Spicy, Savoury potato bhajis

These savoury treats are great for any gathering. We tend to make them more during the month of Ramadan ( which is now) to eat as a starter before the main meal. This is tradition, every family has its own way of doing things. But savoury treats are more common in Muslim families during Ramadan. After a day of fasting, you have some delicious treats to look forward to.

I use the same batter mix for both these savoury treats.

Batter -:
8 Tbls of gram flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt,
Water to mix
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add water slowly and until, the consistency is should be like pancake batter, not too thick, just enough to coat the potato


For the mashed potato bhajis
Boil and mash 2-3 potatoes with 1/2 tsp salt, drain
Add 1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp vinegar
Mash all together and make into small balls.

Heat some oil in a small wok, coat the balls in the batter and fry until golden.

For the sliced potato bhajis, peel and slice 2-3 potatoes lengthways, slicing them quite thin. Using the same batter mix, coat each slice and fry until golden.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

A Classic Victoria Sponge

This is a gorgeous easy sponge recipe that a friend gave me and it  takes minutes to make. I baked this over the long weekend to take to a friend we were visiting who has just had a new baby.   I am in baking mode at the moment so bear with me, the next few posts will be some quick and easy Indian savoury bites, onion bhajis and the like, so watch this space.

For this very lovely sponge, I used two 20 cm cake tins.

For each sponge -;

1 Cup Plain Flour
3/4 Cups of Castor sugar
3 Eggs
3 Tbl melted butter
2 Tbl milk
2 Tsp baking powder

Raspberry Jam
Fresh whipped cream

1. Place the flour, eggs, sugar, butter and milk into an electric mixing bowel and beat on high for 3-4 min

2. Add the baking powder and beat on a low setting just to combine

3.  P our into  a greased and lined 20 cm tin  and bake in a pre heated oven @ 190 c for  25-30 min or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

4. leave in the tin for 5 min and then turn out on a wire rack to cool.

When both cakes are cold, spread the jam and then the whipped cream and sandwich together, dust with icing sugar and you are done!

 

Enjoy

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Taste Magazine

I am so excited about having another food feature published! This time in Taste magazine, the June issue is out now in the shops.

It's so great to see my family recipes in print, my parents are so proud to see them as well, and I am sending a couple of copies home to the UK for them to have.

Wouldn't it be great to get my book published? I have so many family recipes handed down to me that I would include in my book, so that everyone can enjoy them, and I can have them in print for my children to cherish and cook when they get older.

Watch this space, but for now I am thrilled to have been a part of Taste.

Enjoy reading it!

Till next time

Ashia

Celebration Cake

One of my friends asked me if I would bake a cake for her daughter's 18th birthday.  Initially I was a little hesitant as, although I love baking (& cooking) I really hadn't delved into baking and decorating celebration cakes for other people.

She had a design in mind and wanted a vanilla sponge cake.  So I started by baking 3 vanilla sponges, a lovely fool proof sponge that is also the one I used, for my next blog entry of a classic Victoria sponge.

 

The next step was mixing the 3 tones of pink, I did veer slightly away from the picture below, instead of 4 rows of roses I stuck with 3 and the tone of my pink was slightly different . I used a butter cream icing and used 1.5 kg of icing sugar!

I started with  crumb coating the cake with plain icing and then used the darker pink at the bottom and then lighter in the middle and then ending with an even lighter tone on the top of the cake.

 

I must say the result was fabulous, it looked very pretty, and she was thrilled!

 

One gorgeous rosette cake fit for any celebration, this time an 18th birthday.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

My favourite, spicy scrambled eggs

Its been a busy few weeks, hence the lack of posts.  I have been working away in the background, just finished the writing and photography for the article to be published in June for Taste magazine so look out for that in the shops soon!

With the children back at school this week, I get few minutes of breathing space.... I love  school holidays with my children, but they are all encompassing, and life revolves around them, so writing or doing anything for myself is put on the back burner.

Having just finished writing my blurb for the article, it got me thinking to my days growing up in Malawi. We used to be picked up from school at lunchtime and brought home for a hot tasty lunch, and then dropped off for the afternoon session.

