INGREDIENTS
20 very large tiger or banana prawns, peeled but tails intact
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt to taste
BUTTERFLIED PRAWNS WITH DIPPING SAUCE
ROAST WINTER VEGETABLE AND CHICKPEA GRATIN
INGREDIENTS
1 (200 grams) orange kumara, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 (100 grams) parsnip, diced into bite sized pieces
2 (200 grams) carrots, diced into bite sized pieces
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CELERIAC LATKES WITH HERB SALAD AND TAHINI DRESSING
Celeriac is not available in all supermarkets and yes it is an ugly looking vegetables. Luckily I am too much of a curious cook to not dismiss something based on looks.
You can say it is the unsung hero of the vegetable world, knobbly and odd shaped. It has a celery flavour with a hint of lemon and is nutty. I came across celeriac when we were living in Budapest and during winter there was an abundance of this. Again another very versatile vegetable – try it roasted or in soups and it will be easy to see why it is popular. You can mix it in with potato to make a mash or on its own make a velvety, creamy puree to go with your seafood.
INGREDIENTS
450 grams celeriac
150 grams parsnip
½ cup freekah boiled in water and drained
Continue reading “CELERIAC LATKES WITH HERB SALAD AND TAHINI DRESSING”
ROAST BUTTERNUT AND PUY LENTIL SALAD
INGREDIENTS
750 grams butternut (pumpkin)
2 large red onions (300 grams)
100 grams Puy lentils
VEGETABLE AND CORN SOUP
You ask any person from India and they will tell you that Indo Chinese cuisine is a thing. It is unique and every desi feels very nostalgic about Indo Chinese. This soup is inspired by those memories and this is easy to make a chicken or vegetarian version. Just need to have good homemade stock and spend time cutting your vegetables fine which I find very therapeutic.
Ingredients
100 grams green cabbage (an eighth of a cabbage) very finely chopped
100 grams celery (2-3 stalks) finely diced
150 grams (1 large) carrot finely diced
150 grams (1 large) onion finely chopped
FISH TIKKA WITH YOGURT DIPPING SAUCE
India has a 7,500 kilometre coastline and so there are several variations of this recipe for spicy fried fish pieces. It depends not only on the type of fish available to the area but also the spices and oil used for frying. This is very popular and can be served up as a starter for a three course meal or possibly as part of a meal when accompanied with vegetables.
600 grams of any firm white fish (use cod or trevally) cut into 4-5 centimetre pieces
5 centimetre piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
UTTAPPAM
Another South Indian delight. These are very tasty, fluffy pancakes most often served for breakfast. Having said that it is available as “tiffin” in eateries particularly in the Southern part of India. In my years of trying to replicate uttappam, I found that the temperature in Wellington isn’t warm enough for fermentation. You get softer uttappams when the batter ferments and that is why I add apple cider vinegar and soda and also warm the oven to 50 degrees!
¾ cup medium or short grain rice
¾ cup idli rawa (this is a coarse semolina like flour especially available in Indian stores)
1 plus ½ cup urad dhal
SMOKED WAREHOU KEDGEREE
This is a quick and easy dinner – start to finish in half an hour. If you are wondering about the origins of kedgeree, yes it is a very Anglo Indian dish created in the 18th century for the British memsahibs.
INGREDIENTS
50 grams butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
500 grams smoked warehou fillet
3 cardamom pods
1 small cinnamon stick
2 fresh bay leaves
¼ teaspoon turmeric
250 grams Basmati rice
500 ml fish stock (preferably homemade)
Salt to taste
3 soft boiled eggs
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Lemon wedges and tomato relish or a fruit chutney to serve
METHOD
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and bay leaves, then cook for a minute. Add the onions and cook gently over medium heat for about five minutes until softened.
Add the turmeric and tip in the rice. Stir until all is well coated. Pour in the stock, add half a teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and leave to cook very gently for 10-12 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring some water to the boil in a large shallow pan. Add the smoked warehou and simmer for 3 minutes. Lift it out and leave until fish is cool enough to handle. Flake the fish, discarding any bones and skin. Boil the eggs, cool, peel and then chop.
Uncover the rice and gently stir in the fish, Cover with lid and allow to be heated through for a couple of minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning and grind some black pepper. Stir in the parsley and eggs. Garnish with the lemon wedges and serve hot with the relish on the side. Serves 4.
CHANNA MASALA
Whether eaten as a snack or a main, this tangy chick pea stew is invariably one of the more popular vegetarian dishes. Channa masala or chole as it is sometimes referred to, can be prepared with tinned chick peas for a quick meal or you can go the whole hog and make from scratch.
There are so many versions of this dish and personally I think you can create your own version using my recipe as a base.
INGREDIENTS
250 grams dried chick peas soaked overnight for a minimum of 8 hours or about 2 x 400 grams tins of chick peas drained
200 grams onions sliced
STIR FRIED SQUID
Squid is eaten in many cuisines. It is a good source of protein, low in fat, a great source of micronutrients and a good choice to eat. The rules for cooking squid are simple – they require either a short cooking time on a high heat (such as frying, deepfrying, grilling or BBQ’ing) or long slow cooking on low heat.
How to prepare the squid tubes?
I like to use frozen squid tubes. It is very easy to prepare them. Once thawed, I cut the tube in the centre and lay it out flat with the inside facing up. Wipe with paper towel and lightly score in a criss-cross pattern. Depending on the size of the tubes, you can then make into 5-6 centimetre long pieces.