Archive for the ‘Indian Food Easy Peasy’ Category

Dessert & Baked Goods, Featured Articles, Food & Fab Endorsed, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Woolworths & MasterChef SA 2012

Reflections on a childhood in Natal and the comfort of a buttery bowl of semolina soji – simple and wholesome.

Food & Fab Endorsed, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Recipes, Red Meat

I made these koftas using really beautiful lamb mince from Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants and I toasted cumin seeds, coriander seeds, curry leaves and a few cardamom pods. Once finely ground in a spice grinder, I added them to the mince. It’s not essential to add them to the mix, as originally this was intended as a quick recipe, but it adds glorious fragrance and flavour – a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed Project

Featured Articles, Holidays, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Recipes, Seafood

I was asked to contribute to the Summer Memories Food Section in the December issue of Oprah Magazine South Africa, featuring 6 food personalities. (I’m a food personality?!) I chose a South Indian Crab Curry, that despite the heat and complex spiciness, is one I always enjoy with my family during the summer December holidays, each year without fail. This is my version – inspired by my mother’s Crab Curry and Rick Stein’s Coconut Chilli Crab.

Indian Food Easy Peasy, Recipes, Review, Vegetarian

One of the most unforgettable lines in the movie Bend it Like Beckham, is from Jess, as her poor mother battles to get her to learn the basics in the kitchen: ” Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham? ” Well, I tell you a really good aloo gobi is hard to beat. I tested the Fresh Living Cookbook version here…

Destination Meals, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Recipes, Starters, Vegetarian

On a recent visit to my folks in Kwa-Zulu Natal, I came upon these alien looking nubbly, wrinkled vegetables (they are actually fruit). I tweeted a photo of them and almost instantly received the reply that they were karela, or bitter gourds. They are tropical or sub-tropical vines, and the fruit vary in bitterness. Popular in South East Asian and Chinese cooking, bitter gourds are valued for their medicinal properties. It’s best to use the young gourds and to follow a strict method of soaking in a saline solution to remove the bitterness. I took a small selection home to Cape Town, much to the amusement of my mother.

Destination Meals, Featured Articles, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Recipes, Vegetarian

The trick, I think is to cook the okra for far less time than the aunties will tell you to. It can stand to hold just a little crunch. A little vinegar added will help combat the mushiness. Amchur (dried mango powder) adds a lovely tangy element, balanced with green chilli and warming cumin and coriander. It’s a dry braised “curry” of sorts.

Edible Gifts, Featured Articles, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Recipes

Garam masala refers to a “hot” mixture and references the spice’s pungency or warming effect, as opposed to heat as one would associate with chiilis or chilli peppers. It is available throughout india and varies from region to region, North to South.
Typically, this spice is used close to the end of cooking of curries to intensify the aromas and add depth to a dish. Just a teaspoon or two is added. Recipe developed for Yuppie Chef.

Chicken & Poultry, Indian Food Easy Peasy, Mains, Recipes

Rick Stein makes a glorious Bangladeshi Beef Kofta Curry in his book Far Eastern Odyssey and I saw no reason not to substitute with ostrich mince- it’s lean, inexpensive and so easily available here in Cape Town.
I have made Rick’s curry his way (which is a just a tad labourious, but very flavoursome), but I find my way with a few less steps works equally well. If you make this curry the day before, as with most spiced dishes, the spices will mingle and deepen overnight. Always check the seasoning again, before serving.

Indian Food Easy Peasy, Mains, Recipes, Red Meat

Could this be the perfect spicy lamb meatball? Not nearly as sublime at Mrs Reddy’s but my humble attempt at emulating hers.

Food & Travel, Hands on, Indian Food Easy Peasy

It seems that this is the year of the cooking class for me, or should I say cooking demonstration as was the case here as eight of us eager cooks gathered at the Explorer’s Club in Franschhoek, a guest house impeccably decorated with the artifacts of a well seasoned traveller and owned and managed by Jo Sinfeld.
We were here to meet and cook with Reza Mahammad, the irrepressible B.B.C television celebrity chef, and owner of Star of India in London. Reza is warm, welcoming and his effervescent personality sets him apart.