I was inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s cauliflower cake recipe and wanted to create my own gluten free version. It is in between a cake and a bread and because of its savoury nature I called mine a bread but the jury is out! What do you think – is it a cake or a bread?
It is a lovely dish to take to a potluck meal or if you are having a large group for a barbecue. There is a long list of ingredients, but let it not put you off because it comes together easily.
Cauliflower corn bread with pickled daikon and tomato chilli jam
INGREDIENTS
1 large cauliflower, weighing about a kilo, stalks removed
The word “shorba” is of Persian origin and almost a dozen variations of the word exist. It is traditionally prepared by simmering meat or vegetables in boiling water along with salt and flavored with aromatic curry spices and herbs.
Carrot shorba
My recipe is an oldie but a goodie from the Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor who has been the celebrity chef on one of the longest running food shows of its kind Khana Khazana. (In fact the show has been running since 2010 and has over 500 million viewers.) I remember watching this show on my visits to India. I have simplified the recipe so it is easier and you don’t have so many dishes to wash up!
This is a great soup to serve as a starter for a dinner party and I assure you will have your guests wanting more and the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
500g carrots, peeled and cut into 2 centimetre chunks
A few weeks back Eva Longoria posted her take on Bobby Flay’s recipe of Eggplant Milanese. I had to put my own signature on the dish and the result is spectacular even though I say so myself. There is textural as well as taste contrast and I would make it again in a heartbeat. Milanese style is a fancier way of saying crumbed!
My tip choose even shaped eggplants – shouldn’t be too narrow around the neck and bulbous at the bottom. You can cut eggplants lengthwise but I prefer the rounds.
Eggplant Milanese
INGREDIENTS
2 large eggplants, cut into ½ to 1 cm thick rounds
This cake is from Marie Pierre Moine’s “Recipes for a Perfect Sunday Lunch”. My copy is almost 30 years old and I still refer to it because it has some treasures like this one! It is based on the pound cake principle so the sugar, flour, butter, and eggs are an equal measure of 115g each! Flavoured with orange juice and Cointreau, this is an easy and beautiful sponge to whip up for a special afternoon tea. It is quick, so do try – you will love it.
Orange cake
This is a smallish cake and best eaten on the day it is baked. It does not keep very well.
INGREDIENTS
115g caster sugar
115g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
2 large eggs
115g self-rising flour
2 tablespoons orange juice and 2 teaspoons grated zest from the orange
I have to make a confession – I did not want to mess with a classic. It is a favourite in our household and my son will order it whenever we dine out during winter. Due to COVID restrictions my son missed out on his graduation ceremony. So I made the vegetarian version for his graduation celebratory dinner (French themed) we had at home a few weeks back.
Traditionally made with a robust beef stock, I struggled to find something that would offer the same richness and depth of flavour. A few experiments later, I came up with this winning formula for a robust vegetarian stock.
You cannot whip up French onion soup in the space of half an hour. Please allow yourself plenty of time so you don’t rush the slow caramelisation of onions.
Every cuisine offers exciting vegetarian / vegan options. I love experimenting with different spices and flavours to create my own version of classics from around the world. I served these vegan koftas with flat breads, shredded cabbage with some chopped fresh coriander leaves mixed in and harissa yoghurt.
To make harissa yoghurt, add a tablespoon of harissa to a cup of yoghurt. Squeeze a tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix in a few good pinches of salt and sugar. Mix and serve as sauce for flat breads.
Koftas & Flatbread
INGREDIENTS
100g dried chick peas, washed and soaked in water overnight
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
75g onions, sliced thinly
2-3 green chillies, chopped
Generous handful coriander stalks and leaves, chopped
As far as curries go, I love Thai curries. In Thai language, the green curry is called kaeng khiao wan which literally means sweet green curry. There you go green curry is not meant to be fiery hot. Just bursting with flavour from lemon grass, Kaffir lime leaves and coriander roots and stems.
Ingredients for Thai green curry – Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass
Thai people usually make their curry paste in a mortar and pestle as the spices are crushed and so the end result is more aromatic. This can take about half an hour so be prepared! The curry paste makes enough for another curry and I like to freeze any surplus. When you want to use it next time, just bring it to room temperature and just use straight from the jar.
