Cassava or Yuca

Cassava or yuca as it sometimes called is a root vegetable similar in taste to the potato, though it is quite tough and needs to be boiled before use.

It's popularity with Indian cuisine came about from the early Indian settlers to east Africa, who were introduced to the crop. They found new ways and ideas of cooking with this root vegetable from the influence of the east Africans themselves.

In the west, where it is readily available fresh or frozen, can be mostly seen in Indian and Pakistani restaurants in the form of Mogo Chips - cassava boiled then cut into chip shapes, fried in hot oil until crispy, sprinkled with chilli powder, salt and complimented with tamarind sauce, a mouth watering snack.

As the cassava is similar to the potato it has endless culinery uses and is available fresh or frozen from specialist Asian groceries.

Boiled Cassava

        
                    
                   

Cassava In a Spicy Yogurt Sauce

Light lunch for a hot summers day Pani Puri's

Pani Puris (Gol Guppa's)

One of India's most famous street snacks has become a popular lunch dish throughout south asian households in the west. The availability of ready made Puri's (hollow semolina puffs) has made this possible, these can be bought in specialist Indian grocery stores, along with the other main ingredient, spicy water Pani. The other two ingredients are boiled cubed potatoes and cooked black chick peas which is added into the puri and filled with the spicy water, the pani puri is then consumed whole.

Why not give them a go, simply delicious.........

I recenty tried Taste's Gol Guppa Pani, which i believe to be the perfect spicy water for this dish, truly brings it alive. Now in stock.

Bav's Meatballs

Rich Spicy Lamb Meatballs in a Silky Rich Sauce

Just love meatballs, have done since I was a child, my old man still makes a mean meatball curry, it's one of those good feel dishes as well as filling. 

Fish With Bell Peppers

Looks like fish is back on the menu, every fish & chip shop seems to have queue's every Friday night. With a vast amount of health benefits, it doesn't seem like slowing down. Even in Indian cooking, fish has increasingly become popular, such dishes like Salmon Tikka and Fish Pokara's showing up in more never before seen menus. 

Though being a curry lover, I always need mine spiced up, this next recipe is quick, easy and delicious! Fish marinated with spices, herbs, onions, bell peppers, slowly cooked to produce a natural fish sauce.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

600gms white fish fillets, cut in half or used whole

1tbsp fresh garlic crushed

1tbsp fresh ginger crushed

2 fresh red chillies finely chopped

3tbsp fresh lemon juice

1tsp garam masala

1tsp turmeric powder

1tsp paprika powder

½tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

6tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion finely sliced

1 green bell pepper, finely sliced

1 red bell pepper finely sliced

2tbsp coriander leaves & sprigs finely chopped

4 spring onions, finely sliced

3tbsp fresh lemon juice

MARINADE

First of all take the fish and place on a plate, squeeze around two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice over, cover and place in a cool place or the fridge for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, add the garlic, ginger, chillies, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 4tbsp of olive oil, whisk together.

Then add all the dry spices including the salt and whisk to form a paste.

Cut the fish into halves if preferred and place into the marinade, mix well using your hands.

 

Add the sliced onions, bell peppers, spring onions, coriander and mix well into the fish marinade gently using your hands. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

COOKING

In a large deep frying pan with handle & lid, heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat.  Add the fish mixture into the pan and gently shake so the mixture is spread evenly across the pan.

 Bring the fish to simmer and then cover with a lid, occasionally shaking the pan gently or probing with a wooden spoon, for around 15-20 minutes, until cooked.

My Fish With Bell Peppers

Served on it's own, or complimented with roasted new potatoes and a salad of your choice and not forgetting a good glass of white vino. Bon Appetite....

India's Most Famous Biscuit

Parle-G

Children love biscuits and I remember growing up on my favourites, Bourbons and Chocolate Digestives, oh to die for! Though as a little kid in the late 70’s & early 80’s we would go on holiday to India to stay with our Gran and in the mornings we would look for our favourite biscuits for breakfast. It was ok for the first week because mum had bought supplies, though then came the second week and we had run out. Gran to the rescue with the Parle-G, remember the packaging to this date, orangey and red with a little girl on it, same girl today! Good for you she said, gives you energy because it’s got glucose in it and that was that, I was hooked on to the super malted wheat biscuits.
 
For years down the line only had the Parle-G anytime we went to India, though now you can find them in your local Indian grocery shop.

Why not give them a go and find out why over a billion people love them..........

Thirst Quenching Summer Juice



Coconut Juice With Pulp

For more information on coconut juice read Benefits of Coconut Juice

King Of Mangoes



Rajapuri Mango Now In season

Indian Style Prawn Balls



Prawn Bhajia's

The Sacred Plant

Tulsi Hindu Sacred Plant helping raise money for Great Ormond Street 

We at Patel Brothers would like to thank our local old age ladies who spend there on time and money growing the Tulsi plant for donation, in the summer months. 

Thank You. 

The Three Vital Ingredients



Finely chopped garlic, Indian green chillies and finely shredded ginger

With the influence of Indian & Chinese food in the west for the last 40 years we are using more and more garlic, ginger and chillies in our foods today, then ever before.

We want more chilli in our dishes or it seems to taste bland, more garlic in our sauces, shredded ginger in our soups, the uses are endless. Theses three ingredients bring a certain flavour, tang, texture and heat to our dishes bringing them alive. These three vital ingredients also carry substantial health. 

A curry is nothing without these three key ingredients, used chopped, pureed or grated; the amount is up to you. Many forms of garlic, ginger and chillies can be purchased from grocers today, in the form of pastes, pureed, frozen pastes, frozen whole pieces and dry powdered forms.

Insist on fresh garlic, ginger and chillies.