Kitchen 22

Courgette fritters

2012-02-02T18:04:00.000Z

I always thought of courgette fritters as something you order at a greek tavern and because they taste so amazing I assumed they would be too difficult to make at home. I do have an irrational fear of deep-frying too so that might have contributed to my reluctance. It turns out they are pretty easy, and you can shallow fry them instead. We even made a "diet" version by dry frying them on a non-stick pan. They turned out less like fritters and more like savoury pancakes, but still tasted great. I added a red pointy pepper for sweetness and some chili for a bit of a kick.

Courgette fritters

Ingredients (serves 3 as a main)

2 large courgettes, grated
1 red pointed pepper, chopped finely
3-4 spring onions, chopped finely
150 gr feta, crumbled
1-2 chillies, chopped finely
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried dill (or a handful of fresh dill, chopped)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of salt
lots of ground pepper
2 eggs
about 4 tbsp flour, to get the right consistency

Mix all the ingredients together, adding the flour slowly and mixing until you get a gloopy but not too thick consistency. In the meantime, heat some sunflower/olive oil in a frying pan; you want plenty to cover the bottom of the pan and be about 1/2 cm high. With the pan over medium-high heat, use a tablespoon to carefully drop some mixture in the pan and slightly flatten the top. Cook on one side until golden brown and then flip it to cook the other side. If they seem to be cooking too quickly you can turn the heat down a bit, as you don't want them to still be raw on the inside. A few minutes on each side should do. Remove and place on kitchen roll to absorb the extra oil.

Serve these with tzatziki (garlicky yoghurt with cucumber) for dipping. They are also perfect as part of a greek meze dinner, as I did recently, serving them with spetsofai, a slab of feta and lots of crusty bread.

Cinnamon-sugar pull-apart bread

2012-01-15T13:39:00.001Z

I might have not done much cooking in 2011, but my bookmarks list has been growing healthily - or not, if you look at the type of recipes I like. Looking through them the other day, I spotted a recipe for this cinnamon-sugar pull-apart bread which I remember drooling over for a good 10 minutes when I first came across it and then buried it somewhere in my long to-make list. It takes a bit of patience, as all yeast recipes do, with all the rising and re-rising, but the result is warm, fluffy, sweet bread. It's not dissimilar to Chelsea buns but without the dreaded dried fruit and cutely arranged like a sliced loaf.

The recipe is from Joy the baker and comes with excellent instructions and much better photos than mine, so I won't bother re-writing it. The only real change I made was to reduce the amount of sugar in the filling to just over 1/2 cup - the recipe does warn that it might look like a lot but you should go with it, but I really don't think I would have wanted it any sweeter. I saved a couple of tablespoons and sprinkled it over the top just before baking. I also had a few too many squares to fit in my tin, although I think it's the same size as the one in the recipe. I just put them in a little one and took it out 5-10 minutes early to avoid overbaking.

So, if you want the recipe (and you should), go here. It can easily be adapted to include different flavours - I was thinking chocolate chips and/or orange zest, although the thought of Nutella and chopped hazelnuts is refusing to leave my head, however dirty it may sound.

Pork Belly with Anchovies and Chestnuts

2012-01-03T17:27:00.000Z

Happy new year! 2011 was more work-oriented than food-oriented so I didn't bother with a top 10 food list - it wouldn't have been too exciting! Here's to a better-balanced 2012. Top of my to-do list is to become a real person, with a job and a paycheck and a bit of free time and all that.

It wasn't all bad food-wise this year though; I discovered that you can get nice Chinese food in Cambridge, and quite a bit of dim sum too; I found that you can improve most cakes by adding loads of buttery crumbs on the top; I continued with the aubergine obsession; I improved our trips down the A14 massively; oh, and I had someone pretty funny write about crisps and breakfast.

I also made this pork belly dish almost every time I needed to cook something relatively impressive. There's crispy crackling with soft, fatty meat underneath, and a sweet and savoury sauce soaking the roast new potatoes. Make some greens on the side to distract from the unhealthiness.

Pork Belly with Anchovies and Chestnuts

This is a recipe from the Great British Food Revival on BBC2 but I basically copied it from here. There are 50 ml of brandy in the ingredients list that do not appear anywhere in the recipe and I didn't use, but apart from that it's pretty much spot on. I took an extra step when preparing the pork, to aid with the crackling, pouring boiling water over the skin and then patting it dry before scoring and salting it.

For the last hour or so of the roasting time I added halved new potatoes to cook in the sauce. As expected, they did not crisp up, but instead took on the amazing flavours from the anchovies and chestnuts.

I've made it before with mash and that goes really well with it too. Add some steamed kale or spinach on the side and enjoy.

Continental Breakfast

2011-11-03T10:32:00.000Z

Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. It's the meal that can really kick-start an otherwise slow, bleary-eyed, lethargic morning. And so, without further ado, this post describes one of my favourite breakfasts of all-time. It would make for a perfect start to the day if, say, you'd just spent 11 hours being shaken to fuck on a sleeper train from Berlin to Basel.

Deutsche Bahn Continental Breakfast

Breakfast (enough to stave off hunger for about as long as it takes to eat)

1 anhydrous bread roll

1 plastic-wrapped croissant (original, French)

1 20g packet of white viscous matter

1 similarly-sized packet of off-white viscous matter

1 fractionally larger packet of orange gel

1 200 ml carton of "The Flintstone's" orange juice

Beverage and beverage paraphernalia

1 heavily insulated cup of tepid, brown, ostensibly caffeinated liquid (hereinafter referred to as the "tepid brown")

2 small capsules of white, fatty fluid

1 sachet of sugar

So, first, brace yourself for a massive, soul-crushing bout of disappointment. This step is critical. Spend too little time bracing yourself and you'll end up so comprehensively dismayed that you climb under said sleeper train while it's moving at speed.

Get someone to throw all the ingredients into a cardboard box covered in multilingual bullshit about "savouring the journey". Get said person to hand the box to you. If they can keep a straight face, ask them to present it as if the box contained an actual breakfast.

Shut up.

Open the box. Jesus Christ. I hope you spent enough time on the bracing step.

Jubilance.

