one pan coconut dhal

Coconut dhal
This dhal is a staple in our house, it is the first recipe I wrote out for my darling daughter, it's cheap and easy to make and delicious. I included the ingredients when I sent a care package after she told me she'd been living on pot noodle alone, along with a savoy cabbage and a cake. 

Ingredients	Equipment needed
Orange split lentils Water/stock 1 onion 1 carrot Garlic Curry powder Fresh coriander 1” Creamed coconut Salt, pepper 1 Tomato Optional extras Potatoes or 1 apple	Wooden spoon Medium sized saucepan Mug Chopping board Knife
Peel onion and chop up roughly Peel carrot and slice up Take one or two cloves of garlic and crush under flat of knife and peel Take 1 mugful of lentils, put in pan Add two generous mugfuls of water or stock to pan Bring to boil and simmer over low heat You may see some scum start to bubble up – just remove it with the spoon – if you don’t everything will still taste fine Add chopped onion and carrot Add 1 tsp curry powder, pinch of salt, pepper and tomato Cook over low heat until the lentils are getting soft, about 15m Add creamed coconut, check that there is still enough liquid, if it’s getting dry add some more water and cook 5m more Add chopped coriander leaves and stir through – check seasoning and add salt if needed You might like to add a squeeze of lemon Eat with rice or on its own.

If you want to make this into soup use three mugfuls of water.

My aunt cooks this and eats it with rice. Any leftovers she puts in a pot and then eats spread on toast as pate. Sounds a bit weird? I thought so, and ate it out of politeness, only to discover it is really delicious. She chops everything up much finer than me. Just a little tip. 

Sticky date cake

Delicious sticky date cake, egg free, fat free

20 stoned dates

1cup milk

¼ cup water

¾ cup demerera sugar

¾ cup wholemeal flour

1 ½ tsp bicarb

Small pinch salt

Fat to butter pan or use baking parchment

Butter or line the pan. I used a  buttered 10” Bundt spring-form cake tin (round cake tin with a hole in the centre and a removable base).

Set oven to Gas Mark 5/375C

Put dates with milk and walter in a pan, and bring to the boil. Take off heat and set aside. 

When cooled put soaked dates with sugar in blender and blend to fine paste.

In pan mix together sugar and date paste with cooled milk and water.

Stir in flour, pinch of salt and sifted bicarb.

Mix well and pour batter into prepared tin.

Cook for 25 minutes – when cooked cake is firm to the touch. A skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave to cool before removing from tin.

Makes a lovely sticky cake.

For variety add:

Handful of walnuts

Stem ginger, cut into pieces (if you add syrup reduce sugar in recipe) husband likes this, but I think it gives a strange soapy taste

grilled marinated chicken strips that make you overeat

Four skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips.

2 med onions
1 clove garlic
2.5cm/1" ginger
1tsp thai green curry powder*
5cm/2" cream coconut
generous handful of powdered coconut
juice of 1 lemon
fresh coriander - approx 1/3 generous bunch - incl. leaves, stem and washed root

good pinch of salt

1 mug water

With blender	Without blender
Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt	Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt
Peel onions.	Peel onions.
Roughly chop onions, coriander, garlic and ginger, put in blender jug. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture. Blend.	Grate onions, put grated onion into bowl. Finely chop coriander, garlic and ginger and add to bowl. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture and mix.
Add lemon juice, salt, thai curry powder and powdered coconut and mix to a paste.
Mix  chicken strips with paste until they're well covered. Leave for at least two hours or overnight. Thread onto skewers – makes about 8 large skewers. If you haven't got skewers or don't want to use them, you can cook the chicken without, but you'll need to cook the strips in batches and turning them takes longer.
Cook under preheated grill for 10-12 minutes, turning once. Wrap cooked chicken strips in tin foil and leave for at least 10 minutes. Eat hot or cold.

* If you can't find it, try this combo

2 Tbsp fish sauce OR 4 tinned anchovies OR omit

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli powder, or one seeded green chilli

ground lemon grass or zest of a lemon or lime


other chicken recipes: flattened chicken roast chicken chicken of forty cloves of garlic 

birthday lemon cake

ingredients

170g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
170g caster sugar, plus extra to serve
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lemon
4 eggs
120g plain flour, sifted

50g fine cornmeal
Pinch of salt
3/4 tsp baking powder

method

1.                 Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 4.

2.                 Butter a 225g non-stick loaf tin (about 12 x 20cm) or a 20cm-diameter round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.

3.                 Beat together butter, sugar, and lemon zest in a food processor and until fluffy.

4.                 Add one egg at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next.

5.                 Add the lemon juice, then the flour, salt and baking powder

6.                 Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for about an hour or until golden and springy. If the cake is browning too quickly, loosely cover the top with foil but remember to remove it shortly before the end of cooking. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

7.                 Put the cake tin on a wire rack and leave for 15 minutes. Then remove the cake from the tin and sprinkle with caster sugar. Leave to cool.

