Roti Roll ala Rosemary

So, again we had Indian food. The cold weather and the rain always makes me reach for the curry powder, I can't seem to stop myself.

It was a simple dish of curry mince, which I'll blog about another day, but the real show stopper was the home made roti's. Now I know, in an average Indian home, making rotis is as common a place as me making sandwiches, but in our home it's a production and a special treat.

This is the recipe I use and have never had any complaints, although I have never actually served it to a qualified expert, but this isn't Gordon Ramsey's kitchen, so whatever I say is the last word.

Rosemary Roti

3 cups of Flour ( all purpose)
½ cup Self Raising Flour
60ml melted Butter (or oil)
Salt
250ml Hot water

Mix the flours and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the water, mix and then knead to a smooth dough.
Leave covered with plastic wrap to rest for at least 30 minutes.
Break off pieces of dough, about the size of a golf ball and roll out on a floured surface.

Brush with a little butter.
Roll the disk up and twist gently and then roll into a "snail" shape.

 Repeat with the remainder of the dough.
Leave to rest covered for another 30 minutes.

Roll the "snails" out.
Brush with a little butter on both sides and fry in a medium hot pan until bubbles form, turn and cook through.

 Keep covered in a tea towel until you have finished frying all the dough.
Serve warm with your favourite curry.

Indian Delights

In the beginning of the year I had hoped to have a theme for my blog, something to celebrate South African and African food and culture. This has not worked out as well has I had dreamed, mostly because my personal life took many unforeseen twists and also because "a dream without a plan is just a wish.".

I have been caught up in football fever and in doing so I found this little piece of trivia which I thought was quite funny.

India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. The governing body in India decided against going to the World Cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time.

Now here is the funny part...A myth started that India refused to play because they were not allowed to play barefoot. This was not the actual case and just a story to cover up the disastrous decision of the governing body.

So, back to food. We had a wonderfully Indian meal last night, probably not authentic by Indian standards, but as close to "damn it" to being a swear word!

Tandoori Butter Fish

4 Butter fish steaks (about 1" thick)

80ml Tandoori paste (I used shop bought mix from Aminia's Wonder Spice )
80 -100ml Plain yoghurt

Mix all the above together and marinade for about 3-4 hours.
Preheat a pan with a little oil and fry the fish until done.
Season to taste and serve with Dahl (below).

This was my first attempt at making Dahl.

Pea Dahl

250g Pea Dahl
2 Large Onions sliced
1 Red Chilli chopped finely
2 Garlic Cloves chopped finely
1 Large ripe Tomato grated
10ml Sugar
25ml Vegetable Stock concentrate
15ml All in One Curry Powder
2 -3 Curry Leaves
Salt to taste

Cook the Pea Dhal in water until soft.
In a separate pan, braise the onions until soft and golden.
Add the rest of the ingredients and leave to cook down on a low heat, adding a little water if it starts getting too dry.
Once the Pea Dhal is soft, stir in the onion mix and leave to cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly and adding water if it gets dry.
Serve with the fish and steamed rice.

Italian Heaven

Football fever is all over my world, even though I had never watched a game before this month. I am now an expert and as most armchair players, I have opinions on every aspect, from team choices to coaching styles. I am so proud of Bafana Bafana, even though they lost, I think South Africa is the ultimate winner.

So the competition continues without us and I am turning my attention to the remaining teams. To honour a previous host country I made a traditional Italian dish, which will hopefully inspire them to play well in their last pool game and console them for their loss in the rugby last weekend (and the up coming rugby game on Saturday). If Italy don't win tomorrow, they'll too be going home with nothing other than the t-shirt!

Penne Ragu

1kg Beef Shin ( bone removed and meat cut into cubes)
750ml Tomato pasata
30ml Tomato paste
30ml Balsamic Vinegar
500ml Beef Stock
2 large Onions sliced
3 Bay leaves
15ml sugar
15ml Chopped fresh Thyme
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C
Fry the onions and the meat (in an pot which can be used in the oven too) until browned in a little olive oil.
Add the rest of the ingredients and allow to come to the boil.
Place the pot in the oven for 2-3 hours until the meat is very tender and the sauce has thickened.
Remove from the oven, check seasoning and adjust to taste.
Using a fork to shred the meat.
Cook the penne until al dente and mix with the meat sauce - serve.

South Africa in 2010 : Vetkoek

If you didn't know anything about South Africa before June this year you would have been excused, but since the start of the Fifa World Cup 2010 you certainly do not have any excuses. We might not have shown much promise on the field, but we have shown South African hospitality at it's best.

It doesn't matter to us which team you support, we welcome you and if you don't feel at home then it it entirely your loss. Those who could not travel here have been spoilt for choice in enjoying the best of our country in every way - from scenery (see below) to food.

 With many South African dishes, it is not only the meat that plays an important part of a dish, but what you serve it with. Some fine examples would be :

1. Wors (local sausage), this can be served with either with meiliemeal ("pap and wors") or a bread roll, which is then called a "borrie roll".  
2. Curry Mince, you can have it with rice (boring), in a hollowed out half loaf of bread (a bunny chow), in a roti / wrap (then it's called a salomi) or one of my favourites : VETKOEK (direct translation would be fat cake).

I made vetkoek this weekend. I didn't serve it with mince, but with my personal choice of home made peach jam and cheese.

It is really easy, all you need to do is make a batch of white bread dough, and allow it to rise until double in size. You can also use shop bought bread dough.
Then you heat up a pot of oil to about 180°C and deep fry balls of flattened dough (about the size and thickness of your palm), until they are browned and cooked through.
Serve hot with a topping of choice - honey or syrup work really well too.

Homemade Heaven: Little Treasures : Onions and Verlaque

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