Simple Tarka Daal

Tarka daal is one of those great dishes whose flavour belies the simplicity of its ingredients, and a great comfort food dish that satisfies like no other. Channa daal are hulled split chick peas, a good source of tasty protein. The 'tarka' is the addition of fried aromatics to give a burst of flavour once the daal has been cooked.

This is a very simple recipe I devised for my friend Tatia.

Ingredients:

2 cups dry channa daal (or yellow split peas)
Plenty of water
3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 shallots or a small onion finely sliced
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon of whole cumin (jeera)
1 finely chopped fresh green chilli
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the daal and rinse it, cover with at leat 2cm of water and bring to a boil. Boil the daal on high heat for 2 minutes then simmer until it is soft, stirring and adding more water as necessary. The daal will thicken naturally as it cooks, so adjust the water until you have the right consistency. I like mine quite runny. Once ready, remove from the heat and cover.

Heat the oil until it is hot then add the garlic, shallots, cumin and chilli and stir. Take care not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter. Once the onion is cooked, stir the whole lot into the pan of daal and mix well. Adjust for taste with salt and serve.

Serving:
I like to serve daal with roti bread or plain steamed rice.

Lemon Crunch Pie

Like a cheese cake with added ginger

Ingredients:

    * 8oz Ginger Biscuits
    * 4oz Melted Butter
    * 1 small tin condensed milk
    * Juice 2 lemons
    * grated rind 1 lemon
    * 1/4 pt double cream

Method

   1. Crush biscuits
   2. Melt butter
   3. Mix biscuits into butter
   4. Press into the base of loose bottomed sponge cake tin
   5. Mix together other ingredients except cream
   6. Slowly add the cream and stir together (can use fork or blender)
   7. Pour onto crumb base and leave in the fridge to set

Paella

(pron: pay-ay-ya)

Paella probably has its origins in a Moorish rice pilaff, introduced during the long Moorish occupation of Spain. Even the name Andalucia is Arabic in origin. However, in style and flavour paella is unmistakably Spanish, and in my opinion perhaps the best rice dish in the world.

If you love paella, it is well worth investing in a good quality paella pan, which you will be able to find in the kitchen section of good department stores - or do a web search for one and buy it online. A large frying pan or a wok are good alternatives.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
Half a medium Spanish onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 rasher of belly pork, skinned and cut into small pieces
2 chicken thighs, skinned and boned and cut into small pieces
2 cups of paella rice
A pinch of real saffron
1 cup of frozen peas or trimmed fresh mange-tout
Half a red pepper, roughly chopped
Half a litre of fish stock
200g mixed fish pieces (hake, cod and salmon are great)
100g large peeled prawns
100g prepared squid
Chopped parsley for garnish

Method:
Heat the oil in a paella pan and add the onion, garlic, chicken and pork. Stir and fry to seal the meat and flavour the oil.
Add the dry rice and stir to coat each grain in the oil.
Add the saffron.
Add half of the fish stock and bring the pan to a fast simmer for 10 minutes, adding more stock as necessary to keep the pan bubbling away.
Stirring is unnecessary, but you may just wish to turn the ingredients in the pan occasionally.
Add the peas/mange-tout and peppers and return the pan to a fast simmer.
You need to stay with the pan and watch closely as the rice begins to cook through, testing a few grains - until it reaches an al-dente texture.
Add all the fish, squid and prawns, arranging it evenly over the rice.
Add more water or stock if necessary, but don't overdo it - you want the rice to absorb the last of the liquid as the fish cooks.
Turn the heat down very low and cover the pan loosely with foil. Leave like this until the rice is perfect.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Enjoy!

Welsh Cakes

Welsh cakes are simple to make and have a wonderful taste which belies the simplicity of their ingredients. The cakes are cooked on a flat griddle, and not inside the oven.

Ingredients:

225g/8oz self-raising flour, sieved

110g/4oz (preferably Welsh) salted butter 

1 egg

handful of sultanas 

milk, if needed

85g/3oz caster sugar

extra butter, for greasing

Method:

1. Rub the butter into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, then form a ball of dough, using a splash of milk if needed.

2. Roll out the pastry until it is a 5mm/¼in thick and cut into rounds with a 7.5-10cm/3-4in fluted cutter.

3. You now need a bake stone or a heavy iron griddle. Rub it with butter and wipe the excess away. Put it on to a direct heat and wait until it heats up, place the Welsh cakes on the griddle, turning once. They need about2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before turning although some people I know like them almost burnt.

4. Remove from the pan and dust with caster sugar while still warm. Some people leave out the dried fruit, and split them when cool and sandwich them together with jam.