Rice, Spice and Everything Nice

2011-05-13T21:05:00.002+01:00

Once again, I have to apologise for not posting more regularly! I have a lot of exams at the moment, and in addition to this I have been working on a large piece of coursework. If that wasn't enough, I am trying to finish all the recipe testing and photographs for my next book, as well as planning something a bit special…a move to Allahabad for 2 years! So lot's of stressful, exciting, crazy stuff going on.

To make up for my absence I thought I would share a delicious and healthy recipe that makes a perfect breakfast, and can also be served with chapati for a full meal - sprouted moth bean fry. I had it for breakfast with aSouth Indian style courgette chutney.

Moth beans are known as matki in Marathi and are probably most popular in a slightly moist dish called matki chi usal. In this dish however they are kept quite dry.

Ingredients:

1 cup moth beans, soaked overnight and then sprouted for 1-2 days until they have short tails

1 tablespoon ghee or oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

A large pinch asafetida

A handful of curry leaves

2-4 minced green chillies

1/2 tablespoon minced ginger

1 cup chopped shallots or onion

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons grated fresh coconut

Lemon juice, to taste

3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the asafetida, quickly followed by the curry leaves, chillies and ginger.

Stir once, then add the shallots or onion. Stir and fry for about a minute, then add the sprouted moth and stir to mix. Sprinkle in the turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Continue to stir and fry, adding a splash of water every now and then if necessary until the beans are slightly tender but still have a bit of bite to them. Stir in the coconut, then turn off the heat. Add the lemon juice and coriander and mix. Serve.

And here’s my recipe for the courgette chutney:

Ingredients:

2 medium courgettes, chopped

2-3 dried red chillies, torn into 3 pieces each

Small lemon size ball of tamarind, soaked in hot water to just cover

Salt, to taste

Ghee or oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 ½ teaspoon urad dal

A large pinch asafetida

A handful of curry leaves

Put the courgettes in a pan with about 1 teaspoon ghee or oil and the chillies. Stir and fry until just tender. Then, squeeze a thick paste out of the soaked tamarind and add to the pan. Cook for about a minute more. Add the salt. Blend this mixture to a thick paste.

Heat a little more ghee or oil in a small pan. When hot, add the urad dal, followed by the mustard seeds. When the dal reddens and the mustard seeds pop, add the asafetida and curry leaves. Stir once or twice then tip over the chutney. Stir in and serve.

Dhansak and Brown Rice for Sue

2011-04-17T19:55:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I received some really sad news. A friend of mine, Sue, passed away after a battle with cancer. I was very shocked and found myself reminiscing over some of the delicious recipes that she shared. Tonight, in honour of her memory, I made her dhansak (vegetarian) and brown rice recipes. Sue herself was from the Parsi community, so I feel that these are particularly apt recipes to remember her by.

Here is a picture of the dhansak, generously garnished with fresh coriander. [Whilst we're talking pictures, I must apologise for mine tonight - it seems there was a smear on my camera lens!] The only adjustments I made to Sue's recipe was to use a tad more tamarind and sugar to get the right sweet and sour taste. You can find the recipe for the dhansak here.

Here is a picture of the brown rice, with a beautiful topping of browned onions (though they were not quite browned enough!). The only adjustment I made to this was a tiny bit more sugar. You can find the recipe for the brown rice here. I noticed whilst following the recipe that it doesn't say to add the rice! I added the rice after the spices had fried for a bit, gave it a stir in the aromatic onion-spice-oil and then added the water and sugar. Incidentally, I used basmati rice and gave it the usual wash-soak for fifteen minutes-drain for ten minutes treatment.

On the side I made a quick kachumbar. Chopped onion (red and white), tomato, cucumber and fresh coriander was dressed with lemon juice, roasted and ground cumin, roasted and ground black peppercorns, chilli powder and salt. Refreshing and delicious.

The table looked fabulous.

As did everyone's plates. Everything was delicious and I will definitely be making both recipes again. Thank you Sue, for everything.

Sprouted Moong Stir Fry

2011-04-16T11:13:00.001+01:00

Sprouted beans are so easy to make and so nutritious, it's a new aim of mine to try and eat them at least once a week. I particularly like to sprout beans in the Winter, as it's a good way to get a cheap and nutritious vegetable during a time when there are less local ones about. However, sprouts are also a tasty, light summer dish.

It's very easy to sprout your own beans at home, especially if you have a sprouter. These are quite inexpensive and freely available in health food and cookware shops. The one I have has three layers, so you can sprout lots of beans or three different kinds if you like.

All you have to do is soak the beans overnight until they are fully plumped up. Then drain them, and put them in the sprouter. Leave them for one or two days to sprout, rinsing them a couple of times a day. Many people say to leave them in a dark place, but actually I just leave mine in my kitchen and they sprout fine. If you don't have a sprouter, try lining a seive or colander with muslin and use that instead.

In most Indian dishes, the beans are sprouted for a shorter time than for East Asian bean sprouts, so they have a shorter "tail" and are a little more substantial. They are almost always cooked, although you could try them raw in salads if you wanted. They are also fantastic added to breads or ground into batter for dosa.

Ingredients:
1 cup moong beans, sprouted
1 large onion, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon oil or ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
A large pinch of asafetida
A handful of curry leaves
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2-4 minced green chillies
2-4 mince garlic bulbs (optional)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
Salt, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds. When the seeds pop, add the asafetida and curry leaves. Stir once, then add the ginger, chillies and garlic (if using). Stir once or twice, then add the onion. Stir and fry till the onion is translucent and soft.

Add the tomato, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and a splash of water. Cook until the tomatoes start to soften. Then add the moong sprouts. Add water as desired to cook the beans and end up with the texture you like. I like the dish a little saucy, but you can make a drier dish if you like.

Stir to mix well, then partially cover and cook until the beans are as tender as you like them. Some people cook them till they are very soft, I prefer them to have a little bite but still be cooked. Allow 5-10 minutes.

Remove the cover and adjust the texture with a splash of water if desired. Stir in the chopped coriander and lemon juice, and serve.

This is delicious with rice or with breads.

Badam milk

2011-04-03T19:28:00.003+01:00

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, my Gran fractured her knee cap. As well as the obvious pain and distress of the injury itself, she has also had to cancel a holiday and she is stuck at home unable to do much.

To cheer her up, various family members and friends have been popping around to see her. I myself have been trying to boost her vitality and cheer her up with a few delicious foods. My first course of action was to teach her to mix mashed banana with teaspoon of ghee, a teaspoon of jaggery and a pinch of ground cardamom. Of course, I gave her a jar of fresh ghee and some jaggery-cardamom mixture to help her out! I think I am right in saying it has become a favoured dessert - in fact she even made some for my brother when he popped into visit!

However, now that some of the initial shock and annoyance is wearing off, boredom is setting in, and along with boredom has come trouble sleeping. So this afternoon I decided to make her a nutritious, delicious drink mixture that will help her body heal and also soothe her to sleep. And what could be more soothing and delicious than badam (almond) milk? It's so easy to put together.

Ingredients:

200g ground almonds
100g sugar, ground in a coffee grinder to make it fine
1-3 tsp saffron threads, grounds (basically as much as you can afford!)
1/2 tsp cardamom, ground
1/3 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Mix everything together in a bowl. Carefully transfer the mixture to clean jars.

The amount of sugar in this recipe makes it pleasently sweet without being sickly. If you have a very sweet tooth, you can add more.

To make a cup of almond milk:

Heat one cup of milk, preferably whole, in a small pan. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat right down and add 1-2 tablespoons of the almond mix. Mix well. Turn the heat up and bring to a foaming boil again. Pour into a cup from a height to create a froth.

This is also delicious cold on a hot day. You may want to add a bit more sugar to the milk if you want to drink it cold.

Podi idli

2011-04-02T14:26:00.000+01:00

We had idli-sambar for breakfast this morning, and as there were 8 idlis left, I decided to keep them for lunch. The trouble is, idlis can become a little dry when leftover, which is great for making idli upma but not so great for enjoying them on their own.

However, there is an excellent way to make idlis taste great and stay soft: coat them in podi mixed with ghee or sesame oil! This turns idlis into a favourite lunchbox treat. Typically, a podi with lots of chillis is used! Actually, you can use any favourite podi to coat idlis.

I decided to make a fairly nutty tasting podi that wouldn't be too hot for my Mum to enjoy, using dal and coriander seeds as the base. It was delicious!

Ingredients:
1 tsp toor dal
1 tsp channa dal
2 tsp coriander seeds
A pinch of black peppercorns
A pinch of fenugreek seeds
2-4 dried red chillies (depending on how hot you like it)
Sesame oil or ghee
8 leftover idlis

Roast the dals and spice seeds together till aromatic and golden. Then roast the chillies till they darken. Grind - I made quite a coarse powder, but you can grind it finely if you prefer.

Mix with enough ghee or sesame oil to make a paste. I used sesame oil, to make it even nuttier. Coat the idlis thoroughly with the podi mixture. Serve as a spicy snack or as part of a lunchbox meal.

Green Chilli Pickle...and Pickle Food Safety

2011-03-26T10:39:00.007Z

Last October, I mention that I had made a green chilli pickle in this post here. Since it was my own recipe and I had never tried it before, I was reluctant to post a recipe without first finding out whether it was any good!

Well, I have to confess now that about three weeks after I made the pickle, I tried a bit and it was great. I let it mature a little longer, and then I wolfed the whole jar in a very short period of time! A couple of weeks ago I got round to starting off another batch, because it was so good. So I think now would be an excellent time to share the recipe.

The recipe is very simple and quick to make. In addition, the pickle also matures reasonably quickly. This is because the chillis are briefly cooked in lemon juice. This process softens them, and also gets the acid right into the chillies more quickly, allowing them to continue to soften and get a pleasently sour flavour much more quickly than if you just put raw chillies in a jar of lemon juice.

Now, you may be wondering why I chose to cook the chillies in lemon juice. Was it just to get a quick pickle? Actually, it wasn't. After an intensive period of pickle making last year, I stumbled across a few snippets about botulism that made me quite worried.

Botulism is a serious and rather unpleasent illness that is caused by the botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium clostridium botulinum. Now, there is a certain amount of information on the web that you are more than welcome to read if you want to know the gory details, but the main jist of it is that you definitely do not want to get botulism. To get a brief overview, I reccomend checking out the wikipedia article.

But why are we talking about botulism? Well, the toxin itself (but not the spores - which require cooking at high pressure to destroy) is destroyed by cooking, so it is not so much of an issue with freshly cooked food that is eaten promptly. But botulism can be a risk with preserved foods, such as pickles. You see, under certain conditions, the bacteria responsible for creating the botulinum toxin can thrive and multiply, and produce lots of the toxin. Conditions that are favourable for creating botulinum toxin are an anaerobic, non-acidic environment. Anaerobic means that there isn't oxygen. In terms of making pickles, this can occur when oil is used in the pickle, as a layer of oil coats the item being pickled and therefore the surface of the item will be an anaerobic environment. The bacteria also become dormant at cooler temperatures, so refrigerating foods can help, though it is not reccommended as a sole way of preventing botulism, as some toxin can still be produced.

When you are pickling an acidic ingredient such as green mango or lemons, then the acidity makes the pickle a hostile environment for botulism spores and bacteria. So, you do not need to take extra care with these items, though good food hygeine should still be followed. Also, if you are not using oil in your pickle there is less risk as the pickling environment will not be anaerobic. However, when you take a low or medium low acid food such as garlic, chilli or carrot and pickle it with oil, there are risks. In fact, I have read that garlic and chillies are particularly risky foods.

But luckily, there is a solution. If you acidify the item to be pickled before adding oil, you will ensure that the environment is not suitable for botulinum toxin to be produced. Of course, another method is to kill of all toxin and spores present in the pickle by cooking it at pressure, but a pressure canning setup can be tricky at home. To acidify something, all you have to do is cook it in acid for a short period of time. I found out about this technique on this website. I suggest that you read this page if you wish to know more about the role of acids in pickles.

So there you go, that is how I came up with cooking the chillies in lemon juice! Having said all of the above, please remember that I am not a healthcare expert or a scientist, and I am only passing on information that I have read. Please read carefully about botulism in other sources before making any high risk foods such as herbs preserved in oils. As I said, with high acid pickles that are acidic before the addition of oil (if it is added), the risk is low and there should not be too much cause for worry. But food safety when preserving is a big issue and it is important to get information from a reliable source.

Anyhoo, on with the pickle recipe, which is very simple indeed!

Ingredients:

200g fresh green chillies

Juice of 5 lemons (around 200ml)

3 tblspoons salt

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

A lump of asafetida

4 tblspoons mustard dal

50g mustard oil

Clean and dry the chillies. Cut them into short lengths. Put in a pan with the lemon juice, turmeric and salt. Bring to the boil. Cook for 30 seconds or so, then turn off the heat. The chillies will discolour and will not look particularly attractive. In fact, they almost look as if they have been pickling for quite a while already. Allow to cool almost completely.

Roast the fenugreek and powder it with the asafetida. Add along with the mustard dal to the chilli mixture. Allow to cool completely whilst you prepare the oil.

Heat the oil in a small pan. When it is hot, turn off the heat. Allow to cool and then add to the chillies. Put in a large sterilised jar (kilner jars are ideal for pickles) and keep in the sun, if possible, for two weeks. Shake the jar a couple of times a day.

After three or four weeks, you can try some of the pickle. The chillies should have softened and have a good pickle-y flavour, but will probably still be rather hot (depending of course on the type of chillies you used). With time, the heat will mellow, although the pickle will still have a kick to it. You can leave the pickle for a few weeks more to get it mellowed to the flavour that you desire, or use it as it is. Remember to transfer the pickle to steralised, smaller jars for storage, and keep the pickle in a cool place. Once a jar is opened, it is best to keep it in the fridge.

This pickle is a fantastic way to perk up meals that need a bit of a kick. I love it with rice and kadhi, or in fact any yoghurt-y dish. It's also really delicious in a cheddar cheese sandwhich!

Idli Upma

2011-03-19T09:29:00.000Z

I cannot claim that my idlis are perfect, mostly because the weather here is just too chilly at the moment to get fermentation going very quickly, so they're not quite as light as they could be. However, they are certainly getting better every time I make them. The good news is that even slightly-less-than-light idlis make good idli upma, and it's a fantastic way of using up leftovers.

It's best if the idlis dry out slightly, so leave them overnight in the fridge if you can. Then crumble them roughly.

I like a seasoning mixture of shallots, green chillies and grated ginger. This gives a nice fresh flavour to the leftover idlis.