Keeps well, so if not eaten on the day of cooking, when cold, tightly wrap in foil and leave for a day or two.

falafel recipe - simpler to buy a packet of mix...

Claudia Roden: "A Book of Middle Eastern Food"

1 lb dried white broad beans ("ful nabed") 
2 red or Spanish onions, very finely chopped or grated, 
     or 1 bunch spring onions [scallions], finely chopped 
 2 large cloves garlic, crushed 
 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped 
 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin 
 1-2 teaspoons ground coriander 
 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
 oil for deep-frying 

The dried white beans can be found in all Greek stores and in many
delicatessens. Buy them already skinned if possible. 

Soak the beans in cold water for 24 hours. Remove the skins if this has not
been done. Drain, and mince or pound them. Mix this with the onions,
garlic, parsley, cumin, coriander, baking powder and salt and cayenne
pepper to taste. 

Pound the ingredients together to a smooth paste. This will take a long
time and much effort, so if a mincer [meat grinder] is available, put the 
mixture through the fine blade twice before pounding it. 

Let the paste rest for 1/2 hour at least. Take walnut-size lumps and make
flat, round shapes 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Let them rest for 15 minutes
longer, then fry them in deep hot oil until they are a dark, rich golden
brown.

marmalade

I finished the last jar of mum's marmalade about six months ago. It was very good. Luckily I'm the only one who likes it in the house, so I managed to eke it out. It was a rich dark colour with a clear jelly and had a wonderful flavour. Tangy, with large bits of peel.

So now I have to make my own.

Back to the source: using the inherited The Times Cookery Book 1960 (ten shillings and sixpence).

The recipe I'm following is for Dark Chunky Marmalade. Fingers crossed. In the usual style I have read this recipe carefully. I've also read my edition of Mrs Beeton's Cookery, New Edition, Ward Lock and Co. I've talked to friends who have experience making marmalade. I've checked out a variety of marmalade recipes and tips on the www.

Also I like chopping. I like the process. I’m not trying to do it quickly, so I'm disregarding recipes that claim to be labour saving, or that cook the oranges whole, since I don't have pans as big as bungalows, or oven dishes either.

Now I will follow the traditional cook's method and pretty much ignore them all and use them all, creating my own version.

I’m aiming high: to make marmalade with a clear-ish jelly that tastes fantastic and reminds me of my mother. Not much to ask.

I’ve noticed that some people weigh the fruit, and add a proportionate amount of sugar. I may change the amount of sugar. I’ve seen recipes that use twice the amount of sugar in the Times recipe. Some use white sugar, others sugar with pectin. Hmmm.

Recipe: Dark Chunky Marmalade
Ingredients:
10 Seville oranges
3 lemons
4lb dark brown soft sugar
3lb light brown soft sugar
6 pints cold water

Equipment:
For preparation –
Knife and boards, juicer, two large bowls, large muslin square.

For cooking –
Large heavy-bottomed pan, sieve, muslin square, wooden spoon, saucers, ladle, jam funnel, jam jars

Wash the fruit, wipe dry, cut into halves and squeeze – pour juice into a large bowl.
Put all pulp and pips, together with membranes pulled from inside of squeezed oranges into another large bowl with 1 pint of cold water, leave to soak 24h.

Cut orange rinds into slices – I cut each half into four slices and then cut a stack at a time into short slices. Put sliced peel into large bowl with orange and lemon juice and 5 pints of cold water. Leave to soak 24h.

Get out your preserving pan or a very large heavy-bottomed pan. Put peel and water into pan. Drape a very large strainer with muslin and strain the liquid, pulp and pips into the pan with the peel mixture. Tie the muslin around the pip mixture and add to the pan.

Put pan on heat and bring to a boil and cook fast for two hours,uncovered. Your kitchen will smell better than any fancy candle. Remove the muslin bag of pips etc and set aside in a bowl – be careful, it’s hot.

Chill a couple of saucers in the fridge.

Warm clean jars in a cool oven. Get lids ready, or waxed discs and sellophane to tie on in place of lid.

Squeeze liquid from the cooled muslin bag of pips etc into the pan, and throw the pip mixture away. Add sugar to the pan and stir until it dissolves – keep stirring the base of the pan, to make sure sugar doesn’t stick to it before it’s fully dissolved. Boil quickly for 20 minutes. *

Take pan off the heat, and test mixture on chilled saucer. If it sets, it’s ready to put in jars, if it doesn’t return to heat and cook on high heat a little longer, testing again until it sets on chilled saucer.

Pot the marmalade into warmed jars. Cover at once.