Try and cut the bread roll to put a combination of the viscous matters inside it. You can't. You actually can't cut it. The flimsy plastic instrument with which you have been furnished has been deftly defeated by a bread roll. Seriously, on the Mohs scale of hardness, this bastard takes the crown. Step aside, diamond, Deutsche Bahn crust has stolen the limelight now.

Futile.

Unsheathe the croissant. Try and cut it in half with your mangled remains of a knife. (Moderate success awaits here.) Apply the orange gel to the inside of the croissant. Eat it. Try to savour the sparse hints of moisture therein.

In anger, throw the bread roll in the bin, along with the now-useless viscous matters.

Remove the straw from the front of The Flintstone's orange juice carton. Use the sharpened end of the straw to pierce the tiny circle of foil on the dorsal face of the box. Squirt a bit of orange juice out of the box onto your jeans. Fuck.

Use the straw to suck the remaining orange juice out of the carton into your stomach, at which point it will start to drag down the pH of your entire digestive system. Bile is no match for this mother.

Add the fatty liquid and/or sugar to the tepid brown, to taste. Difficult. The tepid brown is just so astonishingly bland. Staggeringly insipid. Mindblowingly tasteless. Mind you, somewhat impressively, it does just about manage to taste of brown. The colour. I don't have synesthesia, but if I did, I imagine this particular taste/colour confusion would make a lot of sense.

Now go home, have a long sit down and think about how it's all come to this.

Croque Madame

2011-10-15T18:44:00.000+01:00

This is one of my favourite sandwiches ever and so great for a weekend lunchtime treat. I've been trying to recreate my favourite version for a while and I think I've finally got the balance right - turns out you can have too much bechamel sauce. Would would have thought it.

Anyway, since I'm running out of words (unless you want to hear about fracturing toughnesses and patterned grounds) I'll go straight to the recipe.

Croque Madame

Ingredients (makes 4)

3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp olive oil (you can use butter, but I'm Greek)
less than a pint of milk (excuse the vagueness but I never measure - you should be able to tell from the consistency of the sauce)
1/2 to 1 tsp of english mustard (to taste)
pinch of nutmeg
salt and black pepper

8 slices of bread
lots of cheddar (about 2 cups when grated)
4 slices of ham

Quickly fry the flour in the fat over medium heat until you've got a paste - do not overcook or your sauce will taste biscuity. Take off the heat and add a splash of milk and incorporate until you've got a smooth mixture. Turn the heat on again on low-medium and keep adding milk and mixing until the mixture is thick. You want it to be slightly thicker than normal bechamel so make sure you don't add too much milk. Stir in the mustard, salt and pepper, and let it cool slightly.

Start preparing the toasties: spread about half a tablespoon of bechamel on one side, top with grated cheese and a slice of ham, and toast them using a panini press or a griddle pan. If you're doing it on the hob, make sure it's on medium heat as you don't want the bread to toast before the cheese is melted.

Turn the grill on to preheat. When the toasties are golden on both sides, top with a tablespoon of bechamel each, and then more grated cheese. Place under the grill for a few minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is starting to brown. In the meantime, fry 4 eggs - I did them all in one large frying pan, so it didn't take long.

To serve, just top each sandwich with a fried egg.

Dim Sum @ Aki Teri, Cambridge

2011-10-08T10:23:00.002+01:00

One of my favourite Cambridge restaurants has just got better! I am a huge fan of Teri Aki and Aki Teri, and I do miss the days when I used to live about 2 minutes away. They're not cheap but they are reasonable, and the noodles and sushi are consistently good.

Aki Teri is the most recent of the two, a mirror image of Teri Aki and, like most younger siblings, has struggled to find its identity for a while. They tried to do a slightly different menu and had a karaoke room for a while, but I think they ended up short-staffed and closed it down for a few months. It then did a stint as a cocktail bar but really, who want cocktails when you can have noodles and sushi next door?

Recently, it changed its menu considerably, and now does Chinese food instead. I've only had a brief look at the menu but I'm keen to return to try the hotpots. On weekends, between 12-4, you can get a dim sum buffet for £12. And it's good.

We were advised against wasting when we sat down - apparently, they will charge you for any leftovers but presumably that's only if you take the piss. In any case, it makes you think about what you grab from the buffet a bit more.

I loved the cold noodles with Szechuan sauce, salty and spicy although I couldn't tell you what was in there. Had a few portions of them. I also had a silly number of gyozas, both in spicy soup (which was a bit bland on the flavour front, just spicy) and pot-sticker style ones. I particularly like the latter, with the contrast in textures between the crispy bottom and the soft, chewy top being quite addictive.

I braved it and tried chicken feet but wasn't too keen. I found them a bit slimy but the taste wasn't bad.

Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves was good, although I was slightly disappointed that the filling was chicken and mushrooms rather than chinese sausage.

There were a lot of steamed pork and prawn dumplings, pork buns, and some rather lovely glazed sticky buns with some kind of chicken filling. Rice rolls were good but I would have preferred them pan-fried. And custard buns were a good way to end the meal. We were also offered a little pot of either black sesame or green tea ice cream. Good times. Basically, go.

Teri-Aki & Aki-Teri
6-8 Quayside
Cambridge
CB5 8AB

Lamb Chops and Aubergines

2011-09-20T08:59:00.000+01:00

Have I mentioned that I didn't manage to go to Greece with summer? Oh that's right, only a million times. Well, as a result, I've been feeling pretty homesick, and the weather hasn't done much to help my mood. So I turned to food. Since finding some lamb chops in the discount section at Tesco (don't say we're not classy) I knew their destiny. The boyfriend mumbled something like "mustard, sugar" but I had already covered them in olive oil and garlic and was busy sprinkling on healthy amounts of oregano. Ah, it felt like home.

They got a good grilling (maybe a bit too good actually, but I blame my genes for my tendency to overcook meat) and were served alongside pan-fried slices of aubergine, mashed potatoes ~~drowned~~ dressed with the lamb juices and salty feta cheese. It tasted almost as good as in Greece.

Grilled lamb chops and aubergines

Ingredients (serves 2)

4-5 lamb chops
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
good pinch of dried oregano
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon

2 large aubergines
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper

First, mix the lamb with the olive oil, add the crushed garlic and season. Place under a hot grill and cook until the fat is crispy and the meat is cooked to your liking (for less cooked meat, increase the heat and decrease the cooking time). When done, squeeze some lemon over the chops and sprinkle with some more oregano.