Heat a little oil in a pan. Then add mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustard pops and the dal reddens, add curry leaves, shallots, chillies and ginger. Stir and fry for a few minutes until the shallot softens and goes a little translucent. Then add the idli crumbs, plus salt to taste.

Stir and fry until the idli crumbs are heated through and well combined. Then add a sprinkle of lemon juice, to taste, and chopped fresh coriander. Stir to mix and serve.

Of course, breakfast is always better with chutney! I roasted some peanuts in a pan.

Separately I also roasted some coriander seeds and chillies. I ground the spices and peanuts in a mortart and pestle with a little salt, a little jaggery and a few sprinkles of water.

Finally, a tadka of mustard, asafetida and curry leaves finishes the chutney off.

What a quick, tasty breakfast!

Butternut Squash and Aduki Erissery

2011-03-16T20:09:00.004Z

A few years ago I spent 7 weeks in Kerala, in the Kottayam district. I ate a lot of delicious food, and I also made quite a few notes on various recipes.

Today I decided to try and decipher my notes on one of my favourite dishes. This is a dish that I requested again and again, whenever I could! In Kerala, it was made with yam and a small red bean that I don't think is available here. I decided to use butternut squash, because I had a large one to hand, and aduki beans.

Although I made notes on the ingredients at the time, I did not measure quantities, and I have pieced together these from some online sources. Certainly it turned out delicious, so I must have got something right!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup aduki beans, soaked overnight
500g chopped butternut squash
Salt, to taste

For the wet masala
1 cup fresh grated coconut
A few small chunks of fresh ginger
2-3 small garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

You will also need
Ghee or oil for cooking
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2-3 dried red chillies, roughly broken
A handful of curry leaves
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1-2 small garlic cloves, minced

Drain the aduki beans and cook until tender. Drain.

Cook the squash with a little water and salt until tender.

Meanwhile, grind the ingredients for the wet masala into a paste with a little water.

Mash the squash a little and add the beans, mashing a few of these too.

Add the wet masala paste plus a little water if necessary. It should be quite thick and not watery. Cook for a few minutes.

Heat some ghee or oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and chillies, and when the seeds pop add the curry leaves, onion, ginger and garlic. Stir and fry until the onion softens.

Add to the squash and bean mixture, checking for salt. Cook for a few minutes until everything is tender and well combined. Serve.

I served the erissery with bittergourd pitlai, cooked from the book 'Samayal' by Viji Varadarajan, plus a little plain yoghurt and some cucumber.

Amritsari Style Chole

2011-03-16T19:28:00.007Z

This weekend I decided to try and recapture some of the delicious aroma and taste of Amritsari chole. I picked up a tip from an acquaintance, which was confirmed by a couple of posts on a gourmetindia.com on how to make chole lovely and dark without resorting to tea - fresh coriander stalks in the masala. I'm pleased to say it works very well.

Ingredients:
For the chickpeas
1 1/2 cup dried kabuli channa, soaked overnight
4 black cardamom
1 largish piece of cassia bark
1-2 cassia or bay leaves
4 cloves
Salt, to taste

For the wet masala
2 inches peeled fresh ginger
4 fresh green chillies
1-2 roughly chopped onions (depends on the size of your onions)
A large amount of fresh coriander stems
3 teaspoons coriander seeds, roasted and ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
A small lump of asafetida, ground

For the dry masala
8 green cardamom
8 cloves
1 largish piece of cassia bark, broken up roughly
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

You will also need
Ghee or oil for cooking
1/2-1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2-1 tablespoon amchoor or anardana (ground)

Drain the chickpeas and put in a pressure cooker with the other ingredients for the chickpeas plus enough water to cook. Cook till tender, following your normal pressure cooker instructions. After bringing up to pressure, it took me 20 minutes to cook the chickpeas. You can also cook the chickpeas conventionally but it takes a lot longer. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid, and discard the whole spices.

Meanwhile, grind the ingredients for the wet masala with just enough water to make a paste. Roast the ingredients for the dry masala and grind to a powder.

Heat some ghee or oil in a large pan, and when hot add the wet masala. Cook, stirring frequently, until the paste is thick and the fat is visible on the surface. The paste will darken as it fries.

Add the cooked chickpeas, and enough cooking liquid to moisten the dish. I had about 500ml cooking liquid leftover and I added it all, but remember that you do want a fairly thick sauce at the end. Mash some of the chickpeas against the side of the pan to thicken the sauce. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Then add the dry masala, the chilli powder and the amchoor or anardana. Cook for another 10 minutes. You can adjust the texture of the sauce as you desire, I like mine quite thick. The chole is now ready to serve.

I decided to try and whip up some kind of stuffed naan/ stuffed kulcha to go with the chickpeas. Not being certain of the dough for kulcha, I made up a naan-type dough with white flour, yoghurt, ghee, yeast, baking powder and milk (with a little salt and sugar too). I am not providing proportions as I messed it up and had to add quite a bit of unmeasured flour to get it back right again! I made quite a soft dough and left it for one hour to rise.

Then I knocked it back and divided it into eight portions. The dough was quite sticky and I had to add a bit more flour at this stage again.

For the filling I mixed finely chopped red onion, chopped fresh coriander, chaat powder, chilli powder and lemon juice.

A little of this filling was used to stuff each portion of dough.

The breads were cooked on a greased metal sheet that had been heated up very hot in an oven turned up as high as it would go. This was put back in the oven with the bread and cooked for about 5 minutes. The breads puffed up quite a bit and turned out much puffier and softer than I was going for (I admit I was craving kulcha!), but they were very tasty.

Here's a loving close up of a broken open bread.

Of course, the breads must be touched with a good pat of butter! With spicy cucumber raita and mango pickle on the side, this made a delicious meal.

South Indian Style Filter Coffee

2011-03-12T10:04:00.006Z

I finally remembered to buy myself a South Indian coffee filter on my latest trip, so I can enjoy traditional style coffee at home.

Here I have disassembled all the individual parts so you can see it more clearly.

Sadly, I forgot to actually buy some South Indian coffee...luckily we had some (Peruvian) coffee beans that my Gran gave us over Christmas sat in the freezer. I ground them up as usual in the coffee grinder that I DON'T use for grinding spices.

The ground coffee goes in the top compartment of the coffee filter, where the little holes are - sorry the lighting isn't great in this picture! Then the little "umbrella" bit is held over the top and hot (just boiled) water is poured over. The "umbrella" is rested on top and the lid put on. The coffee is left to gently filter through.

Once you have your strong, fragrant decoction, the final bit is easy! Heat up enough milk for however many cups you are making in a small pan. I like to use whole milk. I also add my sugar at this point as it dissolves better, but some people like to add sugar to the individual cups. If I feel like it, a few cardamom pods get heated with the milk too. The milk is brought to a frothing boil and then I stir briefly so that the sugar dissolves.

To serve the coffee, I pour the coffee decocotion into individual steel tumblers (I prefer a small tumbler). Some people prefer to add the milk and then the coffee as it is easier to gauge the strength of the coffee that way, but I don't think it mixes as well.

To get a good froth on the coffee, pour the milk back and forth between a pan and a spare tumbler from as great a height as you dare. Then pour from a height into the decoction. Since you're going to fill the cup quite full, you should of course have one of those little stainless steel katoris to go with your tumbler! Enjoy.

Poha with Spinach and Mint Chutney

2011-03-05T09:48:00.008Z

First of all, I apologise. I have not blogged for a very long time. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that I have had exams and was rather ill both just before and just after Christmas.

But no matter, I'm back and have committed to blogging at least twice a week from now on! Even better, I've just come back from three weeks in India, and also I finally got my ultra pride + grinder so I have loads of ideas and some brilliant new equipment.

However, today I thought I 'd share a simple, quick recipe. It's very healthy, very delicious, and easy to make for just one person, as well as for many, so you can make it when you need a tasty breakfast for one. In the ingredients lists, I have given loose quantities that allow you to change the number of people you make it for. Feel free to vary the amounts of seasonings to your taste.

The poha cooks fast, so I tend to get most of the chutney prepared first. Therefore we will start with the chutney recipe first.

For the spinach and mint chutney:
Fresh spinach, you will need 300-400g for four people - this dish sneaks in a lot of spinach!
Fresh mint, a handful or two for four people, you want the mint flavour to shine through
Fresh coriander, a smaller handful for four people, as this is a background flavour
Cumin seeds and black pepper, about 1-2 teaspoons each for four people
Dried red chillies, about 1-2 per person, split in half
Ghee or oil
A small lump of asafetida, powdered
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
Salt, to taste

The great thing about this chutney is that it is an excellent way to get a serving of vegetable without even noticing it, as it contains loads of spinach. Because of the spicy-minty-lemony flavour you will forget that you are eating a vegetable at all. Another fantastic thing is that the chutney is very quick to prepare. However, you shouldn't make it too much in advance as the flavour and also the vitamins fade with time.

First dry roast the cumin, peppercorns and chillies in a pan until fragrant and a shade darker. Grind them in a mortar and pestle, or other spice grinder of your choice.

Heat a small bit of ghee or oil in a pan and when hot add the asafetida, quickly followed by the spinach. Stir and fry, adding splashes of water as necessary to wilt the spinach down. Do not overcook the spinach - remember that we will be blending it anyway.

Allow the spinach to cool slightly, then roughly chop or tear the herbs and add them to the spinach along with the ground spices, salt and lemon juice. You should add enough lemon juice to give a good lemon-y flavour.

Blend the chutney. It is easiest to do this with a handheld stick blender, as then you can do it straight in the pan. The texture of the chutney should be moist without being watery, and you can adjust this by adding a little more lemon juice or a splash of water as you blend. Check the seasoning of the chutney after blending. Since chutneys are eaten with other foods, usually starchy foods, and not on their own, they should have strong punchy flavours. The stand out flavours in this dish should be mint, lemon and a kick of chilli, with background notes of the other roasted spices and the coriander. Feel free to adjust the seasoning after blending to get the right flavour profile.

For the poha:
Medium thickness poha, about 1/2 cup per person
Ghee or oil
Onions, about one large for four people or more if you like it onion-y, chopped
Green chillies, allow 1-2 per person or less if you don't like it spicy, minced
Minced fresh ginger, about 1/2 tablespoon for four people
Curry leaves, a small handful for four people
Raw halved peanuts, about 1-2 tablespoons for four people
Mustard and cumin seeds, about 1 teaspoon each for four people
Fennel seeds, about 1/2 teaspoon for four people
A little asafetida
Turmeric and chilli powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
A little fresh coriander, chopped

I use the poha made from red rice, because it's very nutritious and also I love the flavour. Another bonus is its lovely pale pink colour. Prepare the poha by rinsing it gently but thoroughly in a seive till it is lightly moist all over. Then leave it sitting in the seive for 10 minutes or so. This softens and plumps the poha slightly so that it will cook first without you having to toss it around in the pan too much, which could turn the poha to mush.

Because the dish is quick cooking, get all of your ingredients chopped and ready before you begin cooking. Since I was making breakfast just for me, I was casual with quantities, but I like my poha quite onion-y.

When you all your ingredients are ready, put some ghee or oil in a wide pan. I use my wok, as it is so good for this sort of quick, dry dish. When it is hot, add the peanuts. Stir and fry until they are just starting to go golden, then add the spice seeds. When the mustard begins to pop, add the asafetida, curry leaves, ginger and chillies, stirring. Then quickly add the onion. Stir and fry until they go translucent, but don't let them go golden.

Add the poha, the ground spices and salt. Mix gently. The poha will already be slightly moist and soft, but you can carefully add a few small splashes of water as you continue to cook. Be sure not to handle the poha roughly, as it will soon turn to mush if you stir too roughly or add too much water.

When the poha is tender, it is ready. Serve with chutney and wedges of lemon.

Don't forget a tumbler of tea (or coffee, as you desire) for a completely satisfying breakfast!

Dhalpuri Roti with Trini Aloo Chana

2010-11-07T20:05:00.030Z

Roti in Trinidad means something a little bit different from Indian roti. It's made with white flour, and has baking powder to give a little puffy-ness. There are various different kinds of roti, but perhaps the greatest is dhalpuri roti. This is roti with a layer of ground up seasoned split peas in the roti itself. It's absolutely divine!

Another thing about roti in Trinidad is the roti-shop experience. Yes you can make roti at home, but you can also go to a roti shop and get one for no effort! They tend to be a lot bigger than roti made at home. You select your curry (goat curry is probably the ultimate favourite, but potato and chickpea is popular curry for vegetarians), and the kind of roti you want (dhalpuri is best!). Your freshly made curry will be wrapped around the curry, with any pepper or other sauces you desire!

Here's my homemade dhalpuri roti with aloo chana curry, Trini style!

You can make the curry whilst the bread dough is resting, but you need to think about certain bits of it first, and make it so it has ten minutes to sit and meld nicely, so I'll put it first. And yes, you can call it curry in Trinidad, no need to worry about the non-Indian-ness of saying curry!

For the Aloo Chana

1 cup chickpeas, soaked in hot water overnight
800g peeled potato, chopped into cubes
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped
Oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
Trini curry powder, from the recipe below
Seasoning peppers and scotch bonnets, as noted in the recipe below
A few sprigs of thyme and some chives, roughly chopped

Drain the chickpeas and cook them with plenty of water until tender. This may take over three hours, but doesn't need much attention. It's better to cook long and slow so the chickpeas stay whole and don't break up before getting soft. Drain the chickpeas but keep the cooking water.

Mix the curry powder in a cup with a little water to make a loose paste.

Heat some oil in a large pan. When hot, add the cumin seeds. When they sizzle, add the onion and garlic. At this stage you can also add chopped scotch bonnet (a kind of habanero chilli) if you like, or if you would like it milder you can use some chopped Trinidadian seasoning peppers at this stage and use a scotch bonnet later in a clever way which gives all the flavour and not much heat. Since my Nan was eating with us today, this is what I did. Trini seasoning peppers are pretty much unknown outside of Trinidad, so you could just use a little red sweet pepper or a very mild red chilli instead.

Fry until the onion is translucent and a little golden. Then add the curry powder mixture, swilling out the cup with a bit more water to get it all out. Cook until thick, then add the potatoes and chickpeas and stir well to coat.

Add the chickpea cooking liquid, plus extra water as needed to just cover all the chickpeas and potato. Also add the thyme, chives (and any shadow benny, also called culantro, if you have it - it's a Trinidadian herb) and salt to taste.

You can also add a whole scotch bonnet at this stage. It will add lots of flavour to the curry but basically no heat. You can make a small hole in it if you want some heat.

