Category Archives: Budget Meals
Budget Recipes Series – Part Three
Welcome to part three of our new budget recipes series.
Here’s some recipes to feed a family of 4 on a budget for a week. I’ve created 7 family friendly dinner recipes suitable for everyone. My recipes are a collection of cheap yet delicious recipes to prove that you don’t need to sacrifice quality to save your rands. Please feel free to add you suggestions.
Here’s some tips to start meal planning on a budget.
- Make a weekly menu. Decide which meals you will make for lunch or dinner and make a list of the items that you will need from the grocery store.
- Plan your meals around foods that are on sale. Check store flyers or newspaper inserts. Just be sure to buy and plan for foods that you will actually use so that they don’t go to waste.
- Legumes (beans, lentils, dried peas), offer great tasting protein at a good price.
- Check your store cupboard, refrigerator and freezer. Look at the expiry dates of the foods and ingredients you already have on hand. Which ones do you need to use up? Look for recipes that use those foods and ingredients.
- Grains such as rice, pasta, barley and couscous are inexpensive and can be used in many different recipes.
- Look for seasonal recipes. Vegetables and fruit are less expensive when they’re in season. Frozen and canned choices are also a good buy and can be just as nutritious.
- Plan to use leftovers. If you’re cooking roast chicken with rice and vegetables for Sunday night’s supper, then make chicken sandwiches for Monday’s lunch.
- Make extras. Don’t let a big bunch of carrots or celery go to waste. Use it all up by making an extra big pot of soup. If minced meat is on sale, make two batches of lasagna instead of one. Serve one batch for dinner, and freeze the other batch in meal-sized portions for another time.
- Encourage your family to share their favourite food and help with menu planning.
- When meal planning, it is also important to make sure meals are balanced. A balanced meal includes vegetables and/or fruits, whole grains and protein foods.
- Always try to add a salad or vegetable to your meal.
Here’s my suggested menu for the coming week.
Monday
Here’s my lentils curry recipe for meatless Monday.
Brown Lentil Curry
Boil 1 cup brown lentils for approximately 30 minutes or until semi soft. Pour it into a colander and rinse thoroughly.
In the mean time braise an onion in a tablespoon of oil until golden brown. Add 1 tsp crushed garlic and 1 tsp crushed ginger. Add a chopped tomato and 1 tsp tomato paste as well 1-2 chillies finely chopped (chillies are optional)
Add to onion mixture
3 cardamoms
1 piece stick cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric / borrie
1 tsp coriander / koljana
1 tsp cumin / jeera
½ – 1 crushed chilies
2 tsp leaf masala / roasted masala
Cook the spice mixture for about 15 minutes, adding water as necessary. Then add the boiled and rinsed lentils. Cook a further 10 minutes.
Add 2 large peeled and quarter potatoes and cook for further 15 minutes on slow heat until the potatoes are soft.
Stir in a handful of chopped dhanya. Serve with puris.
Salwaa’s Puris (quick and easy)
Ingredients:
250g self-raising flour or for each cup of normal flour use 1 tsp of baking powder to make your own self-raising flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Enough buttermilk to make soft, roll able dough or ( take one cup of milk add 1 tbs of vinegar or lemon juice ) to make your own buttermilk
Oil for deep frying
Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Knead dough for a few minutes until dough no longer sticks to your hands or surface. Leave dough to rest for a few minutes. Roll out very thinly, cut into circles, rectangles, any shape that takes your fancy!! Fry in hot oil until puri puffs up, 2 minutes, turn and fry the other side.
Tuesday
Salwaa’s Fried Liver And Onions
Ingredients:
500g lamb liver, sliced thinly
2 – 3 large onions, sliced into rings
1 cup milk
Few tbsp flour to dust liver
Salt and pepper to taste
A few green chillies slitted to taste optional
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cooking oil
Few tbsp of vinegar
Method:
Gently rinse liver slices under cold water, and place in a medium bowl.
Pour in enough milk to cover the liver. Let it stand for an hour or two.