Slice the aubergines in 1 cm thick slices. Mix the olive oil, garlic and seasoning and brush the slices on both sides. Fry on a grill pan until soft. You can squeeze them with a fork while cooking to speed things up.

Serve with lots of feta cheese (Greek please, none of the "white salad cheese" types) and potatoes or crusty bread.

Peking Restaurant, Cambridge

2011-09-17T12:44:00.000+01:00

About a year ago, when I started reading loads of London food blogs, I made a list of restaurants I wanted to visit. Due to greediness, it's been growing steadily. Due to laziness, lack of free time and lack of money, I haven't crossed many of them off. Every now and then, I discover interesting Cambridge restaurants to add to that list. The Peking had been there for a while, and I finally forced myself to visit a few days ago, as I had a voucher for it that was expiring.

This is the kind of place you want to go with quite a few people as the menu is big and sharing is recommended. My friends managed to put up with me going on and on about how "We need to order the pot stickers. And loads of aubergine." on the way. Not only that but, as we sat down, they asked me to choose all the dishes. I've got awesome friends.

The prawn fried dumplings were pretty good, crispy at the bottom and the filling was savoury and went well with the spring onion and ginger soy sauce that came with it. The dough was maybe a bit on the thick side, but it had been way too long since I had any decent dumplings; I was happy.

We then shared 5 main courses, including the much craved aubergines in hot bean sauce, double cooked pork (pictured below), tripe fried with chillies, squid with ginger and szechuan shredded beef. I thought the tripe was a bit flavourless and particularly loved the fatty pork and the very smoky szechuan beef.

All in all, great food and worth going if you live in Cambridge. But I couldn't help but compare it to my experience with Chilli Cool, where we got more and possibly better food for almost half the price. Cambridge needs good, independent restaurants and I don't mind paying a bit extra to avoid going to yet another chain, but if other places can do it for cheaper, why not the Peking?

High point: The beef, the pork and the aubergines were all excellent.

Low point: The bill, predictably.

The money: Without our £25 off voucher, £20 for a good (but not ridiculous) amount of food and a small beer each.

Go with: lots of people and share.

An update and a cake

2011-09-06T19:29:00.001+01:00

I haven't given up on this blog yet. It might look like it, but I'm still around. I just figured that, given that I didn't spend any time lying on the beach this summer, I probably shouldn't be spending any time writing blog posts either. Which is to say, I didn't go back home and I am gutted. But I'm getting there.

A few weeks ago it was my birthday. I survived the day thanks to several glasses of wine at Alimentum and friends that were nice enough to put up with my complaining about being old and not being in Greece.

The day before, my boyfriend and I made me a cake, which wasn't a great success. It looked a bit sad for a celebration cake, and it tasted just ok. A bit too damp, not chocolatey enough. I decided to take it to the office the next day anyway, as I had promised cake and it was at least edible.

I took the cake with me to coffee and it disappeared pretty rapidly (it is cake after all). Then, one of the senior people asked me if I made it myself and complimented me on a rhubarb cake I had made a few weeks ago and taken to an office garden party. I was surprised he remembered and, of course, vainly proud. So, even though most of my spare time nowadays is spent stressing about not working hard enough, I made that cake again. I like feeding people and, let's be honest, I like cake.

The recipe is very simple to put together and quite versatile. A sponge is topped by rhubarb and then crumble. You could of course use any fruit you like, I reckon peaches or strawberries would be pretty nice. My sponge is made from a simple cake batter, with equal amounts egg, sugar, flour and butter. I think Americans like to throw some buttermilk in there too, but I never have any handy.

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

For the cake

150 gr butter
150 gr sugar (I like to use a mixture of caster and soft dark brown)
150 gr self-raising flour
3 large eggs

Cream the butter with the sugar(s) until smooth. Add the eggs and sift in the flour. Whisk until incorporated.

For the rhubarb

400 gr rhubarb, cut in inch long pieces
2-3 tbsp caster sugar

Mix the sugar with the rhubarb and let it sit while preparing the rest.

For the crumble topping

100 gr cold butter
150 gr flour or a combination of flour and ground nuts (add slowly until the texture feels right)
80 gr brown sugar (or to taste)

Mix with your hands until it crumbly.

In a oven-proof dish, layer the cake batter, then the rhubarb with all the sugary juices and finally, top with the crumble. Bake in a 180 C oven for 40-50 minutes - you might want to start checking after 35-40 minutes by inserting a knife in the middle. It needs to come out almost clean.

You can serve this with custard or cream or ice cream or be weird like my boyfriend and have it with loads of evaporated milk. I quite like it as it is, with a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

Brown Bread and Rhubarb Ice Cream

2011-07-30T10:52:00.001+01:00

It would appear that my last blog post was sometime in April. I would say that I don't know how this has happened but I do - I've been lost in the world of thesis-writing and car-building since then. And although it's fun (it's not) I would like it to end now. Thanks.

But I've also made some ice cream. And that's because some really nice person noticed I was wishing for an ice cream maker and sent me one. This really nice person is called Alex aka the Fairy Hobmother and works for Appliances Online. He also spreads kitchen gadget love on the internet. He's a good one. And the really great thing is that if you leave a comment on this post and make a wish, he could visit you! Certainly worth a go.

When it came to trying out the ice cream machine, I had two options: either go for a proper, custard-based recipe or be lazy. No prizes for guessing which one I went for. I had been eyeing up this rhubarb crumble recipe from Helen's blog for a while, and it seemed the perfect thing to try. And as the rhubarb was cooking, I realised I didn't have any butter for the crumble. Seriously, what kind of person runs out of butter?

So I improvised a bit.

Brown bread and rhubarb ice cream

425 ml whipping cream*

2-3 stalks of rhubarb, trimmed
juice of half a lemon
sugar (to taste)

1 or 2 slices of brown bread, in crumbs
2 tbsp sugar

Cut the rhubarb into inch long pieces, place in a pan together with the lemon juice and the sugar and cook until soft - most of it should look like a puree, with some small chunks still intact. You can taste it to check how sweet you want it - remember that the cream won't be sweetened though.

