Salmon in a Spicy Coconut Sauce

So Pyarali helped me with the cooking on Saturday. We had salmon with brocholi spears and peas in coconut sauce and basmati rice. Alas Pyarali only ate mani! (chapati). On Sunday he only ate puri, 2 puris for breakfast, 3 for lunch and 3 for supper! His parents tried hard, but Chachi's puris won the day.


Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp Thai green curry paste (available from most Asian Grocery Stores)
4 spring onions; finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic; minced
1 inch ginger; grated
1lb skinned salmon fillet; cubed
6 oz of large cooked prawns3-4 small new potatoes; scrubed and cut in halves
handfull of Brocholi spears; cut into small pieces
1 cup green peas (frozen is fine)
2 green chillies; chopped fine
6-8 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces
1 400ml tin of coconut milk OR creamed coconut
1 tspn Thai fish sauce

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the onions, fry until transparent.
2. Add the green curry paste, garlic and ginger cook for about a minute, reduce the heat slightly and add the potatoes.
3. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and bring to a simmer, cooking for 15-20 minutes until thickened slightly.
4. Add the salmon and the vegetables and cook for a further 12 minutes, add the prawns, cook for 1 minute.

5. Serve with lots of boiled or steamed rice.

Split Mung Dal and Spinach Shaak

1 cup split mung beans; washed and soaked for about 2 hours
1 onion; chopped finely
3 tomatoes; blanched, peeled and chopped
2 cups spinach; washed and chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 inch ginger; grated
2 green chillis; minced
1/2 tspn tumeric powder
2 tspns coriander/cumin powder
Salt to taste



Methods
1 Heat the oil in a pan  and fry the onions until golden brown, add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and chillis, cook for about 5-8 minutes until it is blended together.
2. Add the tumeric, coriander and cumin powders, stir and cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the split mung beans (add a tblspn of water if neccesary), and cook for about 20 minutes


4. Add the spinch, stir and cook for a furhter 5 minutes
Serve with chapatis.

Sesame Soya Bean and Potato Shaak

Gem came for lunch yesterday, and I rustled up some of this. It was delicious.


Ingredients
2 cups green soya beans (frozen)
1 cup green garlic; chopped
1 cup rocket (argula)
1 large potato (cut into 1 inch cubes
2-3 tomatoes; blanched and minced
2 inch piece of ginger; grated
2 green chilis (I used one red chilli)
1/2 tspn whole cumin
1 tspn whole mustard seeds
2 tablespns sesame seeds
1 tablespn oil
1/2 tspn tumeric powder
2 tspn cumin/coriander powder


Method
Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin, mutard and sesame seeds, as soon as they pop, add the tomatoes, fry for a few minutes. Add the tumeric, cumin and coriander powders. Cook for a few minutes.
Add the rocket, stir and cook for a few minutes, add the potatoes mix and add the soya beans.
Mix thoroughly, lower the heat, cover and let it cook for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.
Serve with chapatis.

Winter Ratatouille

Sunday Lunch. I adapted the recipe from Jan/Feb issue of Waitrose Seasons magazine. They suggest that it be served with rice, but we had it by itself. Very filling and healthy.

Ingredients
1 swede; peeled and cubed
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 parsnips; peeled and cubed
2 carrots; peeled and cubed
1 sweet potato; peeled and cubed
8 shallots; peeled and halved
1 garlic bulb; peeled
1 lb of cherry tomatoes
800ml of tomato juice or passata
3 to 4 sprigs of sage, chopped
salt and black pepper
2 tblspn olive oil


Instructions
Heat the oven to 200°C. Place the vegetables, garlic cloves, salt pepper and the sage in a very large, deep oiled roasting dish.