Remove the membrane. This step is important in taking the bitter taste out of the liver.
In the meantime, cut the onions into rings.
Heat half of the butter and oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Sauté the onions and chillies until soft and golden brown.
Add the chillies (optional) Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.
Remove liver from milk.
Heat the remaining butter and oil in the pan.
Season the flour with salt and pepper and dust the liver generously.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and place the coated liver slices in the pan.
Cook until brown on the bottom. Turn, and cook on the other side until browned, about 2 minutes aside.
Add the onions and reduce the heat to medium.
Add the vinegar and cook until tender.
Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables or baked beans.
Wednesday
Salwaa’s Spicy Chicken & Noodles
Ingredients:
250g egg noodles
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 red onion sliced
½ of each green and red pepper
3 cloves chopped garlic
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 Tbsp cornflour
¼ cup water
Method:
Heat the oil in a wok or pan. Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the noodles according to package instructions and set aside.
Add the garlic and peppers into the pan with the onions. In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients for the sauce.
When the noodles are cooked, add the noodles to the pan and pour in the sauce. Mix and serve immediately.
For the chicken:
Spice the chicken with tandoori and/or BBQ spice and shallow fry for 2-3 minutes on each side.
Cut 2 chicken breasts into strips.
Serve on top of the noodles.
Thursday
Salwaa’s Vegetable Curry
You can use any fresh vegetables in season for this recipe.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin/jeera seeds
½ tsp coriander/koljana seeds
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
½ tsp crushed ginger
1 – 2 green chillies
3 curry leaves
1 Tbsp roasted masala
½ tsp turmeric/ borrie
1 tsp salt
¼ – ½ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 small cauliflower, broken into florets ( or half cauliflower and half broccoli)
1 small courgette, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
Method:
Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot. Fry all the seeds for 1 to 2 minutes until they began to splutter. Add the onion and curry leaves and fry for 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the spices, mix and fry for another 5 minutes adding water if necessary.
Then add all the vegetables and 1 cup of water. Cook over medium high for a few minutes before turning the heat to low. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Serve with flat bread, roti and garnished with curry leaves. Serves 4
Friday
Salwaa’s Tomato Sausage Bredie
500g sausage cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon cooking oil
500g red ripe tomatoes, washed, chopped or liquidised or 1 tin chopped tomatoes or use both the fresh and tin tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 green chillies , chopped or more
1 heaped Tbsp tomato paste
3 potatoes, peeled and sliced into quarters
2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
Method:
Heat the oil in a big, heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium heat.
Sauté the onions in the oil until golden, soft and golden brown.
Add the potatoes and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes , stirring often and adding water to prevent the potatoes sticking to the pan and burning.
Add the tomatoes garlic, salt, chillies and tomato paste and simmer a further 15 minutes.
Add the sausages and cook until the potatoes are completely soft.
Add the sugar and cook a further 5 minutes.
Serve warm with steamed / boiled white rice.
Cooks Tip:
DO NOT add the sugar until the potatoes are completely soft as the sugar will prevent the potatoes from softening.
Add a a tin of baked beans to stretch this dish even further
Sunday
Salwaa’s Cabbage Frikkadel (Kool Frikkadel / Oumens Onder Die Kombers)
Serves 6, keep the left overs for the next day. It taste great the next day, trust me!
Ingredients:
500g mutton/beef pieces
2 tablespoons oil
2 medium onions, chopped
Salt to taste
7 cloves
1 – 2 green chilies, deseeded and chopped
1 piece stick cinnamon
1 large cabbage
Nutmeg
Butter
Water as needed
Frikkadel ingredients:
500g fat free minced meat
1 medium onion
1 small green pepper
1 tomato
1/2 bunch dhanya (optional)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 slice of slightly stale bread soaked in water
1 large egg
Salt & pepper to taste
Method:
Wash and drain minced meat well.
Soak bread in water and squeeze excess water out.
Chop onion, pepper, tomato, dhanya finely.
Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly using your hands.