In the meantime, place the breadcrumbs in a large tray and mix with the sugar. Bake in a 200 C oven for about 10 minutes, or until crispy.

Allow both the rhubarb and the breadcrumbs to cool. Mix in the cream and pour into the ice cream maker. Churn the ice cream according to the machine's instructions until it's thick like whipped cream. Place in a plastic container and leave in the freezer until it reaches the desired consistency. If you haven't got an ice cream machine, follow Delia's advice.

If it stays in the freezer for a while, you will need to soften it by leaving it in the fridge for 20 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with some more of the crispy breadcrumbs if you have some left.

*I used double cream because that's what I had. My ice cream was a bit too thick for my liking, but you could try mixing 300 ml double cream and 125 ml milk and that should work better.

Bolognese Macaroni Cheese

2011-04-28T12:27:00.000+01:00

I've been having a massive craving for macaroni cheese for the last month. I blame the #meateasy.

On a hot Saturday, I woke up and knew what I wanted to eat. I'm not really big on light food when it's hot. My cravings have nothing to do with the weather. So I made some macaroni cheese.

I had been thinking about a few versions, mainly Helen's ultimate macaroni cheese and Ree's fancy one. But then I had some bolognese leftover in the fridge and that combined with bechamel, cheese and pasta is basically pastitsio, one of my favourite Greek dishes. So I went for it.

The measurings in the recipe are vague. It could really be summarised in a few words: mix pasta, cheesy bechamel and bolognese sauce. Top with cheese. Bake. But here's the (slightly) more detailed version anyway.

Bolognese Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients (enough for 6)

500 gr pasta

portion of bechamel sauce:
5 tbsp flour
5 tbsp oil/butter
1 - 1 1/2 pint milk
pinch of salt (go easy as the cheeses will be salty)
lots of ground pepper
pinch of nutmeg
bay leaf

a mixture of cheeses (I used gouda, pecorino and a couple of spoons of mascarpone)
leftover bolognese sauce (I used about 1 1/2 cups, you can certainly go for more as it was on the light side)
extra pecorino for the top

For the sauce: quickly fry the flour with the fat, making sure you don't burn it. Turn the heat right down. Warm the milk in the microwave and add it slowly to the flour-oil mixture, making sure it's fully incorporated at every step. Season with salt and pepper, add nutmeg and the bay leaf and let it come to boil while stirring very frequently, to stop lumps from forming. If it becomes too thick, add some more milk, whisk, and let it reach boiling temperature again. You want it relatively runny so that the end result isn't too thick and stodgy. Remove the bay leaf.

Boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes less than what the instructions say. Toss with a bit of olive oil and set aside.

Add the grated cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted. Add the pasta and mix well. Finally, stir the bolognese sauce in.

Spoon the mixture into oven dishes (I used a couple as I didn't have a big one available). Top with more grated pecorino and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden.

As it's quite an intense meal, I served it with some spring greens. I boiled them for 2-3 minutes - don't overcook them as they will lose their vibrant green colour and most of their goodness. Steaming would work too. I then quickly fried them with a drop of olive oil, a finely chopped garlic clove, salt and plenty of pepper and nutmeg. It made for a great side dish.

No-knead bread

2011-04-11T21:34:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know. No-knead bread has been around for ages. I'm late to the party. But it's easy and delicious. It's also incredibly exciting, unless your definition of excitement doesn't include covering the kitchen floor and your clothes in flour and then staring at the oven for half an hour before pulling out a loaf of bread. And then doing a little dance while listening to the crackling of the crust as it cools down. I find that exciting.

This comes from the book "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day" and, while I love it for introducing me to the concept, I also have Clotilde to thank for finally managing to make a nice loaf of bread. After many failed attempts, I read this and realised the obvious thing: I had been severely underflouring my dough.

The consistency of my doughs still varies, but most of my loaves now are successful. The wetter doughs produce larger holes but flatter loaves, and they are excellent for eating with soups and stews. A drier dough sacrifices the impressively hole-y interior but gives you nicely shaped loaves that you can use to make sandwiches. It is also much easier to handle, meaning that you can make large loaves easily.

The loaf pictured below came from dough slightly on the drier side - I probably used 600 gr of flour here. Stick to 550 if you would like bigger holes, but your loaves will be flatter. In all cases, you get really crusty exterior without drying up the inside.

No-knead bread

Ingredients (makes 2 medium sized loaves)

2 cups lukewarm water
1 tbsp active dried yeast (or instant yeast)
1 tbsp salt
550 - 600 gr flour (see notes for type of flour used)
extra flour for dusting

In a large bowl, mix the water, yeast and salt and leave for a few minutes until the yeast granules dissolve (you don't need to worry too much about the mixture frothing up - if you're using instant yeast you don't really have to wait at all).

Mix in most of the flour (about 500 gr) and stir using a spoon until you can't see any dry patches. Add an extra 50-100gr and incorporate using wet hands. Your final dough should be wet enough so that it slowly deforms and takes the shape of the bowl.

Cover with a plate or a lid (not airtight), and let it rise for at least 2 hours (up to 5 won't harm it). You are done with the rising when the top has flattened.

You can use the dough now but it's better to refrigerate it for a couple of hours as it will be easier to handle. The dough will last in the fridge for at least a week and probably 10 days, so you can make this in advance and even double it if you have a large enough container.

Take your dough out of the fridge, flour the surface and your hands and pull out a chunk about half the size of the whole dough*. Form a smooth ball by pulling the sides of the dough underneath it. Don't overdo it or the top layer of the dough will start splitting! Tuck the ends underneath - the bottom might look a bit messy but it will even out during rising/baking. Place it on a smooth chopping board dusted with flour.

Let it rise for 40 minutes. Turn the oven on to 230 degrees Celsius and place a pizza stone on the middle shelf 10 minutes before the end of the rising time. Place a tray on the shelf underneath.

Dust the surface of the dough with flour and make some quite deep cuts using a bread knife. Make sure the bottom isn't sticking to the chopping board - if it is, push some flour underneath using the bread knife. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone and quickly pour a cup of hot water (from the tap) into the tray underneath. Shut the oven door as quickly as possible to trap the steam in.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is looking nice and golden. Let it cool before you cut a slice.

