Monthly Archives: July 2013
PRAWN CURRY
An easy, creamy prawn curry served with roti. Everyone will come back for seconds. Save time by preparing the chili paste the day before.
Delicious and easy prawn curry.
PRAWN CURRY SERVED WITH DHAI / YOGHURT SAUCE
Ingredients:
750g prawns
1 large onion, liquidised
2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 tablespoons chili paste (**see footnote)
3 bay leaves
½ tin coconut milk
4 cardamoms, crushed
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Method:
Wash and dry the prawns in a kitchen towel. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add bay leaves, cardamom and fry for a few minutes.
Add sliced onions and fry till golden brown.
Then add the liquidized onion paste and the chili paste. Fry for several minutes adding little water, as necessary, to prevent the masala from burning.
Add the prawns. Stir thoroughly and then add the coconut milk. Keep simmering in medium heat till the gravy reduces to a half. Add salt to taste.
Serve hot with rice or roti.
**Chili paste
Ingredients:
1 level teaspoon of chili powder
3 garlic cloves crushed
5 Red chilies chopped
3 Tablespoons of ground ginger
2 Pinches of salt
5 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 Level teaspoon of sugar (can be omitted if preferred)
Method:
Heat oil to medium hot and add chili powder and garlic.
Cook for 2 minutes and then add all other ingredients.
Cook until soft. Decant into a blender and blend into a course paste.
Leave to cool and eat.
Refrigerate and consume within 7 days.
Serve with curry or breyani
DHAI / YOGHURT SAUCE
250m natural yoghurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-3 green chillies, chopped
1 tablespoon dhanya, chopped
Pinch salt
Mix all the ingredients together. Pour into a serving dish and serve with curries, breyani, kebabs, etc…
CHICKEN CURRY
Delicious chicken curry, always a winner no matter what the occasion. Serve with flaky roti, chapati (Indian flat bread) or plain boiled white rice. Traditionally served with onion and tomato salad.
Delicious Cape Malay Curry
CHICKEN CURRY
Ingredients
4 tbsp oil
2 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small-medium onion, chopped
1½ tbsp chopped ginger
6 cloves garlic, chopped
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp ground coriander
½ tsp chilli powder
2 tomatoes, puréed
450g small chicken
½ tsp garam masala
1 handful chopped dhanya
Method:
Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom pods and cumin seeds and fry for about 20 seconds until aromatic.
Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until golden brown, stirring often. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook stirring for 40 seconds before adding a pinch of salt and the ground spices, and stir for 15 seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the liquid in the pan has dried off and the oil leaves the sides of the dry masala around 10 minutes.
**Add the chicken and brown over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken (about 350ml), bring to the boil and then cook over a low heat until the chicken is cooked through. The slower it cooks the better it tastes. This takes about 15 minutes for small joints and up to 25-30 minutes for larger ones. Check with a fork; once it is tender it is done.
Add the garam masala and chopped dhanya. Serve with rice or roti.
Variation:
**Add potatoes cut in quarters with the chicken
ONION AND TOMATO SALAD
1 large onion, chopped finely
5ml salt
1 large firm tomato, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
10ml sugar
30ml vinegar
2 teaspoons chopped dhanya
Steam the chopped onion in the microwave for 3 minutes. Combine with the rest of the ingredients. Transfer into a serving dish and enjoy with breyani, curry, etc…
BASIC PANCAKE MIXTURE
Basic pancake mixture
Ingredients:
110g cake flour sifted
200ml milk mixed with 75ml water
Preparation method
- Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do – incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.
- Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don’t worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.
- Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm pan. It’s also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.
- Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.
Dhai / Yoghurt Sauce
Dhai / Yoghurt Sauce
250ml plain yoghurt
Pinch salt
1 handful dhanya, chopped
1 – 3 chillies, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
Yoghurt Sauce
Pour the yoghurt into a small bowl. Add the salt, dhanya, chillies and garlic.
Stir well to combine. Serve with Akhni, Breyani, Curry, etc.
EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
Here is a wonderfully simple recipe for an eggless chocolate cake. It’s deliciously moist and very chocolaty.
Eggless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
750ml (3cups) cake flour
500ml (2cups) sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
125ml (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
500ml hot water
190ml (3/4 cup) oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 tablespoons vinegar
ICING:
125g butter
375ml icing sugar
15-30ml cocoa powder
a few drops vanilla essence
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease 2 x 23cm cake pans
Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over dry ingredients.