Method:
Heat the oil in a large deep pot. Braise the onions until very brown, add the meat and spices and cook until the meat are brown and tender, 20 – 30 minutes depending on you meat, adding water (not excessive) to prevent it from burning. In the meantime separate the outer cabbage leaves, cutting the veins from each leave but don’t cut through the leave. Chop the inside (the hard part) of the cabbage finely, put the chopped cabbage in a colander. Pour boiling water over the cabbage and leave to drain. When the meat is nicely browned add the chopped cabbage in the pot, stir and cook another 10 minutes until the cabbage are browned as well, stirring often to prevent burning. Wash the cabbage leaves you left whole and steam on top of the meat remove when softened and set aside.
Prepare your frikkadel. Place a small ball (40ml) of frikkadel mixture in the centre of each cabbage leave and fold into parcels. Place the frikkadel parcels on top of the mutton mixture, add 1 cup of water. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg, dot with small pieces of butter and cook, covered for about 30 minutes on medium. Serve, with white rice and atchar.
Follow my recipe below on how to make kool frikkadel.
Sunday Dessert
Budget Recipes Series – Part Two
Welcome to part two of our new budget recipes series.
Here’s some recipes to feed a family of 4 on a budget for a week. I’ve created 7 family friendly dinner recipes suitable for everyone. My recipes are a collection of cheap yet delicious recipes to prove that you don’t need to sacrifice quality to save your rands. Please feel free to add you suggestions.
Here’s my suggested menu for the coming week.
Monday
Traditionally we eat fish on a Monday after Sunday’s feast. All the family would normally gather at their parents house on a Sunday and have a big lunch together. I remember growing up and even after I got married, our married siblings would all come to my parents and mother in laws house with their pots of food and we would all eat together. Sundays were family days, the one day of the week when everyone was off from work and relaxing.
For this week’s menu I’ve chosen a fish curry with rice. You can use any firm flesh fish to make this delicious meal. Here’s my recipe.
Fried Fish Curry (Curry with a difference)
Salwaa Smith – Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights
500g firm fish of choice
Season the fish with salt. Rub a small amount of turmeric onto the fish. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the fish slice. Put aside for at least 30 minutes.
Shallow fry the fish 3 minutes aside. Remove the fish from pan. Keep warm.
Braise 2 medium onions in vegetable oil
Add: ½ teaspoon mustard seeds;
½ teaspoon whole cumin
Cook for at least 5 minutes
Add 2 – 3 chopped ripe tomatoes or ½ tin of chopped tomato
Cook for a further 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring often, until the oil separated from the onion mixture
Add little water as needed.
Now add 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon roasted / leaf masala
1 teaspoon fish masala
½ teaspoon turmeric
1½ teaspoon ground coriander
Cook for a further 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
Now add the fried fish and cook for a further 5 minutes. Do not stir the pot but gently shake contents to mix well.
Garnish with fresh chopped coriander. Serve with rice or hot water roti.
Tuesday
Salwaa’s Chicken Fried Rice
This dish is ideal to make using left over rice, chicken and mix vegetables
Salwaa Smith – Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights
Cut 1 chicken fillet or 2 deboned thigh pieces into small cubes. Season the chicken with BBQ / Braai spice of your choice. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or pot. Stir fry the cubes chicken for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken into a plate, set aside and keep the chicken warm.
Then you’ll cook 1½ – 2 cups of Thai / fragrant white rice as per packet instructions. Add 1 cup of frozen mix vegetables to the rice and mix together. Set aside.
Sauté a medium onion, finely chopped in 2 tablespoons oil. I use the same wok or the pot i used for frying the chicken .
Add: 1 teaspoon finely chopped or grated garlic;
1 teaspoon finely chopped or grated ginger;
1 green chilli finely chopped;
2 -3 chopped spring onions;
1 tablespoon soya sauce, optional;
1 teaspoon salt;
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Add fried chicken pieces and mix together
Push to one side of wok / pan
Whisk 2 large eggs and fry on the empty side of the wok / pan. Break the scrambled eggs into pieces.