Cook until the potato is cooked and everything is well blended. This will take about 30 minutes. The curry should thicken nicely, but you can adjust the texure with water as you desire. Allow it to sit for ten minutes or so before you rush into eating it!

For the Trini curry powder
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
A few cloves
A few pieces of cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric

This is just a rough approximation of a Trini style curry powder. My favourite brand of Trinidadian curry powder is "Chief". It's very mild and aromatic. My theory is that people in the Caribbean who were originally from India remembered their roots and the use of spices, but forgot particular regional traditions. So they tended to use lots of different spices in their curry powders that just gave a general sense of "Indian-ness".

Roast all the spices except the turmeric till they darken a shade and become aromatic. Grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or spice grinder. Mix with the turmeric. You can also add chilli powder to taste, but as I said I was cooking for my Nan and wanted it mild!

For the dhalpuri roti

1lb (455g) white flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
145g unsalted butter
Salt

1 cup yellow split peas, soaked overnight
Oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
3 cloves peeled and crushed garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric

Mix the flour, baking powder and a little salt and rub in the butter. Add water to make a soft dough. Knead well until the dough is very springy and pliable. This is important for beautiful, soft roti! Roll into a ball and coat with a very small amount of oil to keep from drying out. Leave for an hour.

Meanwhile, make the split pea mixture. Drain the split peas and cook in boiling water until cooked but not soft - they should have a bit of bite to them. Drain well and dry off as best you can. Heat a little oil in a small pan and add the cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add the garlic and cook until just beginning to go golden. Add to the split peas along with a little salt and the turmeric and put in your food processor. Process without adding water till you have a fine, powdery mixture. This used to be done in a meat grinder!

When you are ready to cook the roti, separate the dough into eight balls of equal size. Set aside the rest and work with one. Roll it into a smooth ball, and make a deep indentation in it with your fingers.

Fill this with some of the split pea mixture.

Pinch the edges up to seal the ball. The above picture shows the pinched stage - you should then smooth the ball out in a nice round ball.

Roll the ball of dough out using a little flour, making as thin as roti as you can manage (the above pic is just the start of the rolling, it must be much thinner and larger by the end). If you have kneaded your dough well so that it is very elastic, the covering should not break and dal won't poke through. A few little blips won't matter too much though. Don't use too much flour or it will be dry and dusty.

Put the roti on a hot, slightly greased tawa. Cook on the first side till brown spots appear, then flip over.

It should puff up beautifully. This will separate out the layers and make it very light and soft.

Eat with the curry of your choice, plus hot pepper sauce and salad. A great simple salad is 2 or 3 small green mangoes, grated, mixed with a couple of chopped tomatoes and a chopped small red onion. Dress with a little lime juice and salt.

You can see that when the roti is torn to be eaten, the beautiful layer of split peas in the middle is revealed.

For bonus points, make your homemade roti into a roti-shop-style meal-to-go!

Take a roti and put it on a flat surface such as a plate.

Add some curry. Don't be greedy now, these aren't big shop-style rotis! And don't forget your sauces - "Any pepper any ting?"

Fold the middle.

Bring in the sides.

Flip the parcel over. Next order please! Enjoy with a carib (brand of beer) or a busta (brand of soft drink).

Happy Diwali Everyone!

2010-11-05T20:06:00.004Z

I made a special meal for Diwali tonight. Starting from the rice and going clockwise you can see aromatic rice (pulav-like, but no veg), stuffed aubergine (on top of the rice), pappad (actually they were the South Indian appalam), lemon wedge, moong dal with radish, a dry greens-potato sabzi, carrot raita, rabri and mango achar.

I will post some recipes tomorrow - we are going to play cards now, and then we have fireworks!

Update -

Well, Dad won all the money at cards! And our rockets were spectacular (more impressive than the pictures show actually):

More Pickles!

2010-10-31T11:03:00.003Z

Despite the shoddy weather, I am still in a pickling mood!

Yesterday I whipped up a batch of green chilli pickle. I made up the recipe, so I don't know if it's any good. In a few weeks time, if it tastes good, I will blog the recipe!

And here's a slightly unusual pickle - green mango and chickpea. I based it on a few recipes I found online. At the moment, it is still in stage one of the process. In a few days time, I will add more spices and oil. Apparently, the chickpeas will be entirely edible by the time the pickle is ready, and not at all as hard as stones! We'll see about that...

Aloo Paratha

2010-10-19T08:08:00.003+01:00

Today's packed lunch is aloo paratha, the lime pickle I mentioned in this post that matured recently and buttermilk.

I'm getting better at making parathas. They are a little thick and home-style, but I like that. I don't use a huge amount of ghee in the preparation like some people do, so they are not greasy, but they do have a good ghee flavour and the right texture.

I think the first trick for perfect stuffed parathas is to get the dough right. Use very finely ground wheat flour (I grind my own, but you could buy chapati flour - or a mixture of white flour and wheat if you can't find it), salt, ghee and water for dough. Oil is not so good in paratha, in my opinion.

I would say that the maximum weight of ghee you should use is 1/3 of the weight of the flour, that is if you want the parathas to be tasty but not too greasy. So for 150g of flour no more than 50g ghee. You can use less, but at least 10g per 50g flour, I think. 5g is pushing it, but you may get away with it if you are prepared to sacrifice some taste to save calories. If you are really on a low fat kick you could use some yoghurt instead of ghee, but the dough will have a different texture.

Rub the fat into the flour and salt, and then add water to make a dough. Start out with quite a soft dough, as it will rest for a while after kneading and then become the perfect texture. The most important step is the kneading. This activates the gluten and means that the dough will be very pliable - important for stuffing parathas. When the dough springs back when you poke it, form it into a ball and either rub a little oil on the outside or wrap in plastic wrap (oil is better). Let it rest for 30 minutes.

The stuffing for the paratha should be completely cool and as dry as you can get it. So allow time for cooked fillings to cool down and salt raw veg such as mooli to draw out the moisture, which you can then drain off.

For my parathas today I boiled some potato, then drained and mashed it. I added green chilli and ginger (minced and quickly flashed in a tiny bit of hot oil to take off the rawness, but it's also good raw), some freshly ground anardana (dried pomegranate seeds), salt and chopped fresh coriander. If you don't have anardana, you could try amchoor for a fruity-sour note.

There are two ways to stuff a paratha. The cheating way is to roll out to chapati, put the filling on one and place the other on top, sealing the edges. I used to do this, but now I have started doing it the more traditional way. It takes practice, and I usually make thicker parathas. Probably the easiest stuffed paratha to start with is aloo paratha, because at least the filling is starchy and so that paratha should not fall apart even if it leaks a little.

Here is how I stuff my parathas. Take a ball of dough enough for one paratha, and pat or roll it out into a small, fat round. Put some stuffing on it (don't use too much - this will make it very hard to roll out). Bring the edges of the dough up around the filling to cover it and seal it in. You will have a rough ball shape. Now you can either carefully roll out this ball with a rolling pin, or you can do what I do. I pat the paratha out using my hands until it is as thin as I can reasonably get it. It will still be quite thick at this stage. A little stuffing may come to the surface, but don't worry because as long as it doesn't split too much you will be ok.

Have a hot tawa ready. I prefer not to shallow fry my parathas. I just use a tiny bit of ghee on a tissue wiped over the pan. You can even use no oil if you have a good pan. Put the paratha on the hot tawa. If you have patted it out my way, now is the time to carefully press the paratha out a little more, whilst the first side is cooking. Move fast and be gentle - you don't want to stick the paratha to the tawa or split the paratha by pressing on it to firmly. Cook on both sides until cooked, and with brown spots.

Parathas are great hot or cold. If you use less ghee, it will not be so good cold. Lassi or buttermilk and pickle with paratha (perhaps with a spring onion or two) is a fantastic picnic meal!

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Dal Dhokli and Cumin Potatoes

2010-10-17T19:43:00.006+01:00

Tonight I made a couple of dishes that I am hoping might go in my next cookbook. I made dal dhokli (it's hard to see the dhokli in the picture above, but I promise you it's there!) and cumin potatoes. There was also a dish of broccoli with boursin cheese, as we had a surplus of broccoli!

Here's a close up of the dal dhokli. The dhokli came out brilliant and I was really pleased.

And here's an action shot of the potatoes in the wok. The lighting wasn't very good, so they look a bit orange and fuzzy, but you get the idea! They were beautifully crisp on the outside but tender on the inside.

Overall the meal was delicious and I'm starting to get quite excited about the new book!

Lime Pickle

2010-10-17T11:25:00.004+01:00

Do you remember the lime pickle from this post? Well, yesterday I decided that it was time to see how they were doing.

A quick peek in the pickling jar revealed that they were definitely done, and smelt amazing! So I carefully took out each lime, cut it up into small pieces and put it in smaller jars for storage. The important thing to remember here is use very clean utensils and jars (I sterilize everything in boiling water) as these pickles do not have oil and if you get something in the pickle it may go off. I actually didn't touch the limes with my hands at all - I used a sterilized fork and kitchen knife to do everything. If you have to touch the limes, you should consider wearing disposable gloves.

The lime juice that was added part way through the pickling process has become almost syrup-like in consistency. The taste is amazing - there is no heat, only a wonderful sour-pickley tang and fantastic aromatic spice taste. I test drove them with aloo paratha and mooli dal last night. I do not think these pickles will be around for long!

Having tasted these pickles though, I did get a craving for a really spicy lime pickle to have with curd rice. I bought some organic unwaxed limes yesterday because they were on special offer, and whipped up a batch of simple no-oil spicy lime pickle.

Here is the jar, all ready to go in the sun for a while to mature - well, if we had some sun it would be! Actually, I must be fair, it is sunny today, it's just not warm. But I read a tip recently that said you could put pickle jars in an oven that has been heated up and turned off for an hour a day. You keep the door open so it is just warm and not hot. Maybe I will try it.

I used my own recipe for this pickle, and I am not sure if I used too much salt. If the pickles come out good, I will definitely share the recipe, but I don't want to waste your time with something rubbish!

More Mango Pickle!

2010-10-03T10:36:00.002+01:00

Having remembered how good this mango pickle is, I made a double batch yesterday. Only differences from the previous recipe is that I have started grinding the salt up with the spices, as it is quite coarse, and also I used some proper lump form asafetida instead of the tasteless powdery kind (I was so happy to find that in the shops!). Cannot wait for it to be ready - I am already worried that the previous batch will run out soon!

I feel that pickle mania may be coming on, which is a shame as it is not very sunny outside, and I always find the sun to be very useful in maturing pickles.

Spicy-but-not-fiery Rasam with Idlis, Sambar and Aloo Palak

2010-09-26T20:24:00.006+01:00

I had soaked and ground the ingredients for idli batter yesterday, and was all prepared to have a fairly lazy supper of idlis, sambar and coconut chutney tonight. What could be more delicious?

However, then I remembered that my Nan was due to come over for the day. Now, Nan is great with most foods and will try everything we cook at least once. However, she is not that great with chillies, and I like my sambar to have a bit of a kick to it.

So I hatched a plan. I would make a delicious batch of sambar with okra, butternut squash and radish in it for myself, my Dad and my Mum. And then I would also make some rasam that my Nan could also enjoy - deliciously spicy but chilli free. My Mum provided a wonderful dish of aloo palak, also mildly spicy for the whole table.

We ended up with the kind of meal that just needed rice instead of idlis and some yoghurt and pickles to be a full blown meal! Unfortunately, I forgot to make the coconut chutney in the end, as it was my Dad's birthday and we nipped across the road to the pub for a celebratory drink! (Side note: Incidentally, I don't drink, but I do enjoy an unusual but delicious combination of coke with a bit of blackcurrant syrup in it!). Nevermind, the meal was wonderful, and I will share my rasam recipe, that you can make fiery or non-fiery as you please!

Ingredients:
For the rasam base
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
A small (as in Indian-size) lemon size ball of tamarind
3 medium size tomatoes, chopped fairly small
Salt, to taste
A little chopped fresh coriander
For the spice powder
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon channa dal
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Dried chillis to taste (depending on how fiery you want it - leave out completely if you wish)
For the tarka
Oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies (leave out if you like)
A handful of curry leaves

Put the toor dal and the turmeric in a saucepan with plenty of water. Rasam should be light and brothy, so top up the water during the cooking process if necessary to achieve this consistency. Bring to the boil and cook until the dal is soft and broken down.

Meanwhile, soak the tamarind in hot water till soft. Push through a seive to extract as much paste as possible, leaving the stones and fibre behind. Set aside. Toast the spices for the spice powder in a small dry pan until they turn a shade darker and become fragrant. Cool a little, then grind to a powder.

When the dal is cooked, add the chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook until the tomatoes are tender, then add the tamarind and prepared spice powder. Cook for a few minutes until the tamarind has lost its raw taste and the flavours are well-blended. Turn off the heat.

Heat the oil for the tarka in a small pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin and the chillies, if using. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the curry leaves and stir and fry for a few moments longer. Pour into the rasam and mix. Allow to sit for a few minutes so that the flavours can sink in. Then add the chopped coriander and serve.

Whether you use chillies or not, this rasam is full of warming spices to keep you glowing as it starts to colder. If you like, you could add a little grated ginger to the toor dal as it is cooking, a little crushed and chopped garlic to the tarka. Then you would have a real immunity-boosting, cold-destroying rasam!

Tamarind Rice and Buttermilk

2010-09-19T13:17:00.002+01:00

This afternoon my Dad and I are going on what could potentially be quite a long cycle (for us anyway!) so I wanted to make a lunch that was compact but would give us lots of energy. Unusually for me, it's not packed with vegetables. This is because I didn't want to weigh us down with lots of bulk and gas-forming fibre. However, we will be taking plenty of fruit on our trip!

The tamarind rice contains rice, peanuts and a small quantity of dal, the buttermilk contains yoghurt and the papad contains urad dal. So there is plenty of healthy carbs and protein in the meal.

Here's how I made the tamarind rice for two people:

I took half a cup of rosematta rice and cooked it in plenty of water, and then drained it. Meanwhile I soaked a lime size ball of tamarind in hot water. When the tamarind was soft, I strained it through a seive, pushing as much paste and liquid out as I could. I roasted 1/4 cup of skinless peanuts and then set them aside.

I heated a small amount of sesame oil (not the toasted kind, but the Indian kind that is good for cooking) and tossed in 3/4 teaspoon each mustard seed, urad dal and channa dal, plus a couple of torn up dried red chillies. When the seeds popped, I added a handful of curry leaves and stirred for a few moments, before tipping the tamarind liquid in, along with the peanuts. Then I added 1/4 teaspoon turmeric and a little salt. I cooked the mixture, stirring frequently, until it was thick.

