Baked semolina cake
250g coarse semolina
200ml plain yoghurt
50ml water
50g peas or green beans (whatever you have in the fridge)
50g diced carrots
2 finely sliced green shallots
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon bicarb
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon crushed green chillies (add more if you like it spicy)
Method:
Heat oven at 180deg and grease a small loaf tin
1. Heat oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds. Once they pop add cumin and sesame seeds. Then add ginger, green chillies. Cook for about a minute. Keep aside to cool
2. Mix semolina, yoghurt,water salt, lemon, tumeric & vegetables in a bowl.
3. Add the oil mixture together with the bicarb and mix well
4. Pour into loaf tin and sprinkle with more sesame seeds and coconut if you like.
5. Bake for 30-35min
Cape Malay pickled fish
Pickled fish a South African favorite usually eaten during Easter on Good Friday with hot cross buns. My brother and I always waited for this time of year when my friends mum would make it. The crunchy onions and sour hit from the vinegar together with the spice berries and pepper corns gives this Cape Malay pickle its unique taste. Some recipes suggest using curry powder, I don't like using ready made powders so have stuck to using whole spices. The pickle can stored up to a week in a fridge.
500gr firm white fish, I have used hake. In South Africa yellow tail is used
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil to fry
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 large white onion sliced into rings
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon crushed coriander
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 green chilli kept whole
2 bay leaves
2 all spice berries
4 black peppercorns
4 white peppercorns (optional)
125ml white wine vinegar
125ml water
2 teaspoons cornflour
2-3 teaspoons brown sugar
salt to taste
Method:
1. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the fish and leave for 15-20min. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with kitchen towel. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and shallow fry in oil until done. Remove and leave to rest on paper towel so excess oil is drained
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan
3. Add mustard seeds and once they start spluttering add coriander green chilli, bay leaves, spice berries & peppercorns
4. Add onions and let this cook for 4-5 minutes
5. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two, we want the onions to remain crunchy.
6. Add the vinegar and water and bring to the simmer. Add sugar & salt
7. Mix the cornflour with 2 teaspoons of cold water and pour into the sauce. Allow the sauce to simmer gently whilst stirring until it has thickened. Taste, you may want to add more salt or sugar
8. Let the sauce cool down
9. Layer the fish fillets in a airtight container, preferably glass
10. Pour over the sauce and onions
11. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 48 hrs before eating. It can keep in the fridge for as long as a week
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| Layered in a glass dish |
Leith mess (srikhand)
Srikhand has been served a few times at Chai Lounge and its always been well received. I felt like I wanted to give it a bit more texture and when I read the ingredients of an Eton mess I thought it would work well with srikhand. Srikhand goes well with soft fruit like mango, strawberries, raspberries or pomegranate.
Srikhand (serves 8-12)
200g castor
sugar or icing sugar (I find castor sugar makes the srikhand too watery so
prefer icing sugar)
1kg full
fat Greek yoghurt
250g
mascarpone cheese
3 teaspoons
crushed pistachios
1 teaspoon
cardamom powder
¼ teaspoon
nutmeg
Method
- Place the Greek yoghurt in a
muslin cloth, tie tightly with a string and hang it somewhere so that it
can drain. Place a dish underneath it to collect the water. Or you could
use a fine sieve instead of a muslin cloth. Traditionally it’s left for 24hrs
but I find that 2-3hrs are good enough.
- Remove the yoghurt and place
into a large bowl. Add the sugar ,mascarpone cheese, pistachios, cardamom
powder and nutmeg and mix well. Taste and if you want more sugar add a bit
at a time and mix well.
Meringue
1egg white
55g castor
sugar
pinch of
cardamom powder
- Heat the oven at 100 deg
- Beat egg whites till soft peaks
are formed.
- Add sugar, one teaspoon at a
time and beat well till stiff peaks are formed. Add the cardamom powder
together with sugar
- Spoon mixture on a grease proof
paper and bake for 1.5hrs.
- Switch off oven, leave the
meringues in the oven but leave the oven door slightly open. This will
make them crispy and have a gooey inside texture
To serve
To make the
Leith mess I used strawberries and pomegranate
but any soft fruit would do. Place crushed meringues and chopped strawberries
at the bottom of the serving bowl. Place a few tablespoon of srikhand on top
and garnish with more crushed meringue, roughly chopped pistachios, strawberries and pomegranate.
