Cassava In Schezwan Sauce

Cassava the favourite east African root vegetable, semi cooked and then roasted in the oven, before being dropped in my very own spicy schezwan sauce and garnished with spring onions.

Cassava Soup

Ingredients

700gm  semi cooked cassava , cut into small chunks   

1 ½  litre  cold water

1tsp freshly ground black peppercorns

1 inch piece of ginger, finely grated

2-4 fresh green chillies, finely chopped

 ½ juice of a fresh yellow lemon

1 ½  tsp salt to taste

2tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped to garnish

Preparation

 

Place the semi cooked cassava in a fairly large pot , pour in the water . Place on the hob and bring to a boil on a medium heat, lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes with a lid on.  Remove lid and using the back of a wooden spoon smash around 10 pieces, sprinkle in all the ingredients, stir and cook for a further 10 minutes. Place in a bowl, garnish with coriander and serve hot.

   

Gor Keri

Fasal Gor Keri served with mini poppodoms

The Fasal Gor Keri is propbably the best mango chutney in the world, bold statement I know, though you need to try it to agree, my customers do.

Gor meaning palm sugar and Keri meaning mango, is an exquisite combination of a  spicy, sweet and sour chutney. Chunks of large green ripe mango, with skin marinated in sugar, selected spices to create a mouthwatering fusion that just melts in your mouth. 

Our own Fasal brand of Gor Keri comes in 450gm, 1.2kg, 2.4kg and 5kg jars.

Jerk Lamb Chops

Jerk Lamb Chops

A month to go for Notting Hill Carnival and I'm thinking of something spicy and meaty for lunch today! Love jerk chicken and at the butchers decided to go for lamb front chops, to marinate in my favourite jerk seasoning from Grace. This marinade sure does pack a punch and the goodness of Jamaica, tastes unbelievable.

Jerk Lamb Chops - In a large mixing bowl add 2 tablespoons of Grace Jerk Seasoning paste and squeeze a whole fresh medium yellow lemon into the paste and mix well. Take 1kg of lamb front chops, 15mm thick cut, place in the bowl and mix well. Leave to marinate for an hour minimum.
Cook on a barbecue or place in a roasting tray and into a pre-heated oven at 200°C for 45 minutes turning once, remove and serve hot.

Rice Idli

Rice Idli & Sambhar

A light, healthy and delicious dish that can be eaten any time of the day, originated from south India, traditionally Idli is made from rice flour, black gram flour, water and salt. Steam cooked in a special Idli tray and served with a Sambhar (an Indian style soup) & Coconut Chutney.

Various variations of Idli's can be made from the use of semolina instead of rice, added fenugreek and spices as the above picture to small mini ones. We have a range of Instant Idli Mixes, all you would need is to buy yourself an Idli Tray which can be purchased at Asian cookwares. 

Baked Beans Indian Style

The day I was intrigued about Indian cooking, came in the late seventies, when my father introduced me to spiced up Heinz baked beans one of the most famous tinned meals ever produced! When my father arrived in the UK from India in the sixties it was very hard to get some of the spices and lentils used in Indian cooking, so he would experiment with what he had. He would heat some oil, add a teaspoon of cumin seeds, a sliced medium onion and a couple of fresh green chillies. Once the onions were caramelised the tin of baked beans would be added and hey presto! Nowadays I add a pinch of chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala to the beans and garnish with some fresh coriander, it goes well on toast or complemented with an omelet. As curry became more and more popular around the UK, even Heinz bought out a special Heinz Curry flavour. A true example of East meets West.

My Spiced Up Baked Beans

Quick & Easy Hot Bean Salad

Hot Soyabean Salad

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)

500gms Cooked Soybeans (Boil dry soyabeans for 3 hours or use Tinned)

1tbsp crushed ginger

1tbsp fresh green chillies finely sliced

2tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

5tbsp olive oil

1pcs green bell pepper, finely chopped

2medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

½tsp turmeric powder

1tsp pomegranate powder

1tsp mango powder

2tsp salt

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp chilli powder

3 medium red onions, finely chopped

COOKING

Heat the olive oil on a medium heat in a fairly large non-stick pot. Once the oil is fairly hot, throw in the onions, ginger, chillies and saute for 5 minutes, stirring.

Add in all the spices, beans, tomatoes, peppers, salt and stir in well. Cook for 10 minutes and serve hot, sprinkle a little lemon over if you wish.

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