Then I turned off the heat and gently folded in the rice. Then I let it sit and absorb all the flavours nicely for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, I made up the "buttermilk". Now traditionally, buttermilk is the liquid left over from churning butter. However, I expect that most places these days use the trick of diluting yoghurt with water to make a similar product. I added a little salt, torn up curry leaves and chopped fresh coriander to my diluted yoghurt to give it a nice flavour. It's a very refreshing drink, and goes well with everything from rice dishes to stuffed parathas.

Finally I toasted some papads. I don't like deep frying, so I usually just pop papads under the grill until they puff and become toasty. Today I put a tiny bit of oil in a pan and toasted them like that. I didn't have any South Indian appalams, but I did have some plain urad papads with no seasonings, so I used them.

The whole meal was really delicious. Normally I might chop up some cucumber and tomato to go on the side, or even swap the buttermilk for a vegetable thayir pachadi (a South Indian style raita). However, as I said, today I was going for low bulk, high energy and easy to digest foods.

Well, it's time to go out now, so wish me luck! We are trying out cycling into Bristol for the first time, and not only are we not entirely sure of the route, but we will be cycling there and back in quite a short space of time. So I expect we will be absolutely dying when we get back!

Courgette Mixed Grain Roti and Sweet-Sour Tomato Chutney

2010-09-18T20:06:00.004+01:00

Today I made a really nice roti for breakfast, along with some fantastic chutney. Because the roti has vegetable in the dough and is made from whole wheat flour and also gram flour, it is very healthy. It is thicker than chapati and made a very nice breakfast with a good serving of chutney. As I was only cooking for myself, the following recipe may be a little vague!

The flavours for the bread are inspired by thepla, thalipeeth and dhebra. I ground flour from wheat grain and channa dal, but you could you use packaged wheat and gram flour. Only about a fifth of the total weight of the grain I used was channa dal, so don't add too much! Then I added a little turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and salt to the flour. Next I rubbed in a small dab of ghee. Finally, I added grated courgette, a tiny bit of finely chopped spring onion, a little minced ginger and chopped fresh coriander to the dough and mixed it all in well. There was no need to add water, as the fresh ingredients moistened the dough considerably. Then I left the dough to rest for a short time whilst I made the chutney.

I took one large tomato and a medium-small onion. I heated a little ghee in a small pan. Then I added a little panch pooran and a torn up red chilli. When the mustard seeds in the pooran popped I added the chopped onion and stirred and fried until the onion was beginning to go golden. Then I added the chopped tomato and stirred and fried for a few moments, before adding a splash of water, salt, a little turmeric and a little chilli powder. I cooked until the tomato was soft and partially broken down. Then I added some amchoor and mixed in well before turning off the heat. The chutney has a lovely sweet and sour flavour.

Finally all that remained was to cook the bread. Since the dough was quite moist, I pressed it out by hand into a roti. Then I put it on a hot tawa, and pressed it out a little more as it was cooking. I cooked the roti on both sides until it had some brown spots and was cooked all over. The roti is slightly thick and does not puff, so it is quite filling.

Because the roti contains spices as well as vegetables, it has a lovely flavour and doesn't really need anything special to accompany it. You could just serve it with plain yoghurt if you didn't have time to make anything else. However, I think the tomato chutney goes very well with it because the roti has a spicy earthy flavour, and the chutney is sweetish with a slight tang from the amchoor.

Back in the UK

2010-09-13T19:42:00.002+01:00

Many, many apologies for not blogging for so long. For the last three weeks, it has been because I was in Chennai and then Bangalore. But for the weeks before that, I have no excuse, so I must apologise.

I will update on my trip experiences (e.g. all the lovely food I ate) some time this week, but for now I will keep it short and sweet. I have not had any sleep since Saturday night, as my flight was on Sunday evening and I cannot sleep on planes. I have been very energetic today though, as it has been lovely to see all my family.

I was really missing South-y food, so tonight for supper I tried to recreate a Chennai-style "mini meal". I made lemon rice, sambar rice, curd rice and greens poriyal. I chucked in some fried munchies, homemade mango pickle and curd chillies to complete the meal. To make up for the lack of a sweet, I made very sweet filter coffee.

Alas, I am back in India, but at least I can still cook South Indian food to comfort myself!

Frampton Ramble

2010-07-14T18:09:00.007+01:00

Apologies for my great delay in posting this, but I have been unwell this week.

Last Friday was the Frampton C of E School Ramble, and I was asked to do the vegetarian option. It was a great success, even though we were competing with a hog roast!

This time we branched out a little, and had a gas-powered stove we could do hot food. So the 'Mango Soup Taster Plate' (all recipes from my cookbook, 'Mango Soup'!) consisted of plain basmati rice, a rajma-like kidney bean dish (hot from the stove), spinach raita and a sesame seed sweet.

We also had a chaat plate - this time it was my version of papri chaat. This consisted of papri on the bottom of the bowl, then a mixture of potatoes, chickpeas, onion, fresh coriander, tomato and chaat powder. On top of that went yoghurt, sweet tamarind chutney, sev and a generous sprinkle of fresh coriander. If I may say so myself, this was completely delicious!

My brother was kind enough to come down for the weekend so he could be my drinks man again! This time we had three different kinds, all home-made syrup, as you can see from the jars above. These were mixed with carbonated water and a little ice for a refreshing cold drink. The flavours were ginger-lime, cardamom-mint-lemon, and cinnamon-clove-orange. Unfortunately there was a bar and most people were drinking alcohol, so we didn't sell loads, but everyone who tried them said they were amazing. I sent the rest home with my brother, where they are doing very well to revive him as he writes his dissertation!

Overall it was brilliant fun and I even sold a couple of books. I will definitely be back next year!

Idiyappam

2010-06-22T18:28:00.008+01:00

This morning I made idiyappam. It's a very simple recipe, but very tasty too.

I used rice flour, because it's quicker and easier than starting with whole rice. I actually used brown rice flour, but you can't really tell. I have also eaten idiyappam in Kerala that was made with red rice. The rice flour is mixed with a little ghee, some salt and enough water to make a batter. The batter is then cooked until it forms a dough. It must be smooth but not sticky. I forgot to take a picture of the whole batch of dough, so this picture is just of a small amount.

The dough is put into a noodle press (I use a sev sancha, a bit like this one) and extruded into little mounds in to something suitable for steaming, such as idli moulds You can sprinkle the mounds with coconut for extra flavour. I make slightly thicker noodles than some people, as I have had problems in the past with very thin noodles mushing together too much.

The noodles are steamed for five minutes or so. Here you can see a pile of some of the noodle "patties" on a plate.

I covered my idiyappam with spicy yoghurt to take for lunch. It's a shame you can't really see them in the picture! They did not get soggy, and were really delicious.

The rest of my family ate them with sweetened coconut milk that was flavoured with cardamom. They went down very well! I think some people assume that making noodles must be difficult, but these are certainly not. If you start with rice flour, they are very quick to make and it feels really good to be eating such fresh noodles.

My Stand at the School Fete

2010-06-20T11:21:00.006+01:00

Yesterday I had a food stall at the local School Fete. I was also selling copies of 'Mango Soup', my book.

One of the plates of food I was selling was a "taster" plate of different dishes from 'Mango Soup'

Another was a "rice cake chaat" snack plate. The rice cake was made from rice cooked with turmeric and flavoured with a fried paste of ginger, chillies and curry leaves. It was formed into patties and baked until crisp on the outside. This was topped with a relish of tomato, onion, coriander and chaat powder, followed by a dollop of yoghurt, a dollop of sweet tamarind chutney (AKA the tamaraind syrup/jam below) and a sprinkle of some fried flattened chickpea munchies.

Here's a picture of the whole spread. You can see the jugs of rhubarb sharbat and ginger and lime sharbat in the background, ready to be mixed with sparkling water to make a refreshing drink. We also had speakers to play Bollywood music.

My brother was the drinks man!

All in all it was a very succesful day. I sold several books and everyone loved the food.

Tamarind Jam/Syrup

2010-05-31T11:21:00.010+01:00

There is something about the fruity sourness of the tamarind, the sweetness of the sugar and the aroma of the spices that makes this incredibly refreshing, and therefore a perfect summer drink. It's so easy to make, and if you make it quite thick and jam like it is also multi-purpose.

Ingredients:
500g dried tamarind
1300g of sugar
1 tablespoon each cumin and cardamom

Break up the tamarind and put it in a pan. Pour over enough hot water to cover well and go up the pan by a few inches more. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the tamarind is very soft.

When the tamarind is soft and broken down, strain it through a seive, getting as much juice and smooth flesh out as possible whilst leaving the string fibre behind.

Put the spice seeds in a small heavy bottomed pan and toast until they turn a shade darker and smell fragrant. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then grind into a fine powder.

Add the sugar to the tamarind puree in a pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the sugar is melted and the mixture is thick. Be careful - if you take it to far you will end up with some pretty solid tamarind candy mixture! The more water you evaporate off, the harder it will be to mix into drinks but the better it will keep.

In the last few minutes, add the powdered spices and mix well. When the mixture is done, remove it from the heat and cool for a few moments. The pour into jars that have been sterilized with hot water and warmed up in the oven (otherwise they may explode when you pour the hot mixture in).

I made my mixture quite thick. It is ideal for use as a jam, but you can also add a little hot water to loosen it to make an all purpose sweet-sour-spicy sauce. It's great for snack foods like chaat, dahi wada and so on.

After diluting with enough hot water to make it much more liquid, you can also allow it to cool a bit before topping up with cold flat or sparkling water and ice to make a refreshing drink. Just make sure you stir it well when adding the hot water to dissolve it fully.

Dal Idli

2010-05-08T11:59:00.009+01:00

This idli requires no fermentation, so it is quick to make and very easy too. It is made entirely from dal, so it is high in protein, and a little heavier than regular idli too so it is filling. They make a great quick breakfast or healthy snack. They contain no added fat, but you can add to that by serving them with ghee!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup each channa, toor and moong dal, washed
A small piece of peeled ginger
2-3 green chillies
A big handful of fresh coriander
A few curry leaves
Grated or chopped vegetable of your choice - I used red onion (optional)
Salt

Soak the dal in plenty of water for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

When the dal has soaked, drain it well and put in a food processor with all the other ingredients except the optional vegetables and grind, adding a little water, to make a smooth paste.

Do not add too much water, as the mixture will fall through the holes of the idli moulds. I made mine a little bit too wet and a few drips did come through, but it wasn't a big disaster. Providing you don't get too carried away, it is quite forgiving!

When you are ready to steam the idlis, stir in the chopped or grated vegetable of your choice.

Put spoonfuls of the batter into idli moulds and steam for 10-15 minutes until cooked.

These idlis are delicious served with podi mixed with ghee.

You can also serve them with your favourite chutney, such as coconut. Here I have made a healthy veggie chutney with lightly cooked cauliflower and broccoli, whizzed up with some fresh ginger, podi and salt and given a tarka of mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida.

Rhubarb Syrup in Action!

2010-05-04T21:36:00.002+01:00

As promised, here are some pictures of the rhubarb syrup as a drink and in yoghurt.

I used about two tablespoons of syrup in a glass of cool water for this, and it was quite strong. I suspect that some people would prefer slightly less, so lets call it 1-2 tablespoons per glass. Of course, this all depends on how thick you let the syrup get! I made mine into "drink-consistency", so it is moderately loose syrup that mixes easily with water - probably a little too flowing for spreading on toast, but I guess it drizzles quite nicely.

Talking of drizzling, here it the syrup lovingly drizzled into a little bowl of freshly made yoghurt. I like to swirl it in then mix it as I eat.

Moru Kuzhambu - Curd Sambar

2010-05-04T21:07:00.014+01:00

For a simple meal, all you need is this delicious kuzhambu, some rice and the accompaniment of your choice - be it chutney, a dry veg dish or simply some pappads. I ate this with some stirfried spring greens.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Veg of your choice - I used 1 large potato, 3/4 aubergine and 3/4 courgette
2 cups yoghurt - about 1/2 a litre

For the spice paste
2 teaspoons channa dal
1 teaspoon rice
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
3 dried red chillies
A large pinch of asafetida
4-5 tablespoons fresh grated coconut
A small lump of peeled fresh ginger
2-3 green chillies

For the tarka and garnish
Oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2-3 dried red chillies
A handful of fresh curry leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Cook the toor dal in plenty of water until tender and broken down.

Meanwhile, roast the dals, spice seeds and chillies in a pan (with a little oil, if you like) until golden and aromatic.

Grind to paste with the asafetida, coconut, ginger and chillies.

You can use any vegetables you like for this dish, so it's great for using up odds and ends. My favourites are gourds, squashes, potatoes and aubergines. Chop them into even chunks, and add them in cooking order if some are slower cooking than others.

When the dal is tender, add the vegetables and salt and cook until tender. Add a little extra water if necessary to get a slightly thick but flowing texture - remember you are adding yoghurt later so don't get carried away with the water.

Add the spice paste and simmer for a few minutes.

Stir up the yoghurt till creamy and smooth.

Add the yoghurt off the heat and stir in gently. Then warm over a very low heat until just heated through.

Heat the oil in a small pan. When hot add the mustard and cumin seeds and the chillies. When the seeds pop, add the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.

Pour into the kuzhambu and stir gently to mix.

Garnish with the coriander.

Rhubarb Syrup

2010-05-02T17:11:00.013+01:00

Every year we get a big glut of rhubarb from my Dad's patch, and every year I make a big batch of rhubarb syrup. It's perfect for making rhubarb sharbat/ sherbet, a refreshing cold drink, and it's also great drizzled on ice cream or yoghurt, or even (so my Mum tells me) spread on toast!

I use the Madhur Jaffrey's proportions of sugar to rhubarb from her world vegetarian book, so that's one kilo of sugar for every 1.4 kilos of rhubarb.

The rhubarb is cut into slices and put in a pan with about a cup of water. It is covered and left to simmer for half an hour.

By this time the rhubarb is nice and soft.

Only the juice is needed, so the pulp is carefully strained off. The easiest way to do this is to tip the pulp into a seive. A lot of the juice will strain off straight away, and then you can set the seive over a pan to let the rest of the juice strain off gradually.

Don't be tempted to try and push the juice out through the seive, because you don't want any pulp to come through.

For this next stage you want to use a heavy bottomed pan suitable for making jam in. The sugar, rhubarb juice and lime juice go in the pan and it is brought to a gentle simmer.