Mix well and divide into pans.
Bake for +/- 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in baking pans for 5 – 10 minutes.
Remove from baking pans and cool completely on wire rack.
Spread the top of one round with icing and sandwich together, spreading the rest of the icing around the sides and on top. Decorate as desired. Or top with whipped cream. Absolute delicious to enjoy plain without any adornment!!
EASY RING DOUGHNUTS
This doughnut recipe makes great tasting home made doughnuts. Best eaten on the same day.
RING DOUGHNUTS
Makes +/- 30
Ingredients:
500g selfraising flour
3 eggs
¾ cup sugar
70g butter/margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 – 1½ cups buttermilk
Oil for frying
7cm and 3cm round cutters
For the coating:
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
125g caster sugar
Method:
Cream together the eggs, sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla essence.
Add the flour and baking powder. Make a slight dent in the middle of the flour.
Add the buttermilk.
Mix together into a smooth ball and then turn out on to a floured work surface.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of just over 1cm. Flour the cutters and use the larger one to cut out rounds of dough, then cut out the centres using the smaller cutter. (Or you can buy a ring doughnut cutter from your local spice shop)
Re-roll the trimmings to make more doughnuts.
Put the doughnuts to one side and make the coating.
Mix the cinnamon into the sugar in a small bowl.
Now fry the doughnut. Place the rings carefully into the hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden on the bottom, then turn them over and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, until they are an even golden colour and cooked through.
Lift on to kitchen paper to drain briefly and, while they’re still hot, toss them in the cinnamon sugar until evenly coated. Shake off any excess and place on a wire rack to cool. (Not suitable for freezing).
Cook’s tip
GLAZE
1 cup of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla essence or a drop of food colouring
Whisk in enough boiling water to make a thin glaze, drizzle over donuts.
Cover with sprinkles.
Kids love these different coloured doughnuts!!
Or
Spread the doughnuts with chocolate spread
CHICKEN STIRY FRY
CHICKEN STIR-FRY
Serves 4
Ingredients:
100g broccoli
100g baby sweetcorn
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2.5cm piece root ginger
bunch of spring onions
2 carrots
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soya sauce
Method:
Bring a wok or pan of water to the boil. Cut the broccoli into florets. Blanch the broccoli and sweetcorn in the water for 2 minutes. Drain well.
Cut the chicken into large pieces. Peel the ginger and cut into thin matchsticks. Trim and diagonally slice the spring onions. Peel the carrots and cut into matchcsticks.
Wipe the wok with kitchen pape and heat the oil until almost smoking. Add the chicken and stir fry for 7-8 minutes or until golden. Keep warm
Stir fry the ginger, spring onions and carrots for 2 minutes. Stir in the broccoli and sweetcorn and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken and heat through.
Variation: Use any fresh vegetables of choice.
EASY SAVOURY CHEESE MUFFINS
Easy cheese muffins (savouries)
Ingredients:
500ml (300g) cake flour
15ml baking powder
5ml dry mustard powder
5ml salt
500ml grated cheddar cheese
250ml milk
80ml oil
2 eggs
Method:
Sift flour, baking powder, mustard and salt in a mixing bowl
Add grated cheese
In a jug combine the milk, oil and eggs. Mix well
Add to dry ingredients and mix gently until combined, taking care not to over mix. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 200C for 20 minutes
CHICKEN & CORN SOUP
Chicken & corn soup
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
100 g boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cm piece ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp cornflour
600 ml hot chicken stock
100 g sweetcorn
1 egg
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
shredded spring onions, shredded, to garnish
dark soy sauce
toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
Method
1. Heat the oil in a deep pan and gently cook the chicken, garlic and ginger for 3-4 minutes without colouring.
2. Blend the cornflour with a little stock and add to the soup pan with the remaining stock and the sweetcorn. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously and simmer gently for 5-7 minutes
3. Beat together the egg and lemon juice and slowly trickle into the soup pan, stirring with a chopstick or fork to form egg strands. Season to taste, garnish with salad onions and toasted sesame seeds, and serve with a drizzle of soy sauce and some prawn crackers.
Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights - Salwaa Smith 
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