Lunches would be light, but always cooked, and served with roti.  I cant ever remember eating a sandwich for lunch until we moved to the UK!

This is one of those simple lunches we used to have.  Perfect for an easy evening meal during the week.

You will need 1-2 onions finely sliced ( you can also add spring onions)
Butter/ghee or oil
2 eggs per person (in this case 8)
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp Chilli powder
1/4 Tsp Cumin
1/4 Tsp coriander powder
1/4 Tsp Garam Masala
pepper to taste
Splash  of milk
handful of chopped coriander

Heat oil in a saucepan with a lid, add sliced onions, and cook until soft and  very slightly coloured, meanwhile whisk eggs with all the spices and milk and coriander and add to the onions, keep stirring on a low- medium heat until the eggs start to scramble, put the lid on for 5-7 min until the eggs are cooked, careful not to catch the bottom of the pan.

Serve with hot rotis!

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Spiced Okra and Egg Curry

So last night was one of those evenings, when, my husband was working late, and eating out,  the children had to be fed early as Adam had a basketball game at 7pm. I didn't want to eat burgers, which is what I had made for them.

I fancied a vegetarian curry, so this lovely off the cuff recipe came about, it looks and tastes divine.  I make this okra curry that my mum always cooks, but I wanted to add something to it for a different, texture and flavour, okra can be a little bitter.

I bought Rick Stein's India (cookbook) when I was in the UK visiting family in July last year. (12 quid from Tescos!!)  And I have been drooling over his series on TV, he showed a simple egg curry, so I got inspired and decided to create this dish.

150 -200 g Okra cut into chunks (you can get frozen packets from Indian supermarkets)
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 small red onion, finely diced
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp green chilli and coriander mix ( the recipe for this is earlier in the blog)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 -1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
salt & pepper
3 hard boiled eggs
oil

1. Heat 1 tbl  oil in a saucepan, add the onions and cook until pale golden, add garlic and salt, cook for a further 1-2 min
2. Add the tomato and the rest of the spices and cook on a low heat for 5-7 min
3. Meanwhile, add about 1 tbl oil into a frying pan and fry the okra until, slightly brown, remove and set aside. Peel and cut the eggs length ways in half, set aside.
4. Add the okra to the tomato mixture and cook on a low - med heat for about 5 min, then gently add the boiled eggs, coating with the tomato mixture, heat through for a further 5 min, serve with roti.
Simple, easy, delicious!

 

Enjoy!

 

Till next time

 

Ashia

Chicken Cakes with ginger & green & red chilli

I made these gorgeous easy chicken cakes, one day last week, when I was pressed for time ( running around for after school activities with the children) it had been a particularly busy day, and I always like to plan ahead. I usually take some sort of meat out of the freezer, either that morning or the night before and then decide what I will be cooking, or think about it during the day, and get stuck in when we get home. Usually with my daughter at the dining table doing her homework.

I had some chicken mince out, and decided to make these delicious, juicy little patties. I served this with a green salad and a tomato and avocado salad and some skin on chunky home made chips.

500g chicken mince ( or use  chicken breast and pulse in a food processor)
1 tsp garlic & ginger mix (I buy a ready made mix from one of the Indian shops and it keeps well in the fridge for a few weeks)
1tsp green chilli & coriander mix ( I use this a lot in my cooking)
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
You can always add more if you wish
Juice of 1 lemon
50g breadcrumbs
1 tsp fish sauce
2 -3 small potatoes boiled and mashed

1. Pre heat oven to 200 c/ 180 fan

2. In a bowl, add the chicken, ginger & garlic and all the other ingredients, mixing well, you can add a little more bread crumbs to make the texture less wet

3.Mash the boiled potatoes and add to the mixture, combine well and season with salt and pepper. Shape into small patties (approx. 18-20).

4. Place on an oiled baking tray, brush with oil and bake for 10-15 min on each side until golden

Serve as a main meal with chunky homemade chips, aioli or sweet chilli sauce, or make them into bite size pieces  and serve them as appetisers at a dinner party.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia