Okra with Tomatoes, Onion and Garlic

20 03 2012

Allspice! That is the secret. I’ve been making this for some time and never managed to match the flavours of the same dish served up by the wonderful Ya Hala in London Street just near Paddington Station. if you are ever in the area stop off for a veggie mixed mezze and a portion of grilled halloumi, finished with a sprinkling of za’atar. Now, thanks to DKS and Veggiestan I realise it’s the allspice that does it.

Serve this with rice and yogurt

3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – finely sliced
a good few handfuls of okra
4-5 ripe tomatoes – chopped
1 small carton passata – or tomato puree and water
1 teaspoon ground allspice
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry until translucent and starting to soften. Then add the garlic. Now for the okra. Keep the okra whole. If using large ones just slice off the very top of the stem. Don’t cut into the okra as this may release the slime which puts so many people off the wonderful vegetable. Wash and dry well before adding to the onion and garlic in the pan.

Stir for a couple of minutes then add the tomatoes, passata, allspice, salt and pepper. Stir gently, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the okra is tender and the tomatoes have broken down.


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Chick Pea, Tomato and Bread Soup

5 10 2011

From Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty. This reminds me of a vegetable stew and paprika dumpling recipe I used to make as a student – in the days when vegetarian food hadn’t really been invented! – only this is simpler as the bread acts like a dumpling wihtout having to do any of the work.

Serves 4-6
1 onion – halved and finely sliced
1 fennel bulb – finely sliced
120ml or so of olive oil
1 carrot – peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced
2-3 sticks of celery – finely sliced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
250ml white wine
1 x 400g tin tomatoes
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
approx 160g stale bread – sourdough, ciabatta, anything will do really – remove the crusts
1 x 400g tin chick peas – drained
salt, pepper
4 tablespoons pesto

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and fennel until softened. Add the carrot and celery, soften for a few minutes then add the tomato puree and wine and bring to boil for a couple of minutes.

Next add the tomatoes, herbs, sugar, stock and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil again, cover and simmer for half an hour.

While you wait, break the bread into rough chunks, toss in a little oil and salt and place in a roasting tray in the the oven at 180C for 10 minutes until dry. Set aside.

Now drain the chick peas, mash them slightly with a fork so some are crushed while others remian whole then add to the simmering soup. Once the soupd has simmered for a further 5 minutes add the bread, stir, cook for a further 5 minutes then add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide into 4-6 bowls and finish with a blob of pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.


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Warm Courgette and Brie Salad

27 07 2011

Well, kind of a salad, or perhaps a tasty topping for bruschetta. Either way this is very quick and very tasty.

To be honest I’ve had a bit of a courgette disaster. Last year I had so many I couldn’t get through them. This year all the plants have died. Luckily my allotment neighbour came to the rescue so I traded two courgettes for a lettuce and so decided to give this a try.

Serves 2
2 courgettes – sliced
2-3 tablespoons good oil – I used a mixture of hemp oil and mild olive oil but you could use extra virgin olive oil
1 wedge of brie – sorry I threw the pack away so not sure what weight it was – diced
1 medium very ripe tomato – diced
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon

Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan. When nice and hot fry the courgette slices until browned on each side – even slightly charred.

Place in a dish with the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Now add the cubed brie and tomatoes. Add the lemon juice and mix gently. The brie should start to melt from the heat in the courgettes.

Serve with green salad and hunks of french bread.


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Paneer Masala

2 11 2010

Chicken Tikka Masala – the nation’s favourite. Many years ago it used to be one the favourites in my house. Then my youngest went veggie but missed the flavours of a good masala sauce. The problem with takeaways, and believe me there a lot of them round my way, is the sauce is too red as in unnaturally so, or it contains nuts. It would seem many of the restaurants buy in sauces prepared off site and so are unable to make the sauce to your liking. So after a few experiments I think I have come up with something that is pretty good and certainly goes down well but doubt it is authentic.

I apologise for the picture quality. It was late and everyone was hungry.

3-4 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 large onion – finely chopped
1 green chili – finely chopped (seeds removed if you don’t want it too hot)
1cm piece of ginger – finely chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped or crushed
1 tin/carton of pasata – or use chopped tomatoes and blend the sauce before adding the paneer
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5-6 cardamom pods – remove the husks and crush the seeds inside
2-3 tablespoons natural yogurt
1 teaspoon salt
a little less than 1 teaspoon sugar
1 packet of paneer – cut into 1cm cubes
handful of coriander leaves – roughly chopped

Take a heavy saucepan and heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, chili, ginger, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and cardamom seeds and fry gently until soft. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar, bring to boil then gently simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the paneer and coriander and leave to stand or on a low heat for 20 minutes or so to allow the paneer to absorb the flavours of the sauce. Add the yogurt and stir gently.

Serve with steamed Basmati rice


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Courgette Balls Revisited

16 09 2010

A slight variation on my courgette balls with tomato sauce made with roasted fresh tomato sauce.

Here is a picture guide

Fry

Drain

Place in a dish

Roast

Whiz

Smother

Then whack it in the oven while you cook the spaghetti


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Mozarella and Courgette Salad

1 08 2010

OK, OK, OK. So all I ever seem to eat are courgettes these days. Well here is a wonderful summer salad. I served this with Lebanese flatbreads (Khebz Markouk).

I added a few slow roasted tomatoes that I made last year and sealed in jars.

To make the tomatoes:-
Cherry tomatoes
Olive Oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
a little salt
a little sugar

Heat the oven to 120C. Spread the tomatoes out on a baking tray. Cover with 3-4 tablespoons olive oil, then add the rest of the ingredients. Place in the oven for 2 hours.