Not that I've ever done that!

To keep the outside crispy, I store the bread with the cut side flat on a plate.

*If it's too wet to handle, you haven't got enough flour in it. You can incorporate some more flour at this step, or choose to bake it in a loaf tin. If using a loaf tin, make sure you grease it well with some oil and let the dough rise for an extra 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Walkers Crisps

2011-04-01T20:25:00.002+01:00

A very special guest post.

This recipe is bloody brilliant. The speed and ease of preparation and the flavour possibilities are only just the beginning. The recipe is surprisingly easy – a machine at Walkers actually makes the crisps from potatoes that come from farmers who are not paid much but do it for the love of crisps. Another machine puts the crisps in a foil bag. Walkers then deliver the crisps very close to your house. If this still isn’t close enough, you can buy them online and a man will bring them to your house in a refrigerated van. Opulent.

Unfortunately, the cost of the crisps can vary hugely from around 35p (in a filthy corner shop where the writing on the bag is in Turkish) to around £2.50 (in a service station or airport departure lounge). If you’re cooking for more than one person, you can buy the crisps packets in multipack bags of 6, 12 or, if you’re really going for mass catering, 18 or 24. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to hand out the bags of crisps if you’re going to be cooking for 12 or more.

Walkers crisps

Ingredients

Walkers crisps (any flavour, any size bag, maybe even a multipack)

Directions

1. Buy the bag(s) of crisps
2. Open the bag(s) of crisps
3. Put the crisps into your face (1–5 at a time)

Thai Chicken Soup

2011-03-22T10:18:00.000Z

I think winter finally caught up with me a few weeks ago. After months of cycling to and back from work at minus temperatures, my body decided it had enough of the cold. As it was a really bad time to get ill, I did the only obvious thing: I boiled some chicken.

Now, I'm happy to admit that I love plain chicken broth, with some rice thrown in and a good squeeze of lemon. It's what I always ate as a kid when I was ill and it is the first thing I turn to when I start feeling a bit fragile. But apparently*, it's rubbish. Boring. Greasy. Tasteless.

And therefore, I've discovered this spicier, more sophisticated and grown-up version of it. It tastes good and it might even be better for you because of all the green things in it.

Thai Chicken Soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

500gr chicken (if using legs/thighs, remove the skin)
2 litres hot water

2 aubergines, cut in chunks
2 red chillies, chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small piece of ginger, minced (about 1cm squared)
1-2 tsp thai green paste

juice and zest of one large lime
2 tbsp thai fish sauce
400ml coconut milk
a large handful of kale

300gr rice noodles
chopped fresh coriander (to serve)
lime wedges (to serve)

First, quickly brown the chicken pieces in a pan and then add the hot water and let it cook for about 1-2 hours to make the stock. Alternatively, you can use leftover chicken meat and ready-made stock. But where's the fun in that.

In some olive/vegetable oil, brown the aubergines and add the chopped chillies, garlic, ginger and thai paste. Fry for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Shred the chicken and add it to the pan together with the stock, the juice and zest of lime and the fish sauce and cook for 20 minutes, or until the aubergines are tender.

Add the coconut milk, simmer for 5-10 minutes and then add the kale and simmer until cooked. Check for seasoning and add more fish sauce if necessary.

Prepare the rice noodles according to the instructions. To serve, put some noodles in a deep bowl, ladle in some of the broth making sure everyone gets a nice amount of chicken and vegetables (I fight for those aubergine pieces!) and top it with chopped coriander. Serve with lime wedges.

*"apparently" = "according to the boyfriend".

Yoghurt pots

2011-03-10T14:55:00.000Z

I haven't blogged in a month.

It's been pretty busy, and I've been eating simple food and not really taking pictures of it. Oh, and I've been eating yoghurt.

I was asked by the nice people at Total whether I'd like to sample their new split pots - they are basically pots with 0% fat yoghurt and a little bit of fruit compote (strawberry, blueberry or tropical fruits) or honey on the side. I do like Total yoghurt and a bit of healthy food was welcome since I haven't had the most balanced diet so far in 2011 - highlight of January was when I did #Meateasy and Hawksmoor in 24 hours, but that's a different story.

About the yoghurts - in short, I like them. A lot. They are thick and creamy and, while the compote is a bit sickly sweet by itself, when mixed with the sour yoghurt it works really well. There's bits of fruit in there and everything. They've been an excellent afternoon (or evening) snack while I've been spending most of my day in the office. Strawberry is my favourite I think.

If you compare them to their obvious competitors, they definitely come out on top. The yoghurt texture is great and you almost forget there is no fat in it. Very different to the runny, thin fat-free yoghurts you normally find. That's the beauty of Greek yoghurt.

As a disclaimer, I was sent the pots for free, but I wasn't asked to write anything. I do like them though and I'll be buying some myself.

Sausage Muttar

2011-02-08T22:48:00.000Z

Don't you just love it when something comes together with no planning, almost by chance? I was feeling hungry but lazy the other day and, somehow, it was one of those days that I didn't fancy a big plate of pasta for dinner. It doesn't happen very often, so I've got to embrace it when it does. In an effort to be healthy, I thought peas. And, you know, spices are good for your metabolism. And sausages...well, I can't justify the sausages. But I don't have to. They taste good.

Sausage Muttar

Ingredients (serves 5 as a side)

5 sausages
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil, for frying
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
2 tsp garam masala
500 gr frozen peas
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt, to taste

First, place the sausages in a tray and cook in the oven - how long for will depend on the type of sausages used.

Fry the onions in some oil until soft. Add the garlic and the spices and fry for a couple more minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Add the frozen peas, cook until defrosted and then mix in the tomato paste and some water and bring to the boil. Cook until the peas are soft.

Keep checking on the sausages - when they are ready, cut them into inch-thick pieces and add to the peas. Let everything simmer for 10 minutes, season with salt and serve with some naan bread.

This was unexpectedly good. I loved the contrast between the sweet peas and meaty sausages, and the Indian spices made this perfectly fragrant and slightly hot. Sausage might not be hugely traditional but I can see this becoming a favourite either by itself or as part of a curry feast.