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Aloo shaak
I learnt to make this aloo shaak from my dad's aunt. She use to cater for weddings in South Africa,cooking for over 800people at a time but has now retired. Hindu weddings are predominantly vegetarian and showcase a variety of dishes. Similar to what was featured at chai lounge recent vegetarian banquet. The gravy is thickened by mashing a few potatoes and the addition of peanuts or cashews gives it a creamy texture. Its delicious with puris and mango pickle.
1kg baby potatoes
1 teaspoon
mustard seeds
½ teaspoon
fenugreek seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon
crushed ginger
1 teaspoon
crushed garlic
1 teaspoon
crushed green chillies
1 teaspoon
chilli powder
½ teaspoon
tumeric
1 teaspoon
fine coriander
½ teaspoon
fine cumin
1 teaspoon
salt
2-3 grated
tomatoes
1
tablespoon lemon
1
tablespoon ground peanuts oe cashews
1
tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander and handful of curry leaves
- Boil potatoes in plenty of
water with a pinch of salt till soft
- Grate tomatoes and keep aside
- Heat 2tablepoons of oil in a
pot ( I use rapeseed oil) and add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Wait
till mustard seeds pop, then add ginger,garlic,green chillies,chilli
powder,tumeric,coriander,cumin, and salt. Cook this for 2-3minutes until
the raw smell of garlic disappears.
- Add peanuts and stir for about
1 minute then add tomatoes. Cook this slowly until the oil separates from
the tomatoes.
- Add the potatoes, lemon,
freshly cut coriander and curry leaves.
- Add 1 cup of boiling water and
let it boil for 10min. Mash one or two potatoes to thicken the gravy.
- Garnish with coriander and add
a bit more salt if needed.
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Mithi (sweet) roti
Mithi roti features during diwali at home. I love eating it warm with a glass of cold milk. It can be eaten with curry or on its own. A Gujarti meal usually consist of something spicy and something sweet. If you find it too spicy you can dip into something sweet, so these sweet roti's are perfect with a curry. Or you could simply serve it with some whipped cream.
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| mithi roti delicious with a glass of cold milk |
Ingredients for filling
250ml toor daal (soaked for 20min)
750ml water
5ml finely crushed cardamom
5ml finely crushed cloves (optional)
250ml sugar
Dough for roti
500ml plain flour
60ml ghee
250ml boiling water
Method for the filling
Wash daal and cook until soft. Usually all the water should boil away. If cooking in a pressure cooker, stop cooking after 3 whistles. The daal should be very soft and almost mushy. Place into a non stick pan together with the sugar and keep stirring. Add ghee, cardamom and cloves. Continue stirring until dry. When cold, roll into balls, I usually measure them out to 50g.
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| daal filling rolled into a ball |
To make the dough
Rub ghee in the flour, add boiling water slowly and mix with a teaspoon. When it can be handled with your fingers knead till a smooth dough. Don’t add all the water, add little at a time. Measure out the dough about 50g each and roll into a ball.
To make the roti
Take each dough ball and roll into a small circle, place the daal in the centre and close the dough. Sprinkle with a touch of flour and roll out lightly about 1mm thickness. It does not have to be too thin. Warm a griddle or tawa. Place roti on hot tawa and cook for about 20seconds. Turn roti with a spatula and spread a bit of ghee and cook for another 30seconds. Turn roti again and cook for another 20seconds. Place on a piece of wax paper and continue rolling the rest. If you have leftover daal you can freeze them. Take them out when you want 30min before rolling.
Patra made with spinach leaves
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| Vegetable box from Phantassie |
The reason I've used spinach leaves is because purchasing patra(colocasia) leaves in Edinburgh is difficult. If you do get it from an Indian shop its usually been in the shop for too long and has wilted away. The other reason for using spinach, I got two bunches of greens in my local vegetable box so had to think of something to make. AND patra leaves has to be cleaned and steamed well because its considered toxic due to the presence of calcium oxalate that can cause a stinging sensation in the mouth and throat when not prepared correctly. I've had a few occasions when the leaves were not prepared correctly, its not a nice feeling! Hence the use of large greens for this recipe
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| Roll down stems on leaves |
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| Batter and spinach leaves |
large spinach leaves around 10-12
place the spinach leaves on a board and use a rolling pin to press it flat.The stem in the middle is usually tough so rolling it out will soften it.
