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Afghan Biscuits

I adapted the Afghan biscuit recipe from More Cape Malay Cooking by Faldela Williams
This biscuit is so called because it resembles that of an Afghan turban, writes the late Faldela Williams.
Ingredients:
200g soft butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 & 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup cornflakes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Milk chocolate to finish
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
Cream the butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy.
Mix the flour and cocoa with the butter mixture.
Mix in cornflake and walnuts.
Mixture should resemble a soft dough.
Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto baking tins lined with greaseproof or parchment paper.
Bake for about 12 -15 minutes.
Cool slightly in the tins before removing.
Allow to cool completely before drizzling with melted chocolate.
Top the chocolate with half a walnut, optional.
Makes about 30 biscuits.
Find more recipes like this in Salwaa’s Biscuits and Cakes Ebook
Shop online at http://www.capemalaycookingdelights.com/shop

Chocolate Éclair Pudding
Chocolate Éclair Pudding
Salwaa Smith – Cape Malay Cooking & Other Delights
From My Kitchen To Yours – keeping our heritage alive.
Ingredients for the choux pastry:
1 cup cold water
½ tsp caster sugar
85g unsalted butter
Pinch salt
1 cup cake flour
4 medium eggs, beaten
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200° Celsius.
2. To make the choux pastry, place the butter, water, salt and sugar into a large saucepan.
3. Place over a low heat to melt the butter. Increase the heat and pour in the flour in one go.
4. Remove from the heat and quickly beat the mixture vigorously until a smooth paste is formed, stirring continuously to dry out the paste.
5. Once the paste curls away from the side of the pan, transfer the mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.
6. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, stirring vigorously until the paste is smooth and glossy.
7. Continue adding the egg until you have a soft dropping consistency. The mixture will be shiny and smooth.
8. Lightly oil a large baking tray or line the tray with greaseproof paper. Dip a teaspoon into some warm water and spoon out a teaspoon of the choux mixture onto the baking tray. Leave enough space in between for the éclairs to expand.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown, if too pale they will become soggy when cool.
10. Remove from the oven and prick the base of each éclair.
11. Place onto the baking tray with the hole facing upwards and return to the oven for 5 minutes. The warm air from the oven helps to dry the middle of the pastries.
Ingredients for the pudding.
1 packet of chocolate Instant mousse prepared as per packet instructions
250 ml fresh cream whipped
One tin caramel
One small tin nestle dessert cream
150 gram dark chocolate
Once the cream whipped to stiff peaks mix through the caramel and fill the eclairs using half the caramel and cream mixture save the remaining caramel cream
Layer the mousse in a bowl
Then a layer of the eclairs and fill any open spaces with the remaining caramel cream
Melt the chocolate and mix the dessert cream with the melted chocolate to make a smooth ganache and drizzle this over the eclairs.
Keep refrigerated.
Roast Leg Of Lamb
Roast lamb
Serves 6 – 8
Serve this tender lamb with your favorite gravy and vegetables.
Ready in 3 hours – 3 1/2 hours, dependent on the size of your leg of lamb
Ingredients:
1 large head of garlic, lightly crushed
10 cloves
10 allspice berries
7 bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 whole large leg of lamb, bone in (about 2.5kg)
Salt & pepper to taste
Trim excess fat and rinse the leg of lamb under running water.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Put the lamb into a large roasting tin /Pyrex dish . Using a sharp knife, make cuts in the lamb, about 1.5cm apart, all the way to the bone.
Rub salt and pepper all over the leg of lamb, don’t skimp on the pepper!
Lightly crush a head of garlic, not necessary to peel but do remove excess peels.
Scatter the head of garlic, cloves, allspice, bay leaves around the leg of lamb.
Top with the sprigs of rosemary.
Add a cup of water. Cover with foil. Cook in a preheated oven at 190C for 3 – 3 1/2 hours.
In the meantime prepare your vegetables. Remember you can use any vegetables you like.
Wash and half, if necessary, 1 kg baby potatoes. Drain excess water. Add the potatoes in a roasting / Pyrex dish. Add salt and crushed black pepper to taste. Drizzle a tablespoon or two olive oil over the potatoes and add a quarter cup of water. Cover with foil. Pop in the oven an hour before the leg of lamb is done. The potatoes will turn out crispy on the outside and soft in the inside.
Leg of lamb halfway through the cooking time.
Peel, de-seed and slice butternut into small pieces. Peel carrots and cut into smaller pieces. Melt 50g unsalted butter and 50ml vegetable oil in a saucepan. When the butter/oil begins to bubble add a a couple of stick cinnamon and the butternut pieces. Brown on each side.
Add the carrots, toss lightly so that the carrots are coated with the butter/oil mixture. Season to taste (salt and a bit of pepper will do) Cover and allow to steam over low heat until the vegetables are soft but not mushy.
Roasted potatoes.
Butternut and carrots, cooked.
Ready to eat 🙂
Serve with homemade peppercorn sauce
Ingredients:
3 – 4 tablespoons black peppercorns
80g butter
1 large onion, minced
120ml beef stock
100ml fresh cream
salt to taste
Method:
Crush the peppercorns slightly, either using a mortar and pestle or a rolling pin.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the peppercorns and boil for another 3 minutes. Add beef stock and boil another 3 minutes.
Just before serving, add the cream and reduce the heat to medium. Heat through, but don’t allow the peppercorn sauce to boil. Once the sauce is at your desired thickness, test for seasoning. Add salt if necessary, then serve immediately.
Enjoy 🙂
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Eid Recipes
Here follows a quick round-up of popular Eid dishes.
Click on the links for the recipes. Read the rest of this entry
Chicken Jalfrezi
This is a Pakistani recipe for a spicy curry. The chicken is marinated before the time and then cooked in a thick onion sauce. You can always adjust the chillies if you find it’s to spicy hot.