Add rice and stir fry by mixing everything together in wok for a further 5 minutes.
Wednesday
Shepherd’s Pie also known as Oond Frikkadel or Cottage Pie is a classic dish which pretty much everyone I’ve ever met has their own way of making. This is my way which I’ve kept really simple and it’s a winner every time I make it. Make sure you buy the best quality mince you can afford, as it really makes the dish, there’s nothing worse than an oily and fatty cottage pie. This recipe serves 6.
Shepherd’s pie” is made from lamb (hence “shepherd”), while “cottage pie” is made with beef.
Cottage Pie, Oond Frikkadel
Ingredients:
500g fat free minced meat
1 medium onion
1 small green pepper
1 medium tomato
½ bunch fresh dhanya, chopped
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 cloves garlic, grated
1 slice bread soaked in water (preferably day or two old)
1 large egg
salt & pepper to taste
Method:
Wash and drain minced meat well
Soak bread in water and squeeze excess water out
Chop onion, pepper, tomato, dhanya finely
Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly using your hands
Transfer the mixture into an oven proof dish
Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees C
Top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with grated nutmeg
Grill in the oven until top is slightly browned
Serve with yellow rice, steamed vegetables or fresh salad
Thursday
Salwaa’s Chicken & Green Beans Stew
Salwaa’s Cape Malay Cooking
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive since 2011!
Ingredients:
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small chicken cut into pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1½ teaspoon salt
2 – 3 green chillies, chopped
5 cloves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1kg green beans, sliced diagonally
3 large potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon sugar, optional
Method:
Clean and cut the chicken. Heat the oil in a large pot and braise the onions until deep golden brown.
Add the chicken pieces, garlic and spices. Brown the chicken for 5 minutes adding water as necessary.
Add the green beans as well as the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are soft and tender adding water for thinner gravy. Serve with boiled rice and atchar. Serves 6
Always braise meat / chicken until very dark in colour, carefully watching it, so that it doesn’t burn to get a nice dark colour stew.
Friday
Sugar Bean Curry
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive since 2011!
1 packet (500g) sugar beans
500g lamb / mutton pieces, excess fat trimmed, washed and drained
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
5 cloves garlic, grated
1 piece ginger, grated (10cm)
1½ teaspoon jeera / cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander / koljander powder
1½ teaspoons turmeric / borrie
2 teaspoons leaf masala / roasted masala
1 – 2 teaspoon salt (according to your taste)
3 cardamoms
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
Method:
Soak the sugar beans in water to cover, overnight.
Next day drain and transfer the soaked sugar beans into a large pot with fresh water to cover. Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. Return to the pot and cover with water once again and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile prepare your meat.
Pour the oil into a heavy based pot, add the chopped onions and braise until the onions are transparent about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Add the trimmed and washed meat. Cook 5 minutes.
Add water as necessary as you go along.
Add the spices, chillies and tomato and cook until the meat are half way done, approximately 30 – 40 minutes depending on the type of meat you are using.
Add the half cooked sugar beans, cook over medium to low heat, until the beans, meat and sauce are combined and the meat and beans are soft. The beans should be soft but not mushy. It is best to complete the cooking process over low heat in order for the flavours to develop and to cook to the right consistency.
Best serve with boiled white rice or roti, atchars and or sambals.
You may also use butter beans, black eyed beans, etc instead of the sugar beans.
Saturday
Salwaa’s Braised Sausages / Gesmoorde Sosys
Salwaa’s Cape Malay Cooking
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive since 2011!
Braised 2 large finely chopped onions in vegetable oil.
Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic
1-2 chopped chillies
Add few potatoes quartered – this will speed up the cooking process and will give potatoes a nice dark colour.
Add one teaspoon salt and half teaspoon black pepper or to taste
Add little water at a time.
When potatoes halfway done add cut up sausages, about 400 gram and cook for about 5 minutes
Add pieces of butternut / mushrooms
Adding water to whatever consistency you like it.