When done, boil the kettle and sterilise/heat a couple of empty glass jars and their lids. Spoon the hot tomatoes with the oil and their juice into the hot jars then screw the lids on tightly. When cool they should be vacuum sealed and will keep in the fridge – mine kept for about 12 months.

To make the salad
courgettes – two smallish ones – sliced
assorted lettuce and other salad leaves
a ball of mozzarella
lemon juice
whole chilis

Now take a frying pan and heat a little olive oil on a high heat. Slice some courgettes – I used two to feed two people – and fry them in the oil until well browned or slightly charred. Remove from the pan, sprinkle with about a tablespoon of lemon juice and leave to cool slightly.

Now prepare the plates by piling some salad leaves, then top with the courgette slices, some slices of mozarella – buffalo is best but the normal stuff works well too – a few slow roasted tomatoes and top off with a couple of chilis from a jar (you can buy these at al Middle Eastern supermarkets and some of the big evil ones too).

The salad doesn’t need any extra dressing as the oil from the tomatoes and oil and lemon juice in the courgettes gives enough flavour.


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Spicy Courgette Koftas

19 07 2010

Thank goodness for Madhur Jaffery. Another good way to use some of the glut of courgettes. These delicious deep fried balls, baked in a spicy tomato sauce are perfect with rice or breads and a dollop of natural yogurt.

For the koftas
3 medium courgettes – grated
½ onion – finely chopped
1 small green or red chili – finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons fresh coriander – chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger – finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
About ½ cup or so gram flour
oil for deep frying

Place the courgettes in a tea towel or muslin and squeeze to get as much liquid out as possible. Now mix all the ingredients together. Heat the oil. When hot, take a small amount of the courgette mixture and squeeze into a ball – slightly smaller than a golf ball. Fry in batches for about 5-7 minutes each batch so the koftas are browned. Place on kitchen paper to cool and to remove some of the excess oil.

For the sauce
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 onions – finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
a little cayenne pepper or chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1x400g tin tomatoes
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon salt

Heat the oil then gently fry the onions for about 7 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Now add the turmeric, cumin, cayenne and coriander and fry again for a few seconds. Now add the tomatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes then remove from heat and blend into a smooth sauce. Add the garam masala and salt.

Place the koftas in a large ovenproof dish then pour over the sauce. Bake in the oven at 190C for 25-30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling hot.


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Bean & Tomato Soup

18 11 2009

I recently visited the Blue Tomato Cafe in Rock and ate the most delicious (and stupidly expensive) tomato and butter bean soup. Here is my attempt at recreating it.

couple of tablespoons olive oil
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – chopped
2 sticks celery – finely chopped
1 red pepper – diced
1 x 800g tin tomatoes – blended until smoooth
1 teaspoon paprika
1 whole red of green chili – sliced
vegetable stock
salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 x 400g tin butter beans – drained and discard loose skins
1 x 400g tin red kidney beans – drained

Heat oil, fry onion, garlic, celery and oregano until starting to soften. Add the pepper and chili, stir and fry for about 5 minutes. Now add the blended tomatoes. Add a teaspoon of Marigold bouillon then fill the tomato tin with water and add the water to the soup.

Add the beans, bring everyting to a gentle simmer and simmer with a lid on for around 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and serve piping hot.


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Mr Slater’s Soup

14 11 2009

Whilst I am a big fan of Nigel’s food, I don’t own any of his books. A friend at work made this and thoughtfully shared the recipe with me. This has to be one of my all time favourite soups. Roasted red pepper, tomato and chili soup. Perfect for a wet, windy British autumn.

DSC_0653

Put your oven onto 220C. Take a large roasting pan and place 3 red peppers (halved and deseeded), 5 whole tomatoes and 6 unpeeled cloves of garlic on it. Drizzle with oil, add a little salt and pepper, then roast for about 30 minutes. Nw take 3 red chilis, half them lengthwise and deseed them. Add to the roasting vegetables and close the oven door for a further 20 minutes.

When everything is charred and wrinkly, remove from the oven and place in a pan with 900ml of vegetable stock. Bring to boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. Let it cool a little then whiz it all up in a blender or with a stick blender.

Take a handful of mint leaves. Chop finely and mix with some olive oil.

To serve, put the soup in a bowl, top with some of the minty oil and some crumbled feta cheese.

Reminder to self: Buy some new soup bowls


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Aloo Tinda

6 07 2009

I popped into Sabar Brothers in Slough last week and picked up some tindas. Not sure why, but fancied trying something different so I made a curry with them, potatoes and tomatoes. Tasted fantastic, but didn’t look too great so instead of photographing the finished dish, here are the tindas before I prepared them.

I served this with bhaturas and a sag paneer so it made enough to serve 5 with some left over for breakfast.

DSC_0450

DSC_0452 (3)

3 tablespoons sunflower oil
3 tindas – peeled and cut into large dice
3 medium potatoes – peeled and cut into large dice
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 large clove garlic – finely chopped
1 chunk of ginger – about 1cm long – finely chopped
1 green chili – finely chopped
1 tomatoes – chopped

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Cover the potato and tinda with the turmeric and salt and fry for about 15 minutes stirring from time to time. When browned remove from the pan.

Keep the pan on the heat and now add the ginger, chili and garlic. Fry for a few seconds then add the cumin seeds. When they sizzle, add the tomatoes and ground cumin and coriander. Fry until the tomatoes break down and darken a little, Now add the potatoes and tinda and the garam masala. Stir well, then add a little water and cover the pan. Cook until the potatoes and tinda and tender.


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