It simmers away until thick and syrupy. The best way to test this is to put a plate in the freezer to cool down. Then drizzle a little hot syrup on it and leave it to cool off. If the syrup is ready it will become sticky and thick when it is cool. Remember that it will set even more as it cools, so don't take it too far or it will be too thick to stir into drinks. Don't worry too much if it is very thick though, because you can always thin it out with a little hot water before mixing drinks, and it will be a great jam too!

Then the syrup is poured into bottles or jars. You should make sure that whatever you are storing the syrup in is well sterilized and hot enough to take the hot syrup. I wash my jars under very hot soapy water and then put them in the oven to dry out and warm up. Otherwise you may shatter the glass when you pour the hot syrup in! I had about 1.7 kilos of rhubarb and I made 4 1/2 jars.

Once the syrup is cool you can use it as you like.

I will post a picture of the syrup in something as soon as it is cool enough!

Mango Pickle and Lime Pickle

2010-05-02T16:36:00.016+01:00

We've been having some lovely sunny weather recently, so this weekend I went to the Sweetmart to pick up ingredients for some pickles.

My family's personal favourite is raw mango pickle. I have been basically following a recipe for "Rajasthani mango pickle with fennel seeds" from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" book, with just a few changes.

After washing and drying well, the whole mango is cut up, including the stone, though the seed in the middle is discarded.

Fennel and fenugreek is toasted for the spice powder.

It is ground up with mustard seeds. The recipe calls for the hulled split kind, but I usually just grind up wholue mustard seeds.

This is added along with turmeric, chilli powder, asafetida and salt to the cut up mangos and mixed well.

Next I heat some mustard oil. I don't heat it to smoking point as this would mellow the flavour, but I do get it nice and hot.

The oil is poured over the spiced mangos and mixed well.

Finally, I bottle the mango in a preserving jar with a seal on the lid. It needs to sit in the sunlight for as much as possible whilst it is pickling. I like to leave my pickles at least three months before eating, as this gives them a chance to mature and settle. Then I bring them out of the sun and transfer the mixture to smaller jars. Usually I take out one jar to use straight away, and put the rest in the back of the cupboard to mature even more. If you make pickle well and keep it sealed, you can enjoy it after a few years and it will have an amazing flavour!

After making mango pickle, I turned to the limes I had bought. This is the first time I have made this particular recipe, which is an unusual pickle that Madhur Jaffrey says is a simple version of her Grandmother's black lime pickle.

After wiping with a damp cloth and being well dried off, the limes are split into quarters in such a way that they remain joined together at the base.

The spice mixture that the limes are stuffed with is made of cumin, whole black cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves. I ground the whole spices up with salt.

The mixture is divided into six (one for each lime) and one part is stuffed into each lime.

Then the limes are put in a preserving jar.

They will sit in the sun for a day or so, and then I will add some lime juice to them. Then they will sit in the sun for a month or so more, before they are brought into the house to mature for a month or so longer. Don't forget to shake your pickles once a day when they are maturing, to keep everything evenly coated in oil/ juice and spices.

Tomorrow I plan to make garlic pickle, and maybe carrot pickle too.

Green Pea and Mint Ravioli in Lemon Rasam

2010-04-18T19:19:00.018+01:00

Over the past few days I've been on a bit of a rasam kick. Then today, I was idly thinking about what to do for supper, when an amazing idea hit me - ravioli in broth is delicious, so what about ravioli in rasam?

I mentioned the idea to my Mum, and she was excited because she loves making pasta. So we made it - and I can honestly say it is the best ravioli dish I have ever made!

Ingredients:

For the pasta dough
250g pasta flour
1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of salt

For the filling
250g fresh (or frozen) peas - use the smallest, sweetest ones you can get
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
Salt, to taste

For the rasam base
100g toor dal
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1-2 tablespoons chopped coriander stems
Lemon juice, to taste
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves

For the rasam powder
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2-3 dried red chillies

For the tarka
Oil
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
A pinch of asafetida
2 dried red chillies
A handful of curry leaves

Put the toor dal, turmeric and ginger in a pan with plenty of water. Bring to the boil, turn to a simmer and simmer until tender. You want the rasam to be quite light and broth-y, so don't be afraid to use plenty of water. The quantity is not really important, it just depends on what texture you would like.

Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the pasta dough into a large mixing bowl. Add enough water to make a dough that is soft enough to be kneaded, but not too moist. Knead it well for 5-10 minutes, then wrap in clingfilm and set aside for half an hour to rest.

Roast the spices for the rasam powder in a dry pan until a shade darker and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

Grind to a powder.

When the pasta has rested for half an hour, roll it out. You can use a pasta machine if you have one, or you could just use a rolling pin. This is a home-made pasta dish, so it doesn't have to be really thin and refined to taste good.

Hang the pasta to dry out a little whilst you prepare the filling for the ravioli.

Blanch the peas for a minute or so, then drain and rinse under cold water. Drain well. Put in a blender with the mint and salt to taste. Blend to a puree, keeping a little bit of a texture so it isn't completely smooth.

Before filling the ravioli, which should be done shortly before cooking, check the dal. It should be tender. Add the salt and the spice powder, and simmer for five minutes. Then turn off the heat whilst you deal with the ravioli.

Cut the pasta dough into small circles, using a cutter if you have one. Two circles makes one ravioli. Put a small amount of filling onto one of the circles, then moisten the edge with a little water and put another circle on top. Press the edges down firmly to seal - this is important, you don't want exploding ravioli!

Repeat for all the ravioli. You can bundle the edge pieces together and roll them out again. I made 20 medium size ravioli, with a few spare edges left over that I was too lazy to roll out again.

Check the texture of the dal for the final time, adding a little more water if necessary. Add the coriander stems, and some of the lemon juice, reserving a little to add at the end for a zesty finish.

Bring the rasam to the boil. Add half of the ravioli (ten pieces in my case) and cook for 3 minutes. The ravioli will be floating by the end.

Scoop out the ravioli with a slotted spoon on put on a plate whilst you cook the other half.

When all the ravioli is cooked and drained, turn the heat off. Heat some oil in a small pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds, chillies and asafetida. When the seeds pop, add the curry leaves and fry for a few moments. Pour into the rasam. Add the coriander leaves, plus a little more lemon juice to taste.

To serve, put a few ravioli into a bowl and pour the rasam on top, adding more or less to taste. The great thing about this dish is that once cooked, the ravioli can be kept for a little while without fear of them cooling down or drying out too much, as the hot rasam will sort all that out. We enjoyed our rasam-ravioli with a salad.

Tomato Rice and Khandvi

2010-04-13T21:14:00.013+01:00

A very nice lady at work is leaving soon, so tonight I decided to make her something nice as a gift. She is from Malaysia, and I know she likes spicy rice dishes because I have made her tamarind rice before, so I decided to make her tomato rice and also some khandvi to go with it. I used recipes from my cookbook Mango Soup, so I will not post the exact recipes here, but I will post a pictorial.

First I roasted spices for the rice. Meanwhile, I was also cooking plain rice and reducing some tomatoes in a pan with spices and salt.

When the spices were toasted, I ground them to a powder. Once the rice was cooked and the tomatoes reduced to a thick paste, I heated some oil and put in some whole spices and peanuts.

When the peanuts were golden and the spices popped, I added onions and other fresh seasonings.

When the onions were golden, I added the tomato mixture and the spice powder.

Finally, I folded in the rice.

A little chopped fresh coriander completes the dish.

For the khandvi, I mixed gram flour, ground spices, lime juice, yoghurt and water. Then I poured it into a pan and cooked it until it thickened and started coming away from the edges of the pan.

I spread the mixture on to some greased metal plates. The trick is to spread it nice and thin and even, but I don't worry too much about a few lumps. Then I allowed it to cool for 10 minutes or so.

When the mixture was cool and set, I cut it into strips and rolled them up.

A sprinkling of coconut and chopped coriander is a must.

Finally, a tarka completes the dish.

Both dishes were delicious, and I hope my friend enjoys them tomorrow.

Spicy New Potatoes with Peas

2010-04-13T20:57:00.007+01:00

Last night my brother made some feta stuffed tomatoes. To go with them, I made a delicious potato and pea dish, or aloo mattar. I didn't really measure the quantities, but I've made a good guess at the approximate amounts.

Ingredients:
1-2 pound new potatoes
1 cup peas
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
Oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
A large pinch of asafetida
1-2 minced fresh green chillies
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
A handful of fresh curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Salt, to taste
Lemon juice

Boil the new potatoes in their skins until just tender. Cut them into bite-sized pieces.

Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds, plus the asafetida. When they pop, add the curry leaves, ginger and chillies.

Stir and fry for a few moments, then add the potatoes, the ground spices and the salt. Stir and fry for a few minutes.

Add the peas, the chopped tomatoes and a splash of water. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the chopped coriander and lemon juice to taste, and serve.

Masala Peanuts and Puffed Rice Munchies

2010-04-11T12:59:00.004+01:00

Today my brother has gone with his friends to Alton Towers, so last night we made some car snacks for him. He fried up some chicken and mixed it with chaat masala and mayonnaise to make sandwhiches, and I made some masala peanuts.

The recipe is very simple. I took around 100g raw, skinless peanuts and put them in a bowl. I added about a dessert spoon of gram flour, a little turmeric and some chilli powder, as well as salt. Then I added just enough water to make the gram flour into a paste that covered the peanuts. I fried the peanuts in a couple of tablespoons oil, then drained the oil off on some kitchen paper. They were so delicious, we had to stop ourselves from eating them all then!

Since we were watching some films last night anyway, it seemed right to make something munchable that we could eat then and there. Puffed rice is a perfect base for many snacks, and you can easily get it from Indian grocery stores, or you can even use the plain (no sugar) kind found in ordinary supermarkets. Here's the rundown of the snack we made.

Ingredients:
1 cup puffed rice
1/3 cup raw, skinless peanuts
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup raisins
1-2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
A pinch of asafetida
A handful of curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4-1 teaspoon chilli powder (I like it spicy!)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a pan (I used my wok), and when it is hot add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the curry leaves, asafetida and nuts. Stir and fry until the nuts are golden, then add the raisins and fry until they puff up. Add the chopped rice, ground spices and salt. Stir until everything is well coated and the rice has crisped up. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped coriander. Allow to cool a little, and munch in front of a good film!

I'm back...with lots of semolina!

2010-04-10T08:05:00.012+01:00

I would just like to apologise to readers for not posting for so long. Christmas was busy as always, then I had exams and finishing-off course stuff, and then in February I started my first job. However, I've got into a routine with work now, and I am going to posting on my blog much more regularly.

This weekend my parents are away, but my brother has come back from uni for the Easter holidays so we have the house to ourselves. Last night I made supper for us, including a deliciously rich dessert as a special treat. There was a bit of a theme to the meal...semolina!

The main dish was upma, one of my favourite quick cooking light meals. I usually have some kind of variation on upma for breakfast, but I don't often use actual semolina because it is a refined grain. I usually use a wholegrain such as buckwheat or millet, or I grind some whole wheat berries or brown rice into rava. However, today I had some leftover semolina from the supermarket. It's not the fine semolina that is often used, but the coarser kind that is easily found in most supermarkets. I'm not going to give a recipe with exact quantities, as this was pretty much make-it-up-as-you-go-along stuff.

First I roasted the semolina in a dry pan.

Then I heated some oil and put channa dal, urad dal and mustard seeds.

When the mustard seeds popped, I added curry leaves, chopped onion, minced ginger, minced green chillies and chopped carrot. I stir-fried these for a little while, then added a bit of water and cooked it until the carrots were nearly tender.

Next I added the roasted semolina to the pan. The water I had added was nearly all gone at this stage.

I added salt, and just enough water to bring the semolina to the right texture. I also added some peas. I continued cooking the upma till it had a slightly moist, fluffy texture. I find that the coarser semolina always produces a moister texture than the finer kind.

The final additions were a little chopped fresh coriander, a couple of handfuls of grated coconut and some lemon juice. I served the upma with my Dad's West Indian chilli pickle. Delicious!

But that wasn't all - next it was time for a sweet form of semolina.

The ingredients for this dish are very easy to remember. You need:

100g butter
100g semolina (I used the coarse supermarket kind because that is all I had, sooji would be better)
100g sugar (I used light brown sugar)
200g milk
1/2- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds

You can also add saffron, if you like.

First, melt the butter in a pan. I used my wok.

When the butter is melted, add the semolina and fry it till it becomes golden and smells roasted.

Add the sugar to the pan, and stir until the sugar is melted.

Then add the milk and cardamom. Cook until the semolina is tender and the mixture thickens and leaves the edge of the pan.

Serve in small bowls, in small portions, garnished with dried fruit and nuts if you like. This is a very rich, buttery dessert and should serve three to four. If you want, you can reduce the butter a little, but this was treat night for us!

Carrot, Squash and Chickpea Soup

2009-12-12T15:45:00.003Z

Winter is well and truly here, and in fact it was quite a shock to get back from Kerala to a rather chillier climate. I have been attempting to warm up with a variety of warming soups and spicy dishes. Rasam and dal have become top lunchtime fare, carried to college in a thermos to keep them toasty, and soup has often been appearing at breakfast.

Here's a vegetable packed winter-warmer that's sure to help you keep warm on a chilly day.

Ingredients:
100g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (I used kala channa, which made the soup darker)
400g chopped carrot
400g chopped butternut squash flesh
400g chopped potato (you can use sweet potato to carry on the orange theme, but I did not have any)
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
Salt, to taste
1-2 tablespoons ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
A large pinch of asafetida
3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Lemon juice, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Method:
Drain the chickpeas and bring to the boil in a pan of water along with the ginger. Turn to a simmer, and cook until the chickpeas are tender.

Add the vegetables, ground spices, salt and enough water to make up the soup. I am not giving exact amounts of water, as I find personal preferences vary. You are going to blend the soup, so you need to add enough water or it will be thick and gludgy, but not so much that you make a watery soup. Cook on a gentle simmer until the vegetables are just tender, but not too mushy.

Blend the soup, adding a little more water if necessary.

Heat the ghee in a small pan. When hot, add the spice seeds and asafetida. When the mustard seeds pop, pour the spices into the soup. Add the chopped coriander and lemon juice and stir to mix.

Serve piping hot, with plenty of black pepper and perhaps extra lemon wedges on the side.

Back from Kerala

2009-12-12T15:05:00.005Z

Sorry guys, been back from Kerala for nearly two weeks now and haven't posted anything! I've got exams at the moment, and what with Christmas coming up I've been very busy.

Had a very good time in Kerala. The wedding was amazing, and the food was fabulous too.

