Raspberry Pavlova

The ultimate finale to any summer BBQ.

 Great with any seasonal fruit. Raspberries are my favourite.

Tartness balanced perfectly with a sweet meringue.

Ingredients

4 large free range eggs

200 g caster sugar

pinch of salt

2-3 punnets of raspberries

600 ml whipping cream

vanilla sugar to taste

Method

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl* until they form stiff peaks.

Keep whisking and gradually mix in the sugar and pinch of salt.

 On high setting whisk for few minutes until the egg whites are

 smooth and glossy. 
(*the bowl needs to be clean of all grease and no trace of egg yolk in the whites)

Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

Spoon the meringue onto the paper and shape into a large oval.

Bake in preheated oven of 150°C for an hour.
After an hour turn off the heat and leave the meringue in 
the oven to cool down.


Take half of the raspberries and crush them with a little sugar.
Whip the cream with vanilla sugar (or sugar & vanilla essence) until soft peaks.
Spread the crushed berries onto the cooled down meringue. 
Then the whipped cream and finally top with the remaining raspberries.

 Great for entertaining, you can bake this well in advance
 and then finish off with the cream and berries just before serving. 

Minced lamb kebabs

My best kebab recipe. 

Works also for kofta meatballs and burgers.
 Perfect for barbeques.
Make a bigger batch and freeze kebabs 
for a quick microwave dinner later.
Great recipe for low carb diet!!

Ingredients

1 kg minced lamb

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp chopped green coriander leaves

1 egg

Method

Mix thoroughly all the ingredients together. 

Leave to marinate

(from an hour to overnight)

With wet hands form long kebabs on bamboo skewers (makes about 8-10).

Cook under hot grill about 15 mins turning once.


Serve hot from the oven with pitta or naan, salad, mint yoghurt and chilli sauce. 

Chicken Tikka

Tasty chicken dish that can be marinated the night before.

Oven cook or great for summer barbecues. 

Serve with pitta and salad. 

Ingredients

1kg  chicken thigh pieces with the skin on (5-6 pieces)

150g  plain yoghurt

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp crushed garlic

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp salt

juice of half a lemon

Method

Clean and wash the chicken and trim excess fat. 

Score the skin with a sharp knife.

Mix yoghurt with ginger, garlic, salt, spices and lemon juice.

Rub the marinade into the chicken and leave aside.

 (Anywhere between half and hour to overnight)

Cook uncovered, skin side up, in a moderate oven 200°C for about an hour.
(Until the chicken is tender and the skin is nice and crispy).




Mint raita
200ml plain yoghurt
200ml crème fraiche
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
salt to taste


Mix all the ingredients together.
  

Pakoras with two Chatnis

Pakoras! 

The best ever snack. Quick, inexpensive, vegetarian and so tasty. 

This recipe will fill two full trays. Enough to serve 6-8.

Ingredients

2-3 potatoes

2 onions

2 tsp salt

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp whole jeera (cumin)

small bunch of fresh green coriander

2 cups (350-400g) gram flour (chickpea flour)

500 ml water

vegetable oil for deep frying

Method

Peel and slice the potatoes and onions thinly (about 2mm thick).

Place them into a large bowl with spices, salt, coriander, gram flour and water. 

Mix together. Batter should resemble the consistency of pancake batter.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan or wok. 

Start frying the pakora mix in batches by spooning 

tablespoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil.

Make sure to take both onion and potato with each spoonful.

 Keep the oil on a medium heat.

 If the oil is too hot the pakoras will brown too quickly, but potato stays uncooked.

You can fit around 5-7 pakoras in each batch.

Fry until golden brown turning at least once.

Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on a kitchen towel.

Best served immediately hot and crispy with chatni and tea!!
 
Tip! For variation other vegetables can be added:
e.g. baby leaf spinach, small florets of cauliflower, peppers

Yoghurt and mint chatni

150 ml plain yoghurt
50 ml creme fraiche
heaped tbsp chopped mint
(heaped tbsp chopped green coriander optional)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together



Mint, tomato and onion chatni

1 red onion
1 tomato
1 green chilli 
1 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp chopped green coriander
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste


Place all the ingredients into food processor with a little water and whiz together.
Alternatively finely chop all the ingredients by hand and mix together.