250ml gram flour
125ml semolina
125ml plain flour
25ml crushed coriander seeds
5ml finely crushed cumin
25ml oil
5ml of bicarb
15ml sesame seeds
5ml salt
15ml crushed green chilies
5ml crushed ginger
5ml crushed garlic
25ml sugar
50g tamarind or 1tablespoon concentrated paste
125ml vinegar
Make the batter with 500ml plain yoghurt
Place all the ingredients in a bowl (besides yoghurt). Make a thick batter by adding the yoghurt a spoon full at a time. The batter should be thick and not runny. Spread batter on each leaf and fold sides over and roll like a swiss roll. Use a toothpick to hold it in place. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and place the rolled spinach leaves in the hot oil. Cook on a low flame, turning it a few times. It should take around15-20min to cook.
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| Shallow fry spinach leaves |
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| Enjoy hot with a dash of lemon and a cup of masala tea |
Laapsi (broken wheat)
serves 4
1/2cup broken wheat
1 1/2 cup boiling water
1/2cup brown sugar (remove 2 tablespoons if you adding raisins)
1/2teaspoon cardamon powder
1/2teaspoon slightly crushed fennel
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
handful of raisins
handful of cashews
1. Heat the ghee or butter in a non-stick pan, add the broken wheat and cook on a low flame for around 15min, stirring continuously. The broken wheat will turn a lovely red colour.
2. Add the boiling water and cook on a low flame till the laapsi is soft and cooked,this should take about 15min.
3. Add the sugar,cardamon,fennel,cahews and raisins, mix well and cook on a slow flame for 5min or till the sugar dissolves. Serve warm
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Dhokla
Dhokla
makes one tray
250ml coarse semolina
250ml plain yoghurt
20ml oil
1ml bicard
5ml crushed green chillies
5ml crushed ginger
5ml salt
1ml tumeric
5ml enos(effervescent fruit salt)
Topping(tadka)
10ml oil
5ml mustard seeds
5ml sesame seeds
finely chopped corriander (optional)
desicated coconut (optional)
Method
Mix all ingredients together besides Enos and leave for 5 min. Boil water in steamer. Add Enos to mix and mix throughly. Steam for 20min on medium heat. Make topping by heating oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and sesame seeds. Pour over dhokla and finely chopped coriander. This can be served with green coconut chutney which I will post a recipe soon. I steamed my dhokla in mini cup cake makers to serve as canapes and they worked really well.
Naan Khataay
These lovely biscuits have a shortbread texture and I've been told by my colleagues at work that its an Indian shortbread,which describes this lovely melt in the mouth biscuit just perfectly. I remember making these biscuits only once a year during Diwali,my mum would not allow me to make it more often because of the ghee content. I totally agree with her
Naan Khataay
(makes approx 30)
125ml thick ghee or unsalted butter
100ml castor sugar
3ml ground cardmom
3ml ground nutmeg
5ml baking powder
15ml semolina
almonds cut in half to decorate
250ml plain flour
Method
1. Cream ghee and castor sugar.
2. Add all the ingredients besides the flour and beat till light and creamy.
3. Add the sifted flour gradually to form a biscuit dough. Make round balls and press flat until approximately
1cm thick.
4. Make a cross in the centre and press half a almond in the centre.
5. Bake at 180degress for 10minutes.
1. Wash
2. Boil dal till soft but still whole. Heat oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, wait till they pop.
3. Add asafoetida, green chillies, ginger and tumeric. Cook this for a minute then add the onions, cook for 5min.
4. Add butternut squash and cook till soft. If its too dry add a splash of water.
5. Add channa dal, salt and lemon, cook till required consistency. Add more hot water if it needs to be thinned out. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.
Channa Dal with butternut squash
This lovely sweet and nutty dal together with butternut or sweet potato makes a great hearty dal. It can be eaten as a soup or with hot rotis.
Channa Dal with butternut squash
serves 2
Ingredients
100g channa dal
100g chopped butternut squash or sweet potato
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion chopped
1 green chilli or more according to taste
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
pinch of asafoetida
½ teaspoon tumeric
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
1 tablespoon lemon
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
Method
2. Boil dal till soft but still whole. Heat oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, wait till they pop.
3. Add asafoetida, green chillies, ginger and tumeric. Cook this for a minute then add the onions, cook for 5min.
4. Add butternut squash and cook till soft. If its too dry add a splash of water.
5. Add channa dal, salt and lemon, cook till required consistency. Add more hot water if it needs to be thinned out. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.