When butternut / mushrooms are done. Shake pot slightly do not stir.
Serve with rice or fresh bread and atchar or blatjang.
Sunday
Salwaa’s Simple Chicken Breyani
No mess, no fuss, cooked in one pot from raw ingredients, No pre-cooking required.
Salwaa’s Cape Malay Cooking
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive since 2011!
Ingredients:
1 chicken cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon whole pepper corns
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
2 teaspoons roasted masala or leaf masala
1 teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons freshly grated garlic
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
5 cardamom pods
5 allspice / pimento
5 cloves
3 pieces stick cinnamon
3 bay leaves
3 green chillies halved
½ cup of fresh mint leaves
½ cup fresh coriander leaves
3 medium onions braised very dark almost burnt in a little oil. ( keep about one tablespoon aside)
1 cup of plain yoghurt or buttermilk
A few strands of saffron (optional)
In a heavy based pot mix all the ingredients. Marinate for a few hours the longer the better preferably overnight
1 cup of cooked brown lentils (optional)
3 – 4, potatoes, cut into quarters and deep fried
4 cups of long grain or basmati rice
Cover the 4 cups of rice with boiled water.
Add 1 tsp of salt and tablesppon of oil, stir well and keep in boiling water for 30 minutes.
After chicken is well marinated in pot, put stove on high.
Add potatoes then lentils if you’re using it (optional)
Strain rice and layer over meat.
Add 2 cups of boiling water.
Cover with remaining braised onions and some fresh coriander.
Dot with butter (optional)
Cover pot.
After 5 minutes turn stove down to medium heat for 10 minutes then turn on low heat for a further 20 minutes.
Dish from the bottom upwards.
Sunday Dessert
Here’s a refreshing dessert for Sunday afternoon. Use any fresh seasonal fruit and get the kids to help you chop the fruit!
Fruit salad is a dish consisting of various kinds of fruit. In different forms, fruit salad can be served as an appetiser, a side salad, or a dessert with a dollop of fresh cream, yoghurt or vanilla ice cream. It is also a delicious, cheap dessert which serves many people depending on the amount of fruit used.
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive since 2011!
I used the following fruit:
½ pineapple
½ pawpaw
½ mango
2 pears
1 cup of mixed green and black grapes
2 kiwi fruits
3 apricots
2 peaches
1 banana
2 satsumas
½ lemon
½ cup orange juice
½ cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
Method:
Prepare the fruit with a small knife, preferably a serrated knife
Peel the fruit, I left the skin on of the peaches
Carefully remove any pips or stones
Half the grapes
Cut all the fruit into even cubes
Carefully layer or add all the fruit into a suitable bowl, I started with the hard fruit first
Squeeze half a lemon over the fruit, especially the bananas to prevent discolouration
Pour the orange and pineapple juices over the fruit
Drizzle the honey over the fruit
Gently mix all the fruit together, cover with a plate of plastic wrap
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or longer, before serving
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Budget Recipes Series – Part One
Welcome to our new series, Budget Recipes Series
Here’s some recipes to feed a family of 4 on a budget for a week. I’ve created 7 family friendly dinner recipes suitable for everyone. My recipes are a collection of cheap yet delicious recipes to prove that you don’t need to sacrifice quality to save your rands.
Here’s my suggested menu for the week.
Monday
Fish frikkadel with gesmoorde tomato and rice.
Ingredients:
500g hake fillets or 3 tins of tuna / tin mackerel / pilchards
2 slices of bread (preferably a couple of days old)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon garlic
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon jeera/cumin powder
1¼ teaspoons leaf masala / chilli powder
¼ teaspoon borrie/tumeric
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt to taste
Handful chopped parsley
1 medium egg
Cooking oil for shallow frying
Method:
Boil hake in enough water to cover for 5-10 minutes. Drain well and flake.
Soak the bread in water for 10 minutes then squeeze out all the water. Meanwhile, to the oil in a saucepan add the chopped onion.