Hazelnut and Nutella Brownies

2011-01-31T14:20:00.001Z

When it comes to brownies, everyone has a very specific idea of what the perfect one should be like. Apparently there are three schools of thought - the cakey, the fudgy and the chewy. I ignore the first one as nonsense, and usually find the second one a bit too rich for my liking. And nuts or no nuts? Too much choice.

But as a lover of Nutella, I wanted to top these with a drizzle of the good stuff, and figured some hazelnuts would compliment it well. "The Boyfriend" moaned.

Hazelnut and Nutella Brownies (adapted from here)

Ingredients (makes 16 small squares)

4 oz. salted butter (plus a bit more for the tray)
4 oz. dark chocolate
1 cup (225 gr) caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup (110 gr) plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa
50 gr hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Nutella, for drizzling on the top

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (or 170 for fan assisted) and lightly butter and flour a tray. I used a square one, about 20cm each side.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a pot over low heat. Let it cool slightly and add the sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until they are incorporated. Add the flour and cocoa, mix for a minute or two using a spatula or spoon and, finally, mix in the nuts.

Empty the mix into the prepared tray and drizzle/pour Nutella over the top. I warmed up the Nutella slightly by placing it on the radiator for a few minutes. Alternatively, you could spoon out little blobs of it and randomly throw them on top of the mix. You get the idea.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. You can test after half an hour by inserting a knife; it shouldn't be completely clean but have a few small crumbs on it. Cooking times will depend on type and size of tray used and every oven works differently so keep an eye on it - you don't want to overcook them.

So it turns out that these ended up being somewhere between chewy and fudgy - I might have slightly undercooked them but we did enjoy the texture a lot. The best of both worlds. I loved the hazelnuts and the Nutella topping. I'm making these again tonight and I have a feeling this will be my staple recipe from now on.

Aubergine and Anchovy Pasta

2011-01-30T12:31:00.000Z

This dish might not look like much, but it really does pack a punch. The aubergine makes the sauce creamy and thick, while the anchovies are really the dominant flavour. I've been quite vague about the amount of anchovies you should use in the recipe, as it really depends on your taste. I used four, and it was strong. I was not sure about the cheese/anchovy combination, but it works really well. Just don't eat this before a date - you've been warned.

Aubergine and Anchovy Pasta

Ingredients (serves 2-3, depending on appetite)

300 gr linguine
1 aubergine
2-4 anchovy fillets, drained
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp tomato paste, dissolved in 1/2 cup water
freshly ground pepper
good pinch of dried oregano
grated pecorino or parmesan
fresh parsley, to serve

First, pierce the aubergine all over with a knife, place it in tray and under a hot grill and cook until it's collapsing, with a burnt skin.

In the meantime, chop the anchovy fillets finely and grate the garlic into a paste (I do this using a microplane grater). Put some olive oil in a pan, cook the anchovies over medium heat until dissolved, and add the garlic. Cook for a further couple of minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn.

Cut the aubergine in half and scoop out the soft flesh. Chop finely and add to the pan. Fry it with the anchovy/garlic paste for a couple of minutes, before adding the diluted tomato paste and letting the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season with pepper and oregano (the anchovies with make this salty enough so I doubt you'll need more salt).

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water and, before draining, reserve 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauce and use the reserved water to bind it together. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and stir until melted. Serve with some chopped fresh parsley on the top.

Little Chef, Kettering West

2011-01-27T14:34:00.001Z

For the last few years, everytime we're on the motorway, I look at the Little Chefs along the way and remind myself to find a reason to travel south and visit Heston's one. Obviously, I've never actually managed to organise it. The other day, I was looking through my Good Food Guide and came across Little Chef's entry. Apparently, Heston has 3 now and, guess what, we've been driving past one of them about once a month on average. Including the day before I made this discovery.

Worry not though, as I managed to get my fix on my next visit of the A14. It took us a while to find it, because of Google Map's incompetence (according to me) or my incompetence (according to the boyfriend). But when we walked in, all was good. I loved the diner-style decor, the staff was smiley and helpful and the menu looked good.

I was tempted by the Tag Bol (tagliatelle rather than spaghetti) - making a good Bolognese is a test every kitchen should have to pass before being allowed to serve food. But in the end, I couldn't say no to the braised ox cheeks.

My picture just doesn't do this dish justice. The cheeks were moist and tender, and any bits of fat running through the meat had been cooked for long enough to turn soft and pleasantly wobbly. The sauce was the real surprise for me, dark and intensely flavoured, and with the odd pearl onion adding sweetness. The boyfriend described the mash as "buttery but not greasy" and I happily used it to mop up the leftover gravy.

The steak and ale pie was almost as good, but ultimately I think I won with my choice. The filling was encased by a lovely, flakey and thin suet pastry. The not very attractive-looking green mush around it was a surprisingly good minty pea puree. I liked that a lot. The filling could have been a bit more flavoursome but this was still a good dish.

This is food you expect to find in a good gastropub, rather than on the side of a motorway. It might not be the prettiest location for a restaurant, but smart double-glazing makes for a pleasant eating experience and, to be honest, there's something quite old-fashionedly romantic about pausing your journey to have a good, honest plate of food. We'll be stopping there again.

High point: The sauce that came with the ox cheeks. And the staff. Really lovely without being even slightly pretentious. Very relaxed atmosphere.

Low point: Couldn't find it on Google Maps. It's not the Thrapston one, and it's not Kettering East.

The money: Just over £20 for our two mains, a coke and a cappuccino. Massive portions. Really good value.

Go with: Co-travellers. Treat the driver (although in this case, the driver treated me).

Marmite pasta

2011-01-02T18:31:00.000Z

This is a serious case of "don't knock it till you've tried it". There seems to be a trend for really simple pasta dishes recently (-ish), and this is my contribution to it. I've been eating it several times a week (unhealthy? what about all the vitamin B in Marmite?) and I'm currently having withdrawal symptoms because I can't find any Marmite in Greece. I didn't even like the stuff before I tried this.

A lot of the enjoyment comes from the texture, so cook your pasta al dente and choose a good shape. I love bucatini, there's some good bite on it as it's thick, but the hole running through the middle makes it light and fluffy. If you're one of those people that don't understand others' obsessions with the geometry of pasta (I can't wait to read my Christmas present), spaghetti will do just fine.