Add the oil and mix, roast for 30 minutes until the vegetables are brown.
Remove from the oven, add the cherry tomatoes and passata, then cover the dish with a foil. Lower the oven temperature to 190°C, and cook for a further 1–1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft.

seville orange marmalada

Step by Step - Seville Orange Marmalade

With their refreshing, sharp flavour, Seville orange make great marmalada. a bright, sparkling preserve. The season for Seville oranges is short, usually lasting only a few weeks in January. So it is worth making a batch of marmalade now to enjoy the flavour throughout the year. Cut the peel as thickly or thinly as you prefer, according to taste. This task should not be rushed and is one of the pleasures of making marmalade.


Ingredients for 3kg marmalade
1kg Seville oranges1 lemon 2kg Sugar
Step 1
Wash the oranges and lemon thoroughly, then dry them in a clean tea towel. Pour 2 litres cold water into a large, wide pan . Squeeze the oranges and lemon and add the juice to the water. Reserve the pips and orange rind, but discard the squeezed lemon.
Step 2
Cut the oranges in half again and, using a metal spoon, scrape the pith and pips into the centre of a large square of muslin. Tie the muslin with kitchen string to form a bag. Add to the pan and tie the ends of the string to the pan handle to make it easier to remove later.
Step 3
Cut the orange peel into strips - chunky for coarse cut and thinner for a fine shred. It is easier and quicker if you place 2 pieces on top of each other and slice with a sharp knife. Add to the pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, until the peel is very soft and the liquid reduced by about half. Remove and discard the bag with the pips and pith, squeezing as much juice as possible back into the pan with the back of a wooden spoon.
Step 4
Add the sugar and stir over a low heat until it has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil rapidly until it reachessetting point. This usually takes about 15 minutes. To test, remove the pan from the heat and spoon a little marmalade onto a chilled saucer. Allow to cool for a few seconds, then push with a finger. If the surface wrinkles it is ready. If not, boil for a further 5 minutes and test again. Leave the marmalade to settle for 15 minutes, then skim off any scam from the surface with a slotted spoon. Stir the mixture and pour into warm, clean jars, using a jug. Cover.

Prepare the jars
At the end of step 3, prepare the jars. Preheat the oven to 160°C, gas mark 3. Ensure the jars are clean and free from cracks and chips. Place the jars on their sides in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off leaving the jars inside until the marmalade is ready to pot.sowhsi

Bhurtho - Smokey Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip

Ingredients
4 large aubergines
1 tbspn oil
3 garlic cloves; minced
3 green chillies; minced
6 stalks coriander
4 tomatoes; blanched, peeled, and chopped
1 medium onion.

Method
Wash the aubergines, make some slits on them and put them in a moderate hot oven (180 C) for 45 minutes.
Peel and mash the aubergines
Fry the onions in a large pan until golden brown, add the tomatoes fry for 5 minutes, add the garlic, chillies and the mashed aubergines and coriander. Mix well and cook for a few minutes


Infuse with charcoal smoke, by making a dip in the mashed aubergines, and placing a piece of foil with a burning piece of charcoal. Add a little oil to the charcoal and cover immediatly, this will allow the smoke to be absorbed into the aubergine.



Serve with hot chapatis or Lasan Ladu

Lasan ja Ladu; Green Garlic and Bajra (Millet) Ladus

Green garlic is fresh tasting, much milder than mature garlic. There is a great pasta and green garlic recipe on Mandira's blog

These Lasan Ladu are served for breakfast in Bhuj, Gujarat in the winter. It is usually served with yogurt or bhurta. One ladu would keep a farmer going until lunchtime.


Ingredients
1. 3-4 rotla - made from 3 cups of millet flour, omit spreading them with butter.
1 cup finely chopped green garlic.
1 cup olive oil (in Bhuj, they used ghee;)

Method
1. Break the rotla and grind into fine crumbs.
2. heat the oil in a large pan, fry the garlic for a few minutes, add the ground rotla and mix.
3. Remove from heat, let it cool , and shape into balls. 8 small ones from this recipe.
4. Serve hot, warm them in a microwave or wrap in foil and place in a hot oven for 5-6 minutes.
5. Serve with yogurt or aubergine bhurta.