Braise until golden brown. Add tomato, garlic and spices, cook for 5minutes until all the spices are combined.
Combine the fish, bread, spices with the rest of the ingredients. Shape into flat fish cakes.
Shallow fry in hot oil until brown for about 5 minutes on each side. Serve with white rice and gesmoorde tomato.
Gesmoorde Tomato
Sauté a large peeled and chopped onion in a tbsp of oil.
Add 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
Green chillies to taste
A small chopped green pepper optional
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp dried mix herbs
3 large red tomatoes.
You may use tin of chopped tomatoes instead of the fresh tomatoes.
Add 1 – 2 tablespoons of sugar, optional. The sugar will neutralise the acidity of the tomatoes.
Add 1 tbsp tomato paste. Season and cook until well blended and the vegetables are soft about
10-15 minutes. Serve warm with the fish frikkadel and rice.
Tuesday
For Tuesday I chose dhal with eggs and rice.
Tarka Dhal
1 cup red lentils (dhal)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 green chilies, chopped
1½ teastpoon salt
For the tarka
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon onion seeds / powder
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 medium tomato, choppedFor the garnish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dhanya
1 green chilli, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Soak the dhal in cold water to cover for half an hour. Rinse until the water runs clear. Transfer the soaked dhal to a deep saucepan. Add 2 ½ cups water, grated ginger, garlic, turmeric, salt and chopped chillies. Boil for 20 minutes or until soft and the has the consistency of creamy soup. Add more water if needed. Keep warm. Whilst the dhal is cooking boil 4 – 6 eggs. Cool down and peel.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan. Add the chopped onion with the mustard and onion seeds, red chilli and tomato and fry for 4 – 5 minutes over medium heat.
Spoon the cooked into a serving dish and pour the tarka over. Gently add the peeled hard boiled eggs. You can slice it in half at this stage or leave it whole if preferred. Stir lightly. Garnish with fresh dhanya, green chillies and mint. Serve with boiled rice, roti, vetkoek and atchar or sambals.
Wednesday
Mince Pasta Bake
250 gram of pasta of choice cooked as per packet instructions. Drain and put in oven proof dish.
Sauté 1 medium chopped onion in a a little olive oil. Add 1 tsp of fresh minced garlic, 1 tin of chopped tomatoes with salt an pepper to taste and a tsp of dried mix herbs. Cook for about 10 minutes. Mix with pasta.
Brown 400g steak mince in another pan until dry and mix with pasta and tomato mix.
For the sauce
2 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon cake flour
2 cups of milk
3/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese (optional)
Method:
To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth paste. Slowly pour the milk in, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil, stirring with a whisk, until thickened. Season with pepper & salt to taste and stir well. Add cheese and stir. Pour into baking tray with all other ingredients.
I topped it with more grated cheese and sliced mozzarella for a more cheesy taste.
Bake in preheated oven at 180’C for about 15 minutes.
Thursday
Cauliflower with rice
Stew or bredie as it is known in South Africa usually consists of mutton / lamb pieces / beef pieces cooked with various fresh vegetables. Bredies are traditional Cape Malay food which is simple and inexpensive to cook, especially when feeding large families.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
600g mutton / lamb pieces / beef pieces
1 large cauliflower (or 2 small ones)
2 stick cinnamons
1-2 green chillies
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Water as needed
Method:
Heat oil in a large saucepan and braise onion until golden brown, 5-10. Add meat. Braise until dark brown, 10-15 minutes. Add salt, chillies, stick cinnamon and enough water; simmer until meat is nearly tender about 30 – 40 minutes depending the cut of meat you use. Add cauliflower florets and simmer until almost soft. Add potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes. Add sugar, stirring gently to dissolve. Serve with boiled rice and atchars.