Smoked Aubergine, kofta and potato curry

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

500g minced lamb or beef

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

3 cloves of garlic

fresh breadcrumbs (1 slice of bread)

1 egg

2 aubergines

For the curry:

  4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large onions

1 tsp whole jeera (cumin)

3-4 small whole green chillies

3 cloves of garlic

2 cm piece of fresh ginger

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp bassar (Pakistani curry powder or mild curry powder)

5 whole cloves

2 tsp salt

2 large potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)

1/2 tsp garam masala

small bunch of fresh green coriander

Method

 Mix together the meat, spices, egg and breadcrumbs and crushed garlic. 

(Make the breadcrumbs either in a food processor or by chopping it)

Set the mixture aside.

 Roast the aubergines by placing them straight on the flame of the gas cooker one at the time. Let them char all over and keep turning them until they are black and burned on all sides. This is a little messy and can look slightly mad and scary. Place the charred aubergines in a colander to cool. 

 If you haven't a gas cooker, the aubergines can be roasted under a grill in the oven.

In a large pan, heat the oil, then add sliced onions and fry until golden. Add jeera and fry for a minute then add crushed garlic and finely sliced ginger, whole green chillies and fry for a few more minutes. Add tinned tomatoes and a little water. Stir and cook until the oil starts to separate then add the spices and salt. Leave to cook on a low heat while you make the meatballs. Add some more water if the sauce becomes dry or starts to stick at the bottom of the pan. 

In a frying pan heat a little oil.

  With wet hands form the meatball mixture into little oval shaped balls and fry turning once until brown. Add the meatballs and peeled cut potatoes into the curry sauce.

Peel the charred aubergines under cold water until clean. Cut off the stalk, chop roughly and add to the curry. Top with water and simmer on low heat until the potatoes are cooked. 

Add garam masala and chopped green coriander.
 Check the seasoning, might need to add some more salt as the potatoes soak it up.

Serve with chapattis or rice and plain yogurt. 

 

Spicy Steak and Onion Pie

This is my take on a British classic: Steak and Onion Pie.
Just with few more spices and a little chilli.
The ultimate comfort food, especially on a cold winter's night.

Ingredients

1,5kg  Beef/Lamb Steak

2 tbsp Plain flour

   Vegetable oil

2-3 large onions

2 stock cubes (beef or chicken)

10 black peppercorns

1 black cardamom

5 green cardamoms

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 bay leaves

5 cloves

   fresh thyme

3 cloves of garlic

500g ready made puff pastry

1 egg (for the eggwash)

Method

Cut the steak into cubes. Heat a little oil in frying pan. 

Toss the meat cubes in the plain flour then fry until nicely brown. 

Chuck in the chopped onions and fry for a few more minutes. 

Place the fried meat and onions into a large pan, top-up with water.

Stir in all the whole spices, chili powder and stock cubes. 

Stew the meat on a low heat until tender
This can take anywhere between 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the meat.
Beef steak takes much longer than lamb. 

Stir every now and then and keep topping up the water when needed. 

Towards the end of the cooking stir in washed chopped thyme and crushed garlic.

Preheat oven to 190ºc

Season according to taste.
Transfer the meat gravy into a ovenproof dish.

Roll out the puff pastry slightly larger than your oven dish. 

Eggwash the edges of your dish and place the pastry over it crimping it lightly. 

Cut off the excess pastry and use it for making few decorations if you wish. Bake for 35-45 minutes until risen and golden brown. 

Serve with green beans or peas and mashed potato.

Mokka Palat (Mocha Squares)

A Finnish housewives' favourite. 

Loved by grown ups and children alike.

Ingredients

For the cake:

500 ml (450g) sugar

500 ml (300g) plain flour

(Vanilla sugar, optional)

1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp salt

250 ml water

200g butter

3-4 tbsp cocoa powder

100 ml plain yoghurt or buttermilk

2 eggs

Chocolate icing:

100g butter

2 tbsp milk

(1 tsp instant coffee powder, optional)

1 tbsp cocoa powder

icing sugar

Method

In a pan, bring to boil the water, butter, cocoa powder and salt. 

When all melted and smooth take off the heat.

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, bicarb).

Stir the wet mix (cocoa, butter, water) into the dry ingredients.
Mix in the plain yoghurt.
Make sure the mixture is cool and then stir in the eggs.
Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Pour in the cake mix and smooth it out evenly.
Bake at 200ºc for 20 minutes. Let it cool down.

In a pan melt together the butter, cocoa and milk. 

If you wish to use instant coffee, mix it first with the milk. 

Keep adding icing sugar until you get nice thick easily spreadable consistency. 

Spread over the cake and cool. 

You can sprinkle over grated chocolate, white chocolate pieces or hundreds of thousands.

Cut into squares.