Spicy chicken curry cooked in a thick sauce.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1 – 2 large onions, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped (you can use more if you like your food spicy & hot)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 litre of water
1 tablespoon ground coriander/koljana
1 tablespoon ground cumin/jeera
1 teaspoon turmeric/borrie
Salt to taste
For the chicken & veg:
500g chicken breasts, washed & diced up
2 tablespoons of oil
1/2 red pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 green pepper, roughly chopped
1 large onion, sliced roughly
2 red chillis (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cumin/jeera
1 teaspoon ground coriander/koljana
1 teaspoon turmeric/borrie
2 teaspoons garam masala
A handful of fresh, chopped dhanya leaves
Method:
Mix the jeera, koljana and tumeric in a small bowl, coat the chopped chicken breast pieces leave to marinade while you making the sauce.
Now make the sauce, fry the roughly chopped onions with the garlic and green chilli in a large saucepan with the tablespoon of oil until browned.
Add the water to the onion mixture and simmer this for around 20 minutes.
While that is simmering, put the chopped tomatoes in a food processor or liquidiser and give it a good whizz until smooth consistency.
Heat another large pan and gently fry the ground coriander, cumin and turmeric in a splash of oil for about a minute take care not too overheat or it will burn.
Add the liquidised tomato to this pan and simmer for around 10 minutes. (Because my family loves potatoes I added a couple of potatoes, quarted,
with the onion mixture when it was simmering whilst I prepared the chicken.)
Next give your onion mixture a good whizz in the food processor or liquidiser and add it to the spiced tomato sauce.
Stir and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes. Keep warm.
Fry the marinaded chicken in oil and stir continuously. When the chicken is nearly done approximately 10 -15 minutes,
turn down the heat and add the roughly chopped onion, red & green peppers and chillies. Stir this until the onions and pepper soften just a bit
and the chicken is cooked, of course. Don’t overcook as we don’t want the onions and peppers to cook away (I like mine to be firm and crunchy)
Add the earlier prepared sauce to the cooked chicken and simmer until combined about 5-10 minutes.
Just before you dish it up, stir in the garam masala and chopped dhanya leaves.
Serve with basmati rice or naan bread.
Variation:
Because my family loves potatoes I added a couple of potatoes, quarted, with the onion mixture when it was simmering whilst I prepared the chicken.
Roast Leg Of Lamb
Roast lamb
Serve this tender lamb with your favourite gravy and vegetables.
Ready in 2 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients:
10 cloves of garlic
10 cloves
10 bay leaves
1 whole large leg of lamb, bone in (about 2.2kg)
Salt & pepper to taste
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
2. Put the lamb into a large roasting tin. Using a sharp knife, make cuts in the lamb, about 1.5cm apart, all the way to the bone.
3. Stuff 1 clove of garlic, clove, bay leave into the each of the cuts. Rub the leg of lamb with salt and pepper according to taste. Add a cup of water into the tin. Cover the tin loosely with foil and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes.
4. Put the meat on a platter, cover loosely with foil and leave in a warm place to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve with gravy, roast potatoes, a selection of vegetables of your choice.
Chops Sosatie
Chops Sosatie

Chops Sosatie
1kg lamb chops
500g thinly slices onions
Marinade:
15ml crushed garlic
5 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
2ml dried thyme
5ml dried sage
20ml curry powder
60ml lemon juice or vinegar
45ml sugar
5ml salt (or too taste)

Marinated Chops Sosatie
Combine the marinade ingredients and marinade chops for at least 1 hour or longer if you have time. Transfer into a oven proof dish cover with sliced onions and cook, covered, with aluminium foil in a preheated oven (200C) for 50 – 60 minutes.

Ready For The Oven
Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed mixed vegetables.
Savoury / Dhanya Rice

Dhanya Rice
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked long grain rice or basmati rice
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cardamom pods
2 stick cinnamons
100g butter
1 teaspoon salt
Handful chopped dhanya
Method:
Parboil the rice until half cooked.
Pour into a colander, rinse, leave the rice in the colander whilst preparing the onions.
Heat your saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, melt, add the cardamom and stick cinnamon. Add the onions. Braise the onions until golden brown. Add the half cooked rice, salt and a cup of water. Heat the rice until warmed through. Add the dhanya, stir with a fork to loosen the grains and turn the heat off. Leave the sealed saucepan on the stove, the retained heat will complete the cooking process and any water left will be absorbed leaving you with fluffy and tender.
VARIATION:
Add a cup of mixed vegetables with the rice before steaming.
Add a tin of drained chick peas with the rice before steaming.
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