Friday
Ingredients:
Serves 4 – 6
2 cups basmati rice
500g lean steak mince
1 tablespoon oil
2 large onions, finely chopped 1 large tomato, finely chopped 5ml crushed ginger
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
2 pieces stick cinnamon
5 cardamom seeds
3 cloves
2 tablespoons leaf or roasted masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground jeera/cumin
1 teaspoon ground koljander/coriander
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups frozen mix vegetables
2 large potatoes, quartered (optional)
50g butter
1/4 cup water
Method:
Cook the basmati rise in enough water to cover until nearly tender. Rinse and drain in a colander. Wash and drain minced meat. Heat oil, add onions, cardamom and stick cinnamon and cook until onions are transparent. Add all the spices and simmer for 15 minutes, adding water to prevent it from sticking and burning. Add mince to sauce, stirring to prevent lumps forming. Cook covered for 10 minutes, then add tomato and potatoes if using and cook until almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add the frozen veg and cook a further 10 minutes. Layer a third of the rice in a casserole dish top with a third of the mince. Add a second and third layer of rice and mince ending with a layer of rice. (So in effect you will have 3 layers). Dot with butter and water. Cover and microwave for 10 – 15 minutes to finish cooking the breyani. Garnish with chopped dhanya leaves. Serve with atchars or sambals.
Saturday
Homemade Pizza
Makes 1 large Pizza
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup low fat plain yoghurt
In a bowl mix the 2 ingredients until a dough forms. Cover and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Flour a work surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is roughly the size of the pizza tray you are using. Place the rolled out dough onto the tray and top with fillings of your choice. Bake for about 20 minutes at 190 degrees.
Suggested Toppings:
To start off all pizzas:
• Tomato puree or tomato ketchup
• Dried mixed herbs, oregano or fresh chopped basil
Spread tomato puree or tomato ketchup over the pizza bases, sprinkle with the herbs.
Top with grated cheese and get your children to decorate with whatever toppings you have in the fridge.
Bake in a preheated 200 C for 15 to 20 minutes if using a scone or dough base, until golden brown.
Topping ideas:
• grated cheese (cheddar, mozzarella)
• olives
• chopped onion
• chopped peppers
• chopped tomatoes
• broccoli florets
• sliced courgettes
• sliced mushrooms
• tinned sweetcorn
• roasted vegetables
• chopped pineapple
• tuna
• cooked chicken
• pepperoni, salami
Sunday
Very easy and simple to make but absolutely delicious
1kg chicken pieces seasoned with 1 – 2 teaspoons salt and lots of black pepper
In a hot deep pot add half cup tablespoons oil, your pot needs to be very hot before adding the oil. Use a heavy based pot for best results.
Fry chicken one layer at a time for 5 minutes each side, don’t worry if it is little dark, when done it will be a nice deep golden colour. Remove, set aside and fry the rest of the chicken. After all the chicken has fried you may add potatoes. Brown the potatoes on all sides, remove.
Add the chicken and potatoes back to the pot with little water as needed.
Cover pot with lid turn the heat to medium – low heat and let it simmer for another 20 minutes. Try not to stir the pot, shake the pot gently from time to time, add little bit of water to prevent the chicken and potatoes from sticking.
Serve with gesmoorde rys / braised rice and deep fried potatoes, if you not adding potatoes in the pot, and / or lots seasonal vegetables of choice.
Sunday Dessert
Here’s a delicious treat for the weekend.
Chocolate meets coffee – the perfect combination for this delectable chocolate cake variation.
Salwaa’s Cappuccino Bars
Ingredients:
225g softened butter
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 ¾ cup self-raising flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water
Topping:
1/2 cup double cream
200g white chocolate
1 teaspoon butter
Method:
Preheat your oven at 180°C
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl till light and fluffy using electric beater. Then add the eggs and mix till all combined, sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and mix till the cake mixture is smooth.
Lastly mix the coffee mixture well into the cake mixture. Grease and line baking paper in a 28 x 18cm baking tin and pour your cake mixture evenly in your prepared baking tin.