Marmite Pasta (thank you Nigella)

Ingredients (serves 1 greedy person - me)

150 gr pasta
15 gr butter
1/2 - 1 tsp marmite (depending on how strong you want the flavour to be obviously - I normally do something in the middle)
freshly grated pecorino (or parmesan)
ground pepper (optional)

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Reserve about 1/3 cup of the cooking water - you'll need that starch to bring the dish together. Drain the pasta.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the Marmite and the reserved water - stir until the Marmite has dissolved. Add the pasta back in the pan, then the cheese, and stir until everything is covered in gooey sauce and the pasta has turned a golden colour from the Marmite. You shouldn't need any salt, but add pepper if you fancy it - I actually prefer it without. Serve immediately.

Top 10 things I ate in 2010

2010-12-29T15:17:00.000Z

Like most good things in life, you can have enough of reading other people's blog lists at the end of a calendar year. And there's only one thing to do then: go and make your own.

So here are some things I ate and liked in 2010. I am not pretending that 70% of my favourite dishes are mine - this is more of a list of my favourite posts. And maybe someone will find a recipe to try or a restaurant to visit and my yet-another-2010-list will be justified.

1. Stuffed Onions
I do love Greek-style stuffed vegetables - peppers, tomatoes, aubergines. This was the first time I had stuffed onions. A pain to peel off onion layers whole, but worth it. Soft and sweet onions, meaty filling, caramelised- almost burnt- edges. Lovely.

2. Homemade Pita Bread
A revelation not in the taste sense (not the first time I've had pita bread!) but because of how easy they were to make. Great effort to result ratio and one of those things I make several times a month. A real keeper.

3. Apple Tarte Tatin
Possibly my favourite pudding ever - maybe I'm biased, but I thought my version was comparable to the one we had at Launceston Place. Take that Tristan Welch.

4. Lamb and Spinach Curry
I thought I preferred chicken curries to lamb ones. What a fool. Can't wait to try this with goat, like the original recipe suggested.

5. Aubergine in Yoghurt
This blog does love aubergines (maybe even more than steak...) and I'm always happy when I find new ways to cook them. These Indian-style aubergines are spicy and creamy and perfect as a side to a curry. Leftovers make great sandwiches when wrapped in pita bread.

6. Oxtail Ragu
Oxtail makes for a great ragu because you first cook it on the bone and the marrow melts away, creating a rich, thick, flavoursome sauce. When it's done, the meat will be falling off the bone. Serve with homemade pasta and wear some stretchy trousers.

7. Chinese Pork with Aubergines and Crackling
Maybe not the most authentic recipe - it was a mish mash of the few things I know about Chinese cooking. It worked though. I bloody love aubergines. And crackling should be served with everything.

and a few more I didn't make myself...

8. Goose Egg and Mushroom at Launceston Place
I loved the whole meal, and in a way it is a bit of a shame that the highlight was something I only had a tiny bite of. I want this egg to myself and I am going to have it soon. First New Year's resolution, done.

9. Fish Fragrant Aubergines at Chilli Cool
Have I mentioned that I love aubergines? These were silky, soft, sweet and spicy. And there was some pork, which always improves things. The whole place is an absolute bargain too.

10. Game Ragu with Polenta at Alimentum
You know a plate of food is good when you dream about it for months after you've had it. Maybe I should ask for a double portion for my main next time I go. And have it for starter too.

So, for 2011, I'm hoping I'll get to try a few more exciting restaurants, make some more tasty meals and, erm, finish my thesis (because I've promised myself a Midsummer House meal when I do so). I'm also hoping for other, more selfless things, like world peace and stuff, but this is my blog so I'll keep it personal (and selfish).

In short, may 2011 be a new and improved version of 2010, for everyone.

Greek Octopus Stew

2010-12-26T14:48:00.002Z

Have you not had enough of all this roast turkey/goose/stuffing/cranberries chat? I know I have and without actually eating any of it! Our Christmas tradition involves cockerel stew served with pasta, and a lemony-eggy chicken soup on Boxing Day to help the hangover. But whenever I'm in Greece I also try to take advantage of all the nice seafood here. This octopus stew is one of my favourite dishes - if you don't fancy a bird anymore then give it a go.

As is the case with quite a lot of seafood, you need to cook octopus either for seconds or hour(s). Anything in between, and it'll be tough. I normally grill my octopus, and have it drizzled with red wine vinegar and some chips on the side, but this stew is also a great (and very traditional) way of having it. The meaty chunks of octopus cook in the sauce long enough to give the whole dish a strong seafood taste and a thick gravy that you will want to lick off your plate.

To prepare my octopus, I remove most of the skin on the inside of each tentacle (the opposite side from where the suckers are!). I'm sure you could just leave it, but if it's quite a big octopus the skin tends to be quite thick and I don't like it. You can (should) of course use the head, but I'd remove the skin from that too.

My normal portions of pasta are bigger than average, but when you cook it in sauce it somehow goes a long way. We had 500gr between 4 of us for dinner and a light lunch the next day. I think that 300gr would be more than enough for dinner for 3. We use short tubes of pasta (kofto) for this dish. If you can't find them, you could use macaroni or pasta shells.

Greek Octopus Stew

Ingredients (serves 3)

1 medium-sized octopus, chopped in 2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
olive oil

1 small glass of red wine
1 can of good quality tomatoes
4 allspice berries
1 bay leaf

300gr pasta
lots of ground pepper
salt to taste
sprinkling of oregano
fresh chopped parsley (optional)

First, place the octopus pieces in a large pot (it will need to fit the pasta later) and let them simmer over a medium heat. You don't need any water as they will release a lot of (very red) juices. Reduce until you have a thick red coating all over your octopus. Add the chopped onion and some olive oil, and let it all fry slowly until the onion is soft.

Turn the heat up, add the glass of wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Add the tomatoes, enough water to cover the octopus and the allspice and bay leaf. Let it simmer slowly for an hour.

Add the pasta and some more water (but not too much, you don't want to end up with a soup). While the pasta is cooking, keep an eye on it and add more water if it's getting dry. You want to end up with a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the oregano. Enjoy.