*this is a rolling boil

Using a preserving pan makes sense, because it has a pouring spout and useful handles.
Time for cooking after sugar is dissolved may vary a little; the colour deepens with over-boiling, but the fresh flavour is lessened, and the marmalade will not set.
Taking the pan off the heat when testing makes it less likely that the mixture will over cook.

Makes just over 12 x 8oz jars

a light supper of chicken and coleslaw for two

ingredients

• one large chicken breast or a leg of chicken - you can use cold roast chicken
• if preparing raw chicken plunge into boiling water or light stock for 15m and set aside to cool, covered
• make light stock by adding sprigs of fresh coriander, peppercorns and garlic
• reserve the water in which chicken was cooked - you can use it for soup

 for asian coleslaw

• small white cabbage or 1/4 large white cabbage
• 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 capsicum pepper or 1 carrot
• small onion

 dressing

• 1 lime
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 large tbsp sweet chilli sauce

 cook chicken if necessary

prepare dressing:

• finely chop garlic
• squeeze lime
• mix lime juice with all other ingredients in a bowl and set aside

 preparing coleslaw:

• finely slice the onion, cabbage, carrot (you can use a peeler to make peelings of carrot to put into the salad)
• rinse bunch of coriander and mint and chop roughly
• put all ingredients in a large bowl and add the dressing
• mix thoroughly 
• set aside for 15m

 slice the chicken

serve

place sliced chicken on bed of coleslaw

bon appetit

hints:

• some limes are a bit dry, you can add water or more lime
• if it's too sharp add a little sugar
• use fish sauce instead of soy sauce
• supermarket coriander is sold in small bunches, if you get a large bunch use about a third of the bunch 
• don't add salt or pepper - there is seasoning and salt in the soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce

variations

make large amount of coleslaw, it keeps for several days, increase other ingredients accordingly

for a more substantial meal serve with boiled rice

the coleslaw is delicious as an accompaniment to curries or roasts

chocolate ganache

I'm experimenting with chocolate ganache. This is a concoction that makes people very enthusiastic. My first outing with it resulted in a cake which looked, to put it politely, as though it was melting. The creamy ganache coated the cake but had little body, so the cake sat in a milk- meets-chocolate pool. The ganache in the centre of the cake contributed to this unattractive puddle, having abandoned the interior. I was disappointed, as the cake was for a friend's party, and the other food looked very elegant and appetising. I needn't have worried. Apparently the simple anticipation of cake combined with a reputation established with a completely different baked item at a previous shindig drew people to the table. The first taste, by a chocolate lover, sealed the deal. I'd walked away from the table after delivering my shameful offering, returning for a taste five minutes later, driven by greed and the belief that people might not realise I was responsible for the dish, only to be disappointed. The plate was empty, although someone was paying tribute to the ganache by cleaning the plate by finger. Apparently it was delicious.

So, living dangerously, I'm trying again.

spices

I'm clearing out the spice collection. Apart from getting depressed at the patina of filth that coats the glass shelves of the cupboards I also can't find anything when I need it. I know, spices are supposed to go off, however I operate a frugal (forgetful) approach and keep them 'til they are used up, hence the oriental style chicken stock that is perfuming the house at the moment and, no doubt, adding to the grease-based patina mentioned before.

And that is patina as in pat in a, none of that pat tina mullarkey, thank you. I'm busy but pedantry is fundamental.

banana bread

I'm just prizing bits of this banana bread out of my teeth. There's a lingering banana-y-ness in my mouth, a slightly sticky sweetness on my lips and a wee bit of a weighty feeling in my stomach. Perhaps that second slice wasn't wise. Maybe I should have waited for it to cool completly. Too late now, I'm just reckless.

The sultanas were a nice touch.

So, driven back into the arms of gluten free cooking, by a constant feeling of breathlessness, I had over-ripe bananas and visitors coming. Going back to the wheat thing, I started eating it again because I was bored with not eating it. Toast beckoned and I was sick of reading all the damned labels. I went for it, although I somehow never got around to pizza. Back on the gluten free path, I'm not going to mention it so much, better to just say no thanks.

So, over-ripe bananas says just one thing: banana bread.

ingredients

2 very ripe bananas - mashed

2 eggs

150g marg

150g sugar (or a bit less)

150g cornflour

100g ground almonds

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

zest of one lemon

1tsp mixed spice

handful of sultanas

prepare tin, buttering and flouring or using baking parchment - I use a 22cm oblong tin

set oven to gas mark 6

peel and mash bananas and set to one side

beat together the marg and the sugar

beat in the eggs

beat in bananas and dry ingredients - I add a bit of mashed banana then some flour/raising agent mixture alternately, until all ingredients are evenly blended.

pour into prepared tin and put in pre-heated oven

bake for 20 mins, then lower the temperature and back for another 10 minutes

check cake is ready by inserting skewer - it should come out clean

cool cake for ten minutes on rack in tin, then turn out carefully