Bake for the cake for 30 minutes or till the cake has risen and firm to touch.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes once baked and then turn onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Prepare the topping on the stove in a small sauce pan by adding all the topping ingredients on a low heat, ensuring the mixture does not boil or burn. When the chocolate starts to melt turn the heat off and mix till it’s all combined and silky smooth. Allow the topping to cool and then spread over your cooled cake.
Slice into 18-20 bars depending on your desirable serving size.
Enjoy!
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Black Eyed Beans Curry
Salwaa’s Black Eyed Beans Curry
(Swartbek Boontjies)
Salwaa Smith – Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive for the past 11 years!
Black eyed beans curry was a firm favourite in our home whilst I was growing up. My mother always served black eyed beans curry with homemade flaky roti, onion and tomato sambal or mix veg atchar. My parents loved serving orange slices with our meals too.
Black eyed beans are a complex carb which takes longer to digest, and keep you full for longer. Black eyed beans are very versatile, and can be eaten as a soup, curry, added to chilli on carne, or added to salad. So do incorporate them in your diet.
This curry needs very basic ingredients, which I always keep in my food cupboard. The only preparation needed is soaking the black eyed beans at least 4 hours ahead of cooking.
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked black eyed beans
600g mutton pieces
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 green chillies chopped (optional)
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 piece ginger, grated (approximately10cm piece)
2 tsp cumin / jeera powder
1 tsp coriander / koljana powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 1/2 tsp turmeric / borrie
2 tsp leaf masala / roasted masala
1 tsp salt (according to your taste)
3 cardamom pods
1 stick cinnamon
Method:
Soak the beans for at least 4 hours or overnight.
If you forget to soak, then soak in hot water for ½-1 hour before cooking. Soaking also helps to reduce the cooking time.
After soaking give the beans a quick cook, drain and set aside.
Pour the oil into a heavy based pot, add the chopped onions and braise until the onions are transparent about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Add the meat. Cook 10 minutes.
Add water as needed.
Add the whole spices, powdered spices chillies and tomato.
Cook until the meat are semi soft, approximately 30 minutes depending on the type of meat you are using.
Add the beans, simmer over medium to low heat, until the beans are soft and the meat and sauce are combined, about a further 45 – 60 minutes.
It is best to complete the cooking process over low heat in order for the flavours to develop and to cook to the right consistency.
Garnish with fresh chopped coriander before serving.
Best serve with boiled white rice or roti, atchars and or sambals.
Cook’s Tip:
Substitute mutton with beef pieces or lamb pieces
Use 2 can two cans of black eyed beans instead of the dry beans. Drain the liquid in the can. Shorten the cooking time by 30 minutes.
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Sausage & Baked Beans Curry
This month I thought I’d share with you a couple of my budget friendly meals which featured tin beans as one of the main ingredients.
These are very quick, easy and economical but yet very delicious dishes and can easily be doubled or even tripled for a large group of people.
Baked beans don’t just taste great, but are nutritious too; naturally high in fibre, high in protein and low in fat, as well as contributing to 1 of your 5 a day.
Sausage & Baked Beans Curry
Salwaa Smith – Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive since 2011!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 tins baked beans
500g sausage cut in small pieces
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 piece ginger, grated (10cm)
1 tsp jeera / cumin powder
1 tsp coriander / koljander powder
1 tsp turmeric / borrie
2 tsp leaf masala / roasted masala
1 tsp salt, optional
1/2 – 1 tsp chilli powder
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
Method:
Pour the oil into a heavy based pot, add the chopped onions and braise until the onions are transparent about 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the potatoes, spices, chillies and cook for about 10 minutes.or until the potatoes are semi soft. Add water as needed to prevent the potatoes from sticking.
Add sausage pieces and cook for a further 5 minutes then add baked beans. Simmer for 10 minutes until the beans are fully warmed and the sausages are cooked and the potatoes are soft.
Enjoy!
Best serve with boiled white rice or roti, atchars and or sambals. Delicious with white buttered bread too.
Cook’s note: adding salt is optional as the baked beans as well as sausage contains salt.
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Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights - Salwaa Smith 
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