Alimentum, Cambridge

2010-12-04T16:58:00.002Z

Most of Cambridge restaurants offer mediocre food and try to make up for it with the pretty surroundings. Most of them are chains, since they are the only ones that can afford the ridiculously high rent for a spot in the town centre.

Alimentum does it the other way round. Situated on the side of a main road, with a Travelodge opposite, it uses the quality of its food to attract customers. It's probably not the most popular dining establishment for students; I always found it easier to pop across the street to a Pizza Express. But, with a set lunch/early dinner menu priced at £16.50, it is not just affordable, but a bargain.

Quite a few of us went there for lunch recently to try their Christmas menu. We started with a complimentary "Beer and Onion" amuse bouche. A white froth was poured over little cubes of beer jelly and bits of onions and the whole thing ended up tasting a lot more complex than we expected.

I had of course already decided what I was ordering, days before our lunch! The game ragu with polenta is exactly my kind of food: rich and meaty, with creamy polenta and a grating of salty parmesan to top it off. Absolutely delicious.

My main was a soy braised pork belly, salty and fatty. If I can fault this somewhere I would say that the sauce could be a bit too salty for some, but luckily I tend to overseason my food anyway. It was served with the creamiest sweet potato puree and some refreshing pak choi to cut through the richness.

We of course wanted to try the dessert too, and I chose the white chocolate delice with passion fruit jelly and ice cream. The white chocolate delice was a sweet and airy mousse and the jelly provided texture and sharpness. Even tangier was the the smooth passion fruit sorbet which was face-blowing by itself but balanced the white chocolate perfectly.

Coffee was served with petits fours and both the marshmallow and the mini sticky toffee pudding that I tried were excellent. Three hours after we had arrived, we left happy, full and just a little bit tipsy. That's what lunch should always be like.

High point: The pudding? The starter? Can't choose.

Low point: The location I suppose. But it's a short walk from the train station. All you Londoners can hop down for a great lunch and a spot of sightseeing.

The money: Just over £30 for 3 courses, a couple of glasses of wine and coffee.

Go with: Friends. A date. Your parents. Everyone.

Chinese Pork with Aubergines and Crackling

2010-12-02T18:50:00.000Z

It turns out I love Chinese food. And although there is a place and a time for the sickly, bright red, sweet and sour sauce at the all-you-can-eat buffet (say, Sunday lunch somewhere in Zone 7), it doesn't come close to making your own sweet and sour at home.

This is not quite it I suppose. Maybe somewhere in between a sweet and sour and the fish fragrant aubergine I had at Chilli Cool a few weeks back. I've been wanted to make something similar since then. And just in case that wasn't exciting enough, I thought I'd use the skin to make some crackling. I don't like waste, you see.

Please don't get angry at me for the generic name I've given this dish. I didn't follow a specific recipe and didn't want to call it something that it isn't. If you have any better suggestions I'd love to hear them!

The crackling was amazing, properly puffed up and with soft bits every here and there. It was in fact so good that we ended up eating it all before I could take a picture of it. I'll be making this again.

Chinese Pork with Aubergines and Crackling

For the sauce
a small pork joint
3 tbsp chinese rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp red wine

Chop the pork in inch thick cubes and add all the ingredients in a bowl. Let it marinate for half an hour (or longer if possible - you can do it overnight in the fridge). Reserving the marinade, fry the pieces of pork over high heat until browned. If they are releasing too much liquid you can add that to the marinade. You don't want them to simmer. When browned and with crisped edges, take out of the pan and set aside.

2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions, chopped finely
3 garlic cloves, grated
3 dried birds-eye chillies, chopped
2 aubergines, sliced in fingers*
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
extra soy sauce or rice vinegar, to taste

* I threw in some courgettes and peppers because I had them in my fridge, but the aubergines were by far my favourite - no surprises there!

In the same pot used to brown the meat, add the oil and soften the onions. Add the garlic and chilli, fry for a couple of minutes and then add the aubergines (or any other vegetable you're using). When they've browned a bit, add the meat pieces, the reserved marinade, the ketchup and sugar and enough water to cover everything. Let it simmer until the sauce thickens and the pork is tender. Taste and add more soy sauce or vinegar if you want it saltier/more sour. If the sauce is too thin you can use some cornflour to thicken it.

For the crackling

the skin of the pork, in one piece
vinegar (use some of the chinese rice vinegar from before)
salt

Score the skin and place it on a rack over the sink. Poor boiling water over it, pat dry and rub with the salt and vinegar. Roast in a preheated oven at 200 Celsius for about an hour. When it's looking crispy, pop it under a hot grill to puff up. Make sure you keep an eye on it as it can go from puffy to burnt in seconds!

Serve the pork with some plain rice and a bit of crackling on the side.

Lentil and Aubergine Curry (Indian #7)

2010-11-22T21:53:00.002Z

While I love meat and I could never be vegetarian, there is really no need to make vegetarian dishes bland and boring. Lentils are full of flavour (and iron, so no need for that steak) and aubergines are the meatiest vegetable out there. Both make a healthy alternative to meaty dishes and, combined with some Indian spices, you have the perfect winter warmer.

This started as a lentil and carrot soup, until I realised I had no carrots and had to improvise. So please don't judge me on the authenticity of the dish. It's yummy.

Lentil and Aubergine Curry

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely or grated
2 dried birds eye chillies, chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
olive oil

1 aubergine
200gr lentils (I used green, but red perhaps will be more authentic)
2 tbsp tomato paste, diluted in some water
1 tsp garam masala
salt, to taste

200gr Total Greek Yoghurt, to serve

Fry the onions and the garlic in the olive oil together with the spices (chillies, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, chilli powder) over low-medium heat, until soft. Add the aubergines and fry them a little longer, until they start to soften.

Add the lentils and the tomato paste and let it simmer over low heat. You might need to add more water as this is cooking since the lentils will absorb quite a bit. When the lentils are soft (about 40 minutes later), add the garam masala and season with salt.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and some warm pita bread.

Previously on Round the World in 100 Recipes:
King Prawn Puri
Saffron Yoghurt with Fennel Seed Biscuits
Aubergine in Yoghurt
Heston's Chicken Tikka Masala
Lamb and Spinach Curry
Red Onion and Pomegranate Salad