I'm blaming these little babies and prodigious amounts of chai for my weight gain! Anyone who knows me will tell you that I can't resist a good vada or aloo bonda.

I stayed at the Bharat Hotel in Kochi, on Durbar Hall Road. Lovely hotel with clean rooms and helpful staff, not to mention delicious vegetarian food. Only slight drawback was that the hotel is right opposite a temple, and firecrackers starting at 3am in the morning were rather frightening on the first morning I heard them, particularly as that was 26th November! However, once I knew what the horrible explosions were, I was quite capable of sleeping through them. Not sure the temple elephant was very impressed though!

In terms of eating in Kochi, I still don't think you can do better than Fry's lunchtime meals. They're excellent value, though at Rs. 45 for a veg meal I think they've gone up a tad, and the quality is superb. I would have taken photos but I am too embarrassed to do that at restaurants!

For those who are concerned about hygeine (ahem, that's definitely not something I let get in the way of devouring every kind of street food in sight!), the Grand Hotel does very good lunchtime meals for under Rs. 200. You pay extra for a higher class setting and I can assure you that hygeine and quality are absolutely top. And they still have my vote for the best ice-cream in the world - their Arabica Surprise is a heavenly mixture of dried fig ice-cream sprinkled with chopped dates and drizzled with honey sauce. It gets better everytime I eat it.

For deliciously fresh coconut water and tender coconut flesh, I recommend strolling along to where the park is just next door to the path to the main jetty. There are always plenty of coconut-wallas there. As for fresh juice, well you have plenty of options there. My favourites are pineapple and grape, and I prefer to close my eyes to any sugar and ice that may go in, because frankly I like it sweet and cold. Those of you with different inclinations can try asking nicely!

Snack wise, make sure you fit in plenty of the aforementioned vadas (hey, don't blame me for your expanding waistline!) and there's also this fantastic sweet ball which seems like a very spongy sweet dough that's been deepfried. Chewy, sweet and delicious when munched on with some South Indian style coffee.

Those of you who wonder at the pink water you are served with your meals, fear not. The water is boiled with herbs and spices, including pathimukham, which is responsible for its pink colour and distinct taste. Some tourists seem to think it an acquired taste! Well, I acquired it, and if you do too, then you will be pleased to know that you can buy pathimukham and other spice mixtures for water at most general food stores.

Just wanted to add that I flew by Emirates for the first time ever, and I was very pleased with the service. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, and my Asian vegetarian meal was not too bad.

What else is there to say? Only that Kerala is indeed god's own country, and that you should definitely find time to visit. Relax, eat well, and enjoy the beautiful scenery. In fact, go soon, as all signs point to heavy tourism taking over in the next few years.

Quick Homemade "Pizza"

2009-11-17T21:13:00.009Z

Sorry I haven't been posting very frequently, I have been busy preparing for my holiday and my exams, as well as creating and photographing recipes for my new book.

Tonight, I was trying to fit in packing and revising all at the same time, so I needed to make a really quick supper. Mum fancied pizza, but also garlic bread, so we decided to get some garlic ciabatta bread from the shops, and top it with some pizza-like toppings.

First we spread tomato puree on the bases (which were already seasoned with garlic, parsley and butter), followed by some blanched spinach. Next came green olives, sliced artichoke hearts and finally slices of mozzarella. We only had enough mozzarella for two pieces of ciabatta, so the final piece had cheddar slices instead. Everything was well seasoned with black pepper and salt. They went in the oven for about 10 minutes, at 200°C.

Whilst the pizzas were cooking I made a quick raita. I finely chopped tomatoes, red onion and cucumber and mixed them with some plain yoghurt. Then I heated a little oil in a pan and when it was hot I popped some mustard seeds in it, and poured them into the raita.

The "pizzas"came out of the oven hot, cheesy and delicious. Although raita may not seem a natural accompaniment to pizza, it certainly worked well here. I highly recommend you try this combination next time you don't have much time to cook!

Roasted Cauliflower and Almond Soup

2009-11-07T13:16:00.007Z

Roasted cauliflower is one of the most delicious, fairly plain vegetable dishes that exist. So what happens when you make it into a velvety smooth soup with some almond milk? It becomes a delectable warming winter soother.

I highly recommend that you make your own stock for this soup. If you want your soup to taste just like mine did, here's how I did it.

I took 100g toor dal and put them in a pan with 1.5 litres of water. I brought the pan to the boil and then simmered it for 40 minutes. Then I added two chopped carrots, two chopped sticks of celery, one chopped onion and a few cloves, cardamom pods and bay leaves, as well as a bit of salt. I cooked this mixture at a simmer for about 40 more minutes. Then I strained it, and was left with 600ml. If you have slightly less, you can top it up with a little water.

Next, on with the soup.

Ingredients:
100g blanched almonds
300ml whole milk
600ml vegetable stock (see above)
550g cauliflower florets
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Olive oil
2 teaspoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
Nutmeg, freshly ground to taste
Salt, to taste

Soak the almonds in the milk overnight. In the morning, put the mixture in the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Spread the cauliflower florets and garlic in a baking tray and drizzle generously with olive oil. Toss to mix. Roast in the oven until the cauliflower is golden and tender.

Put the stock and the almond milk in a pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for a few minutes. Then add the roasted cauliflower and garlic, and simmer a few minutes more.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup till smooth. Taste for seasoning, and reheat if necessary.

Heat the ghee in a small pan. When hot, add the cumin seeds. Allow to sizzle for a few moments, then add to the soup. Add freshly ground nutmeg to taste. Serve hot.

Even my cauliflower-hating Mum (she had a traumatic experience as a child, involving home-grown cauliflower and caterpillars) loved this!

Delicious, Moist Eggless Chocolate Cake

2009-11-06T20:09:00.007Z

First of all, let me say that I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. What with organising myself to go to Kerala in around two weeks, studying like a maniac for exams and trying to write and take photos for my next book; I've been a bit busy! In way of apology, I offer you a gorgeous chocolate cake recipe.

It looks slightly brownie-like, because of its cracked top, but it's actually more cake-like in texture. However, it's moist and soft as well as being spongy. I think it's perfect warm, straight out of the pan, but be warned that it doesn't slice very neatly if you don't wait for it to cool, as you can see from the above photo. The batter is also delicious raw....and as it's egg free, you can let your kids at it with no worries!

Ingredients:
200ml milk
150g good quality 72% chocolate
200g cream cheese (choose a good quality, preferably organic, cream cheese with no added stuff like carrageenan)
200g sugar
100g fine wholewheat flour
100g rice flour
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
50ml extra milk
2 teaspoons baking powder

Put the 200ml milk in a small pan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, break up the chocolate and put it in a jug. When the milk comes to the boil, pour it slowly over the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cool.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled, preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream them. Add the flours and the coffee, and mix well. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture, mixing all the time. Add the extra milk to the jug you had the chocolate in and stir it around to get all of the chocolate off the sides, then pour it in to the batter. Mix well until smooth, then add the baking powder and mix again.

Pour into a prepared baking tray (I used one that was 7 inches by just shy of 11 inches) and bake for about 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Devour hot, or be incredibly patient and wait for it to cool before slicing! Some whipped or poured cream would be delicious with this, but even custard would work well.

ETA: Just had some more of this cake cool for lunch, and it is utterly delicious, really rather brownie-like in it's moist fudginess.

Turkish Style Lentil and Vegetable Soup

2009-10-30T19:01:00.003Z

Tonight was another pancake making night, but I also wanted to make a warming, comforting soup. This soup may not look particularly special or attractive, but it tastes delicious and is very easy to make.

Ingredients:
250g split red lentils (masoor dal)
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium potato, chopped
A big bunch of parsley, chopped
Salt, to taste
Olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
A large pinch of asafetida
4 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and minced
Lemon wedges and black pepper to serve

Cook the lentils in plenty of water until tender. Then add all the chopped vegetables and simmer till they are also tender. Stir in the parsely and turn off the heat.

Heat some olive oil in a small pan. When hot, add the cumin seeds and asafetida. When the seeds begin to sizzle, add the garlic. Stir and fry for a few moments, and then add to the soup.

Serve hot, with plenty of black pepper and lemon wedges.

Great Day Out in Bath

2009-10-29T19:25:00.003Z

We had a fantastic day out in Bath today. We spent the morning exploring the Roman Baths, which was fascinating, especially with the very informative audio guide that we got free with our entry tickets.

Then on to lunch. I will now reveal the best place in Bath to eat lunch. Arabesque is a fantastic little Lebanese place on the first floor of The Podium shopping centre. At lunchtime they do an amazing buffetfor only £6.95. There's a huge range of cold and hot dishes, and lots of options for veggies. In fact, all the cold dishes are vegetarian, and most of the hot ones are too, although there are some delicious (so I am told by my Dad) meat dishes for the carnivores. Fill up your plate as many times as you want, making sure you get plenty of the delicious fried cauliflower and spicy potatoes, and also extra helpings of the fool medames. The falafel are pretty good too, and rather large. Whatever you do though, save room for dessert! The mixed sweet plate is the way to go if more than one of you wants dessert. You get baklava, ataif (pancakes filled with Lebanese cream) and usmalia (kadaifi filled with Lebanese cream). Drinks wise, there's plenty of refreshing cool drinks and also mint tea, arabic tea and arabic coffee. The coffee may seem pricey for such a small shot, but you can get free refills. Be warned: you may not be able to walk after stuffing yourself at this place!

After our sumptuous lunch, we staggered towards the Abbey. We were distracted for quite some time by an amazing street performer doing tricks on a unicycle. After balancing a small (somewhat frightened!) child on his shoulders whilst unicycling, he moved on to something extremely impressive: cycling on a 10ft unicycle! If that wasn't impressive enough, he also juggled three flaming batons as he did this! On top of this, he was a rather witty and entertaining guy himself. When he had finished his act, we took time out to watch a man who was playing the fiddle whilst using some amazing foot-controlled contraption to accompany himself on the guitar. He was joined by a jovial friend with a pair of tambourines, and the atmosphere was really nice.

We finally made it to the cathedral, which was rather stunning in its own right but was made equally spectacular by some amazing pieces of art by local artist Sue Symons. A stunning mixture of calligraphy and very detailed tiny pattern work, this really is something to see.

After all that hard work, it was time for a hot drink. And where better to go than Minerva Chocolate, just outside the abbey. I had the most decadent hot chocolate imaginable, whilst my parents tucked in to tea and chocolate brownies, served with lashings of cream and a chocolate button. The smell of chocolate in the shop was so enticing, and you could watch the chocolate makers at work.

Finally, we sat and listened to Bath's famous reggae busker Delroy Fowlin, who by the way has his own Facebook appreciation page. He really is a Bath institution, and deservedly so as he is so friendly and smiling. You can check out a video of him in action here.

Then it was home for us, with just a quick stop to get some choccie peanuts for the car!

It's Official, I'm in the Evening Post!

2009-10-29T17:41:00.003Z

Well, the article about my book came out in the Bristol Evening Post today. If you didn't manage to get a copy, you can check it out online, here: http://crackerjack.co.uk/bristol/restaurant-news/untitled-8

Excitement....May Be In Kerala Next Month!

2009-10-25T14:20:00.002Z

Very exciting news today. This morning I got an email from the manager of the Ayurvedic centre in Kerala I stayed at for 6 weeks last year. He's getting married next month and he wanted to know if I could come!

At first I thought it would be totally impossible, what with college and all, plus my passport runs out in January so I'd have to get a new passport before I could get a visa.

But then I thought, hang on a minute, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And then I checked my college timetable, and it turns out I would only miss three days, and they're all revision days. A quick perusal of the passport website reveals that there is a one week fast track service for passport renewal, and a glance at the visa website shows that there is a 5 day fast track service. It's all starting to look more possible...

So I've decided, I'm going to do my best make it. It's only a week, but I'm sure it will be completely amazing. I just wonder whether I will have to dig out my Keralan sari...

Polenta, Stuffed Mushroom and Green Beans

2009-10-22T19:23:00.002+01:00

Tonight's supper was simple but satisfying. A cooked up a nice big pan of polenta with a little olive oil and ghee added for extra creaminess, and Mum whipped up some stuffed mushrooms. Even Dad pitched in, slicing some home-grown green beans and steaming them.

The stuffing for the mushroom was really delicious. Mum simply chopped up some red onion, kalamata olives, tomato, Trinidadian seasoning peppers and halloumi in a bowl. She stirred in capers, some dried herbs and plenty of salt and pepper. This was spooned into the large mushrooms and over the smaller ones. A few extra slices of halloumi on top and a sprinkling of sesame seeds finished it off. They took about 25 minutes to bake. A lot of juices were released during the cooking time, but this made a really nice "gravy" for the beans and polenta. A perfect comfort-food supper for a chilly evening.

Diwali Fireworks and Roasted Cashew Chutney

2009-10-18T20:11:00.004+01:00

As promised, here are some more photos from last night.

We lit lots of candles.

We also lit a couple of little brass lamps I brought back from Kerala last year.

We played cards, gambling rather tamely with 2p coins...I won!

Then we let off some fireworks.

And played with sparklers. All in all, a good night.

Tonight I made some roasted cashew chutney to go with our supper. It has a sweet, nutty taste with a little bit of a kick.

Ingredients:
125g raw cashews
1 inch piece of ginger
2 green chillies
Juice of half a lemon
About 3 dessert spoons plain yoghurt
Salt, to taste

Dry roast the cashews until nicely browned. Allow to cool.

Put all the ingredients in the blender with a little water and blend until smooth. Add more yoghurt or water as necessary to get the consistency you desire.

Bradley Stoke Diwali Mela

2009-10-17T18:53:00.013+01:00

Today my family and I went to Bradley Stoke Diwali Mela. It was held at the Willow Brook Centre, in the space outside Tesco and all the other shops.

There was food and drink, clothes, jewellery, henna, hair braiding, a "Be safe at Diwali" fire service stall (!), a fairground ride and the usual fairground sweet stall.

There was also live entertainment. A band got everything started.

Rishi, a very talented young guy, sang and played the guitar.

Then there was some lovely dancing to Dhoom music by a little girl.

And an older lady did some dancing too.

In between, Radio Mast (find them online here) DJs got the crowd moving to some Bollywood hits. It started off with just the little kids dancing, but soon a mulititude of ages were getting in on the action!

There was also a rangoli making competition.

Sadly we had to leave before all the late afternoon and evening festivities, because my Dad is off to a concert in Bath tonight, and we needed to make supper and so on before he went. Before we left, we popped in to Tesco, who were doing a roaring trade in fireworks.

