a scallop. Repeat the stacking process once more to create two towers on each plate. Drizzle a spoonful of spice purée around the edge of each plate
• then top the towers with a couple of pieces of crispy pancetta and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.