Mulled Wine!

Its getting closer to Christmas and neighboring counties have already had their first share of snow. We don't really need an excuse to make mulled wine but the frosty weather made a good case. I love making and drinking mulled wine and the recipe is simple. Add a bottle of any half-decent red wine in a saucepan, add 2 quarters of an orange, stir in about 100g caster sugar, a couple of star anise, a bit of allspice, a pinch of nutmeg, a stick of cinnamon,  a couple of cloves and get it simmer for a while. Do a quick taste check and serve when you're satisfied with the end result.

Christmas Pudding Style Advent Calendar

My husband and I are chocolate fiends and any excuse to get more of the stuff works. Ed said he'd like an Advent Calendar and I thought why buy when I can make one. I wanted to make something different and Ed suggested a Christmas Pudding theme. I bought 2 felt sets from John Lewis and went about planning the calendar. Unfortunately the felt squares were not big enough for the base of the calendar which meant I had to sew four bits together.

I drew a template of the pudding and numbers (days) and used that to cut the felt to shape. Once you've got all the bits cut out, its really a case of sewing it all together. Once I got to the numbers though I was getting a bit tired of the sewing and decided to use the glue approach instead. I sewed a ribbon border to finish the calendar. The end result is as seen in the photo. A few finishing touches to do but otherwise my pudding calendar is ready! Happy calendar making! Ann x

Homemade Chocolate

Pazham Pori (Plantain Fritters)

 

A few days ago, a cousin and wife came to visit and brought  with them a bagful of Keralite treasures.Over the last few years I had reconciled myself to not having access to some of my favourite home food including vegetables that you only find back home. My cousin though had discovered this Keralite store in Ipswich that sold pretty much anything you wanted. Muringkka, kovakkai, fish pickles etc. etc. His bag of treasure also contained ethapazham (plantains) and that inspired me to make one of my favourite desserts.

Ingredients:

2 plantains, halved and sliced lengthways into halves again

100g self-raising flour

1 tbsp rice flour

1 tsp salt

A pinch of turmeric

2 tbsp sugar

Water as required to make a suitable batter

Method:

Coat the plantain slices in batter and deep fry till golden brown. Serve hot. Yum!

Beans Thoran and Cabbage Thoran

Thoran is a relatively easy to make side-dish (typically dry) which is often served as part of Sadhya  (Onam meal). My personal favourites are Green Beans Thoran and Cabbage Thoran. It helps that my English hubby, who happens to be a fan of Indian food in general, loves them too. Here are the recipes:

Beans Thoran

Ingredients:
500g Beans
100g grated coconut (I often use Sainsbury's un-sweetened dessicated coconut)
1 Onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves ( dry leaves can also be used and if available at most supermarkets)
Mustard seeds
1 tsp chili powder ( add more if you like it spicier)
0.5 tsp turmeric powder
3 pods fresh garlic
2 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp oil ( use coconut or sunflower oil)

Method:
Splutter the mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and onion and fry till onions translucent. Add the spices and beans cook for another 5 mins. Add ginger, garlic and coconut. Cover and continue to cook until the beans are fully cooked. Halfway through add a bit of the tomato ketchup. It gives it that sweet/sour taste that perfectly complements the beans. Your thoran is now ready to serve.

Cabbage Thoran

Ingredients:
1 medium size cabbage
100g grated coconut (I often use Sainsbury's un-sweetened dessicated coconut)
1 Onion, finely chopped

1 sprig of fresh curry leaves ( dry leaves can also be used and if available at most supermarkets)
Mustard seeds
1 tsp chili powder ( add more if you like it spicier)

0.5 tsp turmeric powder
3 pods fresh garlic
2 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp oil ( use coconut or sunflower oil)

Method:
Splutter the mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and onion and fry till onions translucent. Add the spices and shredded cabbage cook for another 5 mins. Add ginger, garlic and coconut. Cover and continue to cook until the cabbage is cooked and looks translucent. Your cabbage thoran is now ready.

Vietnamese Bo Kho

We had some diced beef that needed cooking and so instead of doing a bog-standard casserole or curry, I wanted to try something different. After scouring the Internet and checking out various cooking videos, I chose Bo Kho. This was partly because I had most of the ingredients and also because it seemed like a hearty recipe for cold evenings. My husband and  I absolutely loved the result and the stew pairs nicely with French bread or rice. Here is the recipe.

 

Ingredients:
500 g Diced beef
small cup of chopped shallots
1 onion
2 carrots, small chunks
1 cup chopped Tomato
3 tbsp fish sauce, Nuoc Mam
2 star anise
crushed garlic, 3 cloves
3 tbsp fresh ginger paste
2 tbsp lemongrass paste/2 stalks of lemongrass
1 tsp chilli powder
1.5 tsp Chinese 5 spice
2 tsp muscovado sugar
1 cup beef stock
2 bay leaves
Thai basil (optional)
1 tsp salt

Method:
Marinate the beef in a paste made of the fish sauce,muscovado sugar, lemongrass paste, ginger and Chinese 5 spice. In a casserole fry the shallots and onion lightly and the add the marinated beef. Cook for about 15 mins until a gravy is formed from the juices. Add garlic and chilli powder and cook for another 5 mins. Add the tomatoes and carrots, cover the casserole and let it cook for about 10 mins. Now add stock and cook till meat is tender. Usually takes about 45 mins. Enjoy!