At home I made some saffron kheer to sweeten our mouths for the new year.

Ingredients:
2 litres whole milk
125g basmati rice
10 cardamom pods
150g sugar
A generous pinch of saffron (add as much as you can afford!)
Ghee
30g cashew nuts, slit into halves
30g raisins

Bring the milk, rice and cardamom pods to the boil in a large pan, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Turn down to a very gentle simmer, and cook very gently for 1 1/2 hours until the mixture has reduced to the consistency you desire. It should coat a spoon when stirred. You will need to stir frequently while it is cooking, to prevent it from burning on the bottom.

Add the saffron and sugar and cook for 5 minutes longer.

Fry the cashews in ghee until golden, then add the raisins and fry for a few moments until they swell. Add to the kheer. Serve warm.

Happy Diwali everyone, I'll post pictures of our fireworks tomorrow!

More Pancakes...Oh, When Will It End?!

2009-10-16T19:25:00.002+01:00

I'm joking, I can't get enough pancakes. I can make pancakes different enough so that you would want to eat them everyday!

Today's pancake was an avocado pancake, and I served it with plain yoghurt and a sweetcorn and tomato salsa. The corn was home-grown and really tasty. I also made urad dal flavoured with mint and fennel. The picture is sloppy because I had just made a huge batch of pancakes and spent ages poncing around getting nice pictures for the book and I was REALLY hungry to just sit down and eat at the end of it all!

More Recipe Testing and a Delicious Supper

2009-10-14T18:53:00.003+01:00

Tonight I tested the fifth pancake recipe from my upcoming book. It's loosely based on the South Indian dish adai, but the batter is much thinner and the pancakes are very light and flexible. I served it with vegetables in a coconut and yoghurt sauce that was inspired by the South Indian dish moru kalan.

I served the pancakes and vegetables to my family along with a toor dal dish from Yamuna Devi's "Art of Indian Vegetarian Cookery". It was delicious, and I can't wait to test more recipes!

If you like the look of this pancake, please find many other sneaky preview pictures of my next book here.

2009-10-09T19:13:00.002+01:00

Tonight's supper was a very simple masoor dal, served with pancakes and a carrot dish from my upcoming book, Pancakes at Dawn. For dessert we had a deliciously ripe mango.

Recipe testing is fun, and very tasty, but it is exhausting doing the photos! My Dad is doing a really great job, and the photos look lovely, but I hope he is not getting too drained by it all. After all, we are only 3 pancakes in!

For the dal, I cooked a cup of masoor dal with a little turmeric. When it was completely tender and broken down, I added one chopped large tomato and turned off the heat. I heated a little oil in a tarka pan, and added 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 2 bay leaves and a large pinch of asafetida. When the seeds sizzled, I put in 5 cloves of peeled, mashed and minced garlic. After a quick fry, it all went straight into the cooked dal. The finishing touch was a small splash of lemon juice.

Greek Style Baked Beans and Olive Bread

2009-10-08T19:38:00.017+01:00

Tonight's supper was Greek style baked beans, olive bread and a little cheddar cheese (in the absence of feta!). Both very simple to prepare - after a little bit of preparation, things go in the oven and you can wander off and do other things while you wait for supper to be cooked!

I don't often make bread with white flour, but I know my family likes it, so occasionally I will give them a treat. The bread is really easy to make - I can never understand why people don't make their own bread more often. It barely takes any time, and the results are simply superb.

Greek Style Baked Beans

1 1/2 cups dried butter or cannellini beans, soaked overnight (or you can soak bring to the boil in a large pan of water, boil for 2 minutes then leave to rest for 1 hour)
Olive oil
3 onions, peeled sliced into half moons
10 cloves garlic, peeled, mashed and minced
5 large tomatoes (about 750g), roughly chopped
Fresh or dried oregano and thyme
2 bay leaves
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt, to taste

Cook the beans until just tender, set aside. There should be just enough water left to reach just below the level of the beans. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven-proof casserole dish. Add the onions, and fry for a few minutes. Then add the garlic and fry for a few minutes more.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes just begin to soften. Then add the fresh or dried thyme and oregano and the bay leaves.

Add the beans, their cooking liquid and salt to taste. Mix well.

Bake uncovered in the oven for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. In the last half an hour, add the fresh parsley. It's a good idea to check on it every half hour or so to make sure it's not browning too much on the top. A little browned is desirable, but give it a little stir if it's getting overly golden.

These beans are delicious served hot or cold, with breads, cheeses, salads and dips. This recipe makes a large dish, perfect for keeping some to eat cold the next day.

Olive Bread

2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
450g strong white flour
50g olive oil
125g pitted olives, roughly chopped (you can use black or green - I like Kalamata olives, but tonight I used a mixture)
Salt, to taste (remember that olives can be quite salty)

Put the yeast and sugar in a small cup and add a little warm water. Mix well, and set aside for 10 minutes for the yeast to set to work.

Meanwhile, put the flour, olives, olive oil and salt in a large mixing bowl. When the yeast is bubbly, make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast. Mix well, adding enough warm water to make a dough.

Knead well until everything is well mixed and the dough springs back when you prod it. The olives will have slightly coloured the dough as you have kneaded it - don't worry about it, just think of all that olive-y flavour that has been worked into the dough. Very lightly flour a baking tray. Form the dough into a round and place on the tray. Then use your hands to flatten it out until you have quite a thin layer. You can make the bread round, square or whatever other shape you desire.

Cover with a very lightly dampened tea towel and allow to rest in a warm place until it has risen. I tend to leave it in the kitchen near, the oven, which I have turned on ready for the bread to be baked.

This is a flattish bread, so don't expect it to rise loads. It should take 1 - 1 1/2 hours, and then it will be puffy and visibly risen. If you haven't already done so, preheat the oven to 200°C.

Bake the oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden and cooked. You can tell it is baked because it will be firm on top and bottom and when you tap the middle it will be firm and make a slightly hollow noise.

Allow to cool for a little while before slicing.

Cauliflower, Broccoli and Buckwheat "Upma"

2009-10-06T19:31:00.003+01:00

This is a favourite quick breakfast of mine. I simply cook a portion of buckwheat and set it aside. Then I get out my wok and do a tarka of mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. This is quickly followed by asafetida, curry leaves, red onion, chillies and fresh ginger. After a quick fry, I add cauliflower and broccoli and cook until nearly tender. In goes the buckwheat, a little turmeric, salt and a splash of lemon juice. In a few moments more it's all done, and just needs a little chopped fresh coriander to finish it off.

Pancakes at Dawn - My Second Book is Underway

2009-10-04T20:58:00.003+01:00

This week I have started work on my second book in earnest. The book is called Pancakes at Dawn, and is a collection of recipe for making some highly unusual and delicious pancakes.

I have just got the blog up and running, and you should expect to see a couple of posts with pictures of the pancakes a week. This is because I am aiming to do two photographs for the book per week, and whilst my Dad is doing his proper, good looking photos, I will be taking a few amateur snaps with my little camera.

I am really excited about this book. I think the idea is pretty innovative - I have never seen pancakes like these. Please check out the blog here - http://pancakesatdawn.blogspot.com/

Dal and Roast Potatoes

2009-10-04T19:33:00.009+01:00

In our house, the Sunday roast is a little different from the norm! Roast potatoes with dal is a particular favourite.

This week I made masoor dal with courgettes and tomato. The masoor dal was cooked with turmeric and fresh ginger until cooked, then salt, chilli powder and three large chopped courgettes were added and cooked until tender. A large chopped tomato was added, and the pan was taken off the heat. The tarka was a tablespoon of ghee with 2 teaspoons panch pooran and a little asafetida. When the seeds popped, I added two chopped fresh green chillies and 5 cloves of minced garlic. These were fried for a few moments, and then added to the dal. A touch of chopped fresh coriander was stirred in, and lemon slices were provided at the table.

Dad cooked up some of his home-grown "green" beans as the green vegetable. As you can see, before cooking they are purple, though they appear rather black in this photo. The variety is called "Cherokee trail of tears".

After cooking they are dark green. They taste subtly different from ordinary green beans, and are very good.

There was also oven-roasted home-grown sweetcorn, not shown. I urge you all to try making dal to go with your roast potatoes. Break open a potato, smother it in dal, and enjoy. It is one of life's greatest pleasures!

Pancake Supper and Recipe Testing for My Next Book!

2009-10-02T17:58:00.005+01:00

Tonight I started testing recipes for my next book, "Pancakes at Dawn". I don't want to reveal too much about the recipe, not even the name, as I think that would give away too many important details! Suffice to say, they were delicious. On Sunday I will make them again and take photos for the book.

Here are two of the pancakes on their own.

And here they are as part of my supper. They were served with cucumber raita and figs from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian".

Testing recipes is so much fun! The next few weeks are going to be a blast!

Home-grown Veggies

2009-10-01T18:57:00.010+01:00

My Dad has always enjoyed growing a variety of things - from little tamarind trees that we never expect to fruit to hundreds of garlic plants that give us a steady supply for several months. When we moved house in 2002, we got an allotment, so that we could grow even more things.

I have been telling my Dad for some time now that I will write a post about how lovely his home-grown vegetables are, and this week I have finally got around to it. Recently we have been eating home grown sweetcorn, picked a few minutes before grilling, celery, kale, kai lan, and broccoli.

We also have a profusion of home grown squash.

Here are some delicately grilled sweetcorn cobs. They were delicious, simply smothered with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

This broccoli will be part of tomorrow's breakfast.

A small bowl of fresh peas. Various sizes, but all quite tender and delicious.

Lusciously green cavalo nero (a variety of kale), a favourite of mine.

And here's a meal using the kale and green peas. Masoor dal with kale, green peas pilau and ajwain carrots.

Finally, here's a shot of my Dad's latest project, a little lime tree. It was a birthday present.

Idlis and Utthappam

2009-09-30T16:57:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I made idlis for lunch, and I had a little batter left over, so I made a carrot and onion utthappam for my Dad.

Here it is on the pan. I put far too much topping on it, as usual!

And here is the finished utthappam....

....plus a sneaky shot of a plate full of idlis (brown rice)!

You can check out this post on the blog about my book, Mango Soup for a pictorial on idli making.

Puttu, Kadala and Steamed Ripe Plantains

2009-09-27T10:37:00.009+01:00

I have been missing India a lot recently, especially Kerala, so this morning I woke up with a firm purpose in mind. I cooked some Indian chickpeas, grated a couple of coconuts and made up a spice powder so I could make puttu and kadala.

I bought my puttu kutti in Kerala over a year ago, but have been too nervous to try to use it till now! I was taught the basics by a chef out in Kerala, and had it drilled into me that the mixture should be just lightly moistened and not made into a dough or lumpy paste. I was worried that it would come out dry and powdery, or that it would fall apart, so I have been putting it off. Yesterday I bit the bullet and bought myself some Double Horse brand puttu powder, made of proper red rice which is some much nicer than the white one. I was all ready!

I cooked the kadala recipe from Ammini Ramachandran's brilliant book, "Grains, Greens and Grated Coconuts" to go with the puttu. The roasted coconut and coriander powder smelt really good, and I couldn't wait for everything to be ready.

I also had a really ripe plantain that my Dad bought on Friday, and I like nothing more than to steam ripe plantains (either with or without jaggery and ghee - today without) and eat them with upma or puttu. I just wished I had more than one!

Here is my puttu kutti in action. It is only small, so for this batch of puttu (made with 2 cups rice flour and 1 cup coconut, plus extra between layers) I used it three times. It was ok though, because it is easy enough to split between four whilst you wait for the next, and it does not take long to cook. We couldn't actually finish all the puttu anyway!

Here is one of the puttu, the first in fact. You can see that I did not get the coconut layer in the middle exactly half way! Never mind, it was very good.

And here is my thali. Well, my first thali anyway! It was so good I had to go back for seconds. Oh, you know how it is with birthday weekends, especially when you have family over who are usually away - you eat too much and have a very good time!

Bristol Asian Festival and a Day of Prodigious Eating

2009-09-27T09:52:00.007+01:00

Yesterday my family and I went to Bristol Asian Festival, in Eastville park. We popped into Bristol Sweetmart on the way to drop off a poster for my book that I had made, and picked up some snacks whilst we were there. I had a aloo bonda, a few pakora and a kachori. Various other delicious treats were picked up by the rest of the family (including my brother, who came down from Reading because it as my Dad's birthday). This turned out to be totally unecessary, as there was some food at the festival. Not that we missed out...

The mela had a really nice atmosphere, and there were plenty of stalls to browse whilst listening to the music and watching performers. Salwar kameez, shawls, bangles, pirate bollywood DVDs (which I may or may not have bought a large amount of), a whole store full of various interesting looking muslim items (including the Qur'an on DVD) and lot of other things.

Then of course, there was the food. I think Bristol has a large Muslim (I'm going to venture to say Pakistani Muslim) population, and thus a lot of it was quite meaty, but there were some veggie options too. I had some delicious chole bhatura and large amounts of mouth watering jalebi. The boys has some kind of chicken thing, and also mirchi bhaji (which I would have sampled if they hadn't put it on the chicken-y plate!). Sadly they ran out of mango lassi before we were able to have any, so I settled for a couple of delicious bottled Middle Eastern fruity drinks. Overall I think the food could have been a bit better, as there wasn't a huge amount of choice and it wasn't particularly amazing. Also, disappointingly there was no chai stall, which I think would have done a great trade, and no kulfi either, which would have been just right for the gorgeous weather.

The entertainment was rather fun and enjoyable. Bollywood hits blasted out, there was some singing, lots of dancing and plenty of enthusiastic MCing. Apparantly Imran Khan was there later, but we arrived at around 2pm and left at about 4.30pm so we missed him.

There were also lots of fair ground rides. My brother and I royally trounced Dad on the bumper cars and then had a great time on the most unintentionally hilarious ride ever. It was basically a ride with four arms that each held three seats (each seat sat three) and span around. As there was only my brother and I in our seat, there was quite a lot of room, and the momentum of the ride kept throwing me against my brother so that I kinda squished him against the side. To make matters worse, every time I tried to pull myself away, I was thrown back against him even more! I have never laughed so much on a ride, I thought I was going to explode. Lucky it was me squishing him really, as the other way around would have been much more painful - he is two years older and significantly larger than me!

After our great day out we were reluctant to let the festivities end. When we got home, there was something sparkling and alcoholic for Mum, Dad and Jon and a bottle of Fruitiser for me to celebrate Dad's birthday. And then we decided, perhaps slightly rashly, to walk up to our local Indian takeaway, which has moderately recently opened up some of its space as a restaurant.