Thai Green Curry with tofu and vegetables
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 generous tablespoons green curry paste (recipe below)
400ml coconut milk, shake well before opening the tin
250g extra firm tofu, cut into squares of 3 centimetres or so
What makes this almost a biryani? I cooked this in the pressure cooker, thereby halving the time. Traditionally biryani is cooked in the oven (low and slow, so the flavours have time to be accentuated). I simplified the process and used whole spices and garam masala instead of making my own spice paste. It is also very unconventional to use chick peas!
Biryan-ish, fragrant rice and vegetables
To make the backbone of Indian spice pastes – ginger and garlic paste, just pound equal measure of ginger and garlic in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt.
INGREDIENTS
75g red onion
200g waxy potatoes, cut into eighths
100g carrots, cut into small cubes
100g cut green beans (frozen is okay)
1 x 400g tin of chick peas, drained and rinsed well
45g ghee
1 quill cinnamon stick
5 cardamom pods
1 star anise
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ginger, garlic paste
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
225g Basmati rice, rinsed well
100ml plain natural yoghurt, whisked smooth
2-3 red chillies, chopped
3 tablespoons coriander leaves and stalks, chopped finely
Salt to taste
10 strands saffron soaked in a tablespoon of warm water
150g onion, finely sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
METHOD
First prepare the caramelized onions. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium sized fry pan. Throw in the onions and a few good pinches salt. Slowly fry them on medium low heat for 20 minutes, turning them once in a while until they are brown, soft and slightly caramelized.
Heat ghee in the pressure pan. Add the whole spices – the cinnamon quill, bay leaves, star anise, cloves and cardamom. When the spices bloom and smell fragrant, add the sliced red onion. Fry for three minutes, add the ginger, garlic paste, chillies and coriander leaves, followed by garam masala and turmeric. Fry continuously for a minute and toss in the vegetables including the chick peas. Keep frying so the spices coat the vegetables well. Spoon the yoghurt and salt and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes.
The vegetables first and then rice on top for Biryan-ish
Spoon the rice so the vegetables are completely covered. Top with caramelized onions and pour over the saffron strands. Gently pour 300mls of hot water along the walls of the pressure pan so as not to disturb the vegetable base. Cover with the lid and turn the heat to high. Cook on low heat for five minutes after you hear the first whistle. Allow the pressure cooker to cool completely.
Turn over the biryani onto a serving platter. Serve hot with plain yoghurt and pickled onions.
This is perfect for a winter’s day. The spices are warming and it is a creamy, hearty soup. It’s the kind of soup you need to keep the winter ills away!!
You can use canned chick peas but somehow I prefer to use the dried ones. Use 2 x 400g cans of chick peas, drained and rinsed well. This recipe was inspired by Delia Smith’s Winter Collection.
Chick pea soup
INGREDIENTS
225g dried chick peas, soaked overnight in twice their volume of cold water
I remember my mum attending some workshops on food preservation when I was about 10 or so. From those classes, there was always homemade tomato ketchup, pineapple jam and some kind of cordials. We used to call them squash and hardly anyone uses that term anymore. The other day I wanted to buy a cordial and all the options had a very small percentage of actual fruit and the rest were fillers plus preservative! So I decided to make my own based on the memory of what my mum used to make. This can be had cold with soda or hot with water. I used Meyer lemons as the juice isn’t too tart. You can also scale the recipe up.
Lemon Ginger cordial
INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
2 cups hot water from a freshly boiled kettle
100g ginger, peeled and grated fine
Rind of one lemon
1 cup lemon juice (about 6-8 lemons)
1 teaspoon corn starch, mixed with a couple of teaspoons of cold water
METHOD
Measure out the sugar in a small saucepan. Pour the hot water in and turn the heat on. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Stir from time to time to prevent sugar from clumping.
Toss the ginger in. Mix and turn the heat off after two minutes. Throw the rind into the saucepan and let steep for five minutes.
Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Pour in the lemon juice. Stir to combine and add the corn starch water. Put it back on the heat until liquid becomes slightly cloudy.
Lemon ginger cordial
When cool, bottle the cordial. Refrigerate and use within four weeks. Makes 3 cups cordial.