The Frampton Balti is a nice enough place to get a takeaway from (with the usual suspension of Indian food standards that must always happen when you eat takeaway Indian!), but I haven't eaten there in around six or seven years, as I far prefer to cook my own. My parents often indulge though, and the lure of a meal out gripped me, so I was prepared to try it.

The veggie starters were rather limited, and my Mum and I both chose "Aloo Chat", which tasted about as Indian as macaroni cheese. It was basically some potato and onion that had been fried up, seemingly without any seasoning, including salt. I can tell you now, no chat masala had been within a mile of it, whatever the menu may have claimed! The boys were more pleased with their choices - something meaty, I forget what.

On to the mains. We like to order lots of dishes and share, which when takeaway is ordered ususally results in way too much food, especially as they often give us a free potato dish because we spend so much! The boys each choose something meaty, and then we had channa masala, tarka dal, bhindi bhaji, saag aloo, mushroom bhaji, veg dhansak, three mushroom rice and one paratha. It sounds like a lot, and under takeaway circumstances would have resulted in many leftovers. However, although the prices are the same for eating in or taking away, he eat in portions are...how can I put this...miniscule. You'd really need two side dishes and a rice per person, so shared between four it was not really what we expected. Still, it was fairly tasty, though I was not a fan of the dhansak. It was also a little bland for my liking, so I asked if they had any chilli achar. They did not, but they brought some nimbu achar to our table (which was totally without heat) and when I requested something spicy, they were kind enough to bring me some fresh green chillies. Cue incredulous stares as I munched upon four or five with my meal. I can't help it, I'm not a masochist, I just need something with a bit of zing with my food. I don't think they are really that hot.

So, after a modest meal we fancied something a bit sweet and sinful for dessert. I was thinking of rasgulla, which are always extremely underwhelming in Indian restaurants, but nevertheless always call out to be tried. However, they didn't have any such thing on their dessert menu - just a slew of anonymous looking icecreams and a choice of pineapple or banana fritters. Sure, they had those "Kulfi Ice" pots that you can get in Indian grocers, but I know from experience that they are disappointing, so I settled on some caramel-nut-chocolate ice cream thing. It was quite nice, but very overpriced.

Overall, the service was wonderful but the food rather unremarkable. I knew it wasn't going to be gold standard Indian cuisine, but Indian restaurant food is usually at least a nice food experience in its own right. Unfortunately, the lack of seasoning in some of the dishes and stingy portions ruined it a bit. Should have stayed in town and gone to Krishna's Inn!

Idlis in Yoghurt

2009-09-22T19:47:00.006+01:00

Today's lunch was nothing short of divine!

I took some idlis (made of brown rice, at a slightly non traditional ratio of 1:2 rice to dal, hence different colour).

Then I added chopped tomato, and a spice powder made of a little cumin, a little coriander, and a little black pepper that I roasted in a pan and then mixed with some chilli powder. I also added a little salt.

Then I dolloped on some yoghurt and spread it carefully, to make sure the idlis were fully covered without breaking them up. Simple, quick and oh so tasty!

Aubergine Rice

2009-09-22T19:28:00.011+01:00

Last night I made my take on Vangi Bhat, a spicy aubergine and rice dish. I'm thinking about putting the recipe in my next book, so I won't give you the full details of the recipe now, but I will show you some pretty informative pictures.

I cooked rice (I use brown basmati - unconventional but healthy and tasty).

I toasted and ground spices.

I soaked tamarind.

After popping spices in ghee, I added onion and fried.

Then in went the aubergine and it was fried for a few minutes, before I added the strained tamarind paste and some seasonings.

When the aubergine was tender, in went the rice and the freshly ground spice powder. It was cooked for a few minutes more.

A touch of fresh coriander finishes the dish off perfectly. Delicious!

Mooli Stuffed Paratha and Courgette and Tomato

2009-09-20T19:56:00.002+01:00

Tonight's supper was absolutely mouthwatering. I ground some wheat to make flour for parathas, then stuffed them with grated mooli and some seasonings. I also made a gravy dish, courgette with tomatoes. It was really satisfying and deliciously spicy.

No-egg "Omelette" - AKA Nomelette!

2009-09-20T19:24:00.012+01:00

I'm a vegetarian who eats dairy, but not eggs. That confuses people in the West, but actually in India it's a common form of vegetarianism. Anyway, the point is, I have found out how to make some lovely dishes without egg.

This particular dish is not an intentional replacement for that famous egg dish, the omelette, it just suddenly came to me one day that it strongly resembles an omelette! I call it a nomelette - a non-omelette! It's very simple to make. This particular version is a spinach nomelette.

Ingredients:
150g gram flour
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt, to taste
2 teaspoons ghee (you could use oil)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
A large pinch asafetida
1 onion, sliced into half moons
2 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed and minced.
150g spinach, sliced

First I mix the gram flour with turmeric, salt and enough water to make a thin batter.

Next I heat the ghee in a good, wide, non-stick pan (such as one suitable for making omelettes in!) until the seeds smell fragrant and have darkened a little.

I add the onion slices and garlic and fry for a few minutes.

Then, in goes the spinach. I fry and mix this for a few minutes.

Next I pour the gram flour mixture into the pan. Before it has a chance to set, I make sure it is well mixed in and evenly spread around the pan and throughout the spinach and onion.

Then it's just a matter of cooking the nomelette into the gram flour is set on the bottom and slightly browned. It's a good idea to tilt the pan around to spread out the batter as it cooks. In the above picture, you can see that it is set completely on the bottom and around the edges. If you shake the pan, the whole nomelette moves around!

Finally I put the nomelette under a very hot grill, so that the top layer sets and browns nicely. Whereas some people like their omelettes slightly un-set, gram flour is best cooked, so make sure it is fully set.

This nomelette serves around two, or maybe more if there are lots of other dishes. I had half an nomelette, and then afterwards a grilled cob of home-grown sweetcorn, doused in lemon juice and pepper.

Spicy Polenta with Peas

2009-09-20T08:21:00.009+01:00

Polenta is a really versatile flour, and last night I decided to spice it up and make a dish a little like upma, but softer and less fluffy.

Ingredients:
200g fine cornmeal (polenta)
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon ghee (you could use oil)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies
A large pinch of asafetida
A handful of curry leaves
1 onion
400g peas (I used frozen, but you could easily use fresh)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

First I put the cornmeal and salt in a pan, and slowly added enough cold water to make a thick batter. Then I topped it up with hot water to make the batter thin, and brought it to the boil. I turned the heat down and simmered the micture until it thickened.

Keeping the polenta on a very low heat, I heated the ghee in a pan and when it was hot, I added the spice seeds, chillies and asafetida.

When the mustard seeds popped, I added the curry leaves, stirred for a few seconds and then added the onion. I fried the onion until it was just soft.

Then I added the frozen peas and cooked for a few minutes to warm the peas.

Finally I added the peas mixture to the polenta along with the tumeric and mixed well. I cooked the polenta until the peas were cooked and it the mixture was thick. You can make the polenta as thick as you like, adding splashes of water if necessary to thin it down.

I ate the polenta with some stirfried vegetables, and my parents made an omelette to go with theirs. There was a little left, so I poured it in to a baking tray and put it in the fridge to set.

In the morning, I could see that the mixture was not quite thick enough to set into a solid mass that could be sliced and grilled or fried. So instead, I put the dish in the oven and baked it till the top was slightly golden, and it was well heated through.

Karhi for Lunch

2009-09-20T08:12:00.007+01:00

Yesterday for lunch I made a lovely karhi, based on Madhur Jaffrey's "Gujarati Karhi" in her "Eastern Vegetarian" cookbook. I added lots of courgettes, because I love them and needed to use up a few, and also changed the seasoning very slightly.

Here's the finished pot.

I ate the karhi with cauliflower flavoured with panch pooran, tomato slices with pepper and brown basmati rice with a bit of celery thrown in during the cooking for extra flavour. My parents ate it like a soup, with bread, spreads and salads to accompany.

A Light But Delicous Supper and a Lovely Lunch!

2009-09-17T14:25:00.007+01:00

Yesterday I had quite a productive day in the kitchen. I grated a batch of coconut for the freezer, and I also ground some wheat into flour to make chapatis. You can see some old pictures of me grinding flour to make chapatis on my Mango Soup blog, here.

Supper was "Spicy Butternut Squash and Coconut", spicy stirfried greens and cauliflower and a couple of chapatis. The recipes for both the squash and the chapatis can be found in my book, Mango Soup. You can find out more information about making the squash dish here.

For the greens and cauliflower I did a tarka of cumin, crushed coriander seeds and asafetida. It came out really well, and was a nice contrast to the slightly sweet-tasting butternut squash. I was very lucky, because my Mum was kind enough to cook the chapatis for me, so I did not have to keep leaping up from my food to cook. Thanks Mum!

Today's lunch was a simple meal of rice, dal, veg and salad. The dal was "Cauliflower Masoor Dal" from my book (I'll be posting a pictorial on my Mango Soup blog in the next few days) and the vegetable was green stirfried with ajwain and some chillies. The salad was simply tomato slices seasoned with freshly ground pepper, and the rice was plain brown basmati.

After all that delicious food I had plenty of energy, so I've been cleaning up the house a bit and sorting out various computer related tasks (blogging, answering emails, posting on forums, etc.) that I've been meaning to do for a while. Oh yes, and I'm already thinking about what dishes I will make for supper!

Spicy Dal and Veg Broth with Noodles

2009-09-14T19:28:00.016+01:00

There are noodles in the bottom of that bowl, honest! This soup is part rasam, part hot and sour soup. It's really delicious, warming and healthy.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup toor dal
2 tablespoons raw, skinless peanuts
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 sticks celery
2 chillies, chopped (you can use more, I just wanted to make it a little milder so my Mum could enjoy it)
6 cloves of garlic, peeled, mashed and chopped
6 lime leaves
A large ball of tamarind (around 50-60g)
2 large carrots, sliced into half moons
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large leek, sliced into half moons
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon each cumin and coriander seeds
1 teaspoon grated fresh turmeric
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
A large pinch asafetida
A handful curry leaves
A handful chopped fresh coriander

First I cooked the dal, peanuts and ginger for one hour, until the dal and peanuts were tender.

Meanwhile, I prepared the seasonings that were to be added next.

Then I added the celery, turmeric, chillies, garlic, lime leaves and coriander and simmered for 20 minutes more.

While that was simmering, I chopped up the remaining vegetables.

I also toasted the cumin, coriander and black pepper till fragrant and golden.

Then I ground them in a mortar and pestle.

Next I added the vegetables, ground spices and salt to the soup. I simmered it gently until the vegetables were just tender but the carrots still had some bite to them.

Finally I heated the ghee in a small pan. When it was hot, I added the mustard seeds and asafetida. When the mustard seeds popped I added the curry leaves and fried them for a few seconds before pouring the seasoned ghee into the soup. Finally I added the chopped coriander.

I used some rice and corn noodles that we had in the cupboard. I love the flavour of pasta made with corn. I cooked them, then drained them and tossed them with some toasted sesame oil. We scooped the noodles into our bowls and poured ladles of broth on top. You have to fish out the lime leaves and tamarind stones, but my family are ok with that!

I also steamed some plantain to toss into the soup, for those who wanted it.

Been a While Since I Posted

2009-09-14T16:17:00.004+01:00

Sorry, have been neglecting this blog for a while! I've still been updating Mango Soup though, so don't forget to check that blog out if this one stays the same for a while!

Over the weekend did a number of foodie things. Had a ridiculous day out of eating at the Bristol Organic Food Festival. Sampled a huge number of cheeses, smoothies, dried fruits, breads, oils, chutneys, pickles, sauces, olives, nuts, chocolates....lots of food! For my "proper" lunch I had a salad box from one of the stalls. There was a rice salad with brown rice and lots of seeds in it, a "Thai" curried rice salad, a three bean salad with feta, a lentil and squash salad and a lemon and coriander homous. Also ate some wonderul labenah. Then on to more sampling and drinks, including my favourite sparkling ginger drink.

Finally a lovely Marshfield ice-cream. I had Caramel Fudge in Clotted Cream and also a passionfruit flavour (can't find it on the website, strange). I really like Marshfield ice-cream because most of their flavours (except the ones with brownie pieces and so on) don't contain eggs. Also, they are delicious and quite local too.

Made a quick stop on the way home at Maliks, a caribbean food store. I needed some mustard seeds, and Mum wanted to get some Carib for her and Dad. Then home for sprawling on the sofa feeling full!

Baked Plantains in Orange Juice

2009-08-29T16:04:00.003+01:00

Another Caribbean goody that we ate recently, last night in fact, is baked plantains in orange juice. This recipe is adapted from the Naparima Girls' High School Cookbook, which is rather well known in Trinidad and Tobago.

You need:

3 ripe plaintains
400g orange juice
100g agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Slice the plantains up and lay them in a wide dish suitable for the oven. Combine the remaining ingredients in a jug and stir well. Pour over the plantains. Bake in the oven at aroun 200°C until the plantains are soft, the top layer is golden and caramalised and the sauce is reduced to a thick syrup. This takes 40-60 minutes. Serve hot.

It got wolfed down so quickly that I only remembered to take a photo when there was just a little bit left!

West Indian Chilli Pepper Sauce

2009-08-29T15:25:00.006+01:00

My brother is going back to his student house in Reading tomorrow, so the last few days have been spent furiously cooking for him! Last night my Dad made his famous West Indian Chilli Pepper Sauce, and this morning I made (a version of) mine. I can never seem to follow a fixed recipe for this, but this is what I made today!

You need:
120g scotch bonnet peppers
3 garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard (take 2 teaspoons of whole black mustard seeds and grind them yourself in a pestle and mortar - then take what you need)
A good handful of fresh coriander
A few sprigs each of fresh oregano and fresh thyme
50g papaya
6 tablespoons white vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Here's a chopping board displaying the chillies, garlic and coriander. Be careful when chopping the chillies - they will get on your skin, under your nails, all over the knife, all over the board...I chopped up a piece of papaya to nibble on using the same knife and let's just say the papaya had some kick to it after that!

All the ingredients go in a jug to be blended by the immersion blender. Blend it nice and smooth.

Next, put the blended mixture into a small pan and heat till simmering gently. Simmer for a couple of minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool a little. Pour into jars. I think it's best to let the sauce rest for a couple of days before you start using it, for the flavours to develop. This recipe makes one small jar and a bit, but it's pretty firey so don't go trying to use it all up in one night! It will last for months, but you should keep it in the fridge for safety. Don't be put off by the murky colour, this stuff is delicious!