Roasted Eggplant with Special Miso Sauce

The thing about #SpecialMisoSauce* is that it is rich and dark and almost overwhelming in its deep flavours, so it is perfect for dishes in which you want the sort of umami that things like fish sauce or anchovies usually provide. Not that it tastes the same but it does have that same affinity for certain ingredients.

And we all know just how well miso pairs with eggplant anyway – it is a classic combination in the miso-loving parts of the world. So in this dish we brought together eggplants and the Special Miso Sauce for wonderful results and a very simple dish.

*Click on the hashtag link to see where to get the recipe.

This is a lovely mash of potatoes and sweet potatoes, and it can be made with either just potatoes or just sweet potatoes. It is simple to make once they are cooked – the mash is mixed with chilli, onion and spices. Delicious.

It is a Podimas – a peeled and mashed vegetable, tempered with spices, green chillies and onion. Podimas means "mash" in Tamil. It is a traditional type of Poriyal.

White Bean, Basil, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Turmeric Spread

You know we like our spreads and dips, especially classic Italian ones. These days, on the #NaturopathPrescribedDiet I serve them on rice crackers. The Pure Harvest ones with quinoa are one of my favourites. We keep the cupboard well stocked with a variety of them.

This spread is a simple recipe that purees beans seasoned with olive oil, garlic, turmeric, lemon juice and fresh basil, and can be made mostly out of cupboard ingredients.

It is divine in flavour and texture, with a multitude of uses. We made it a lot during Covid lockdowns when it was difficult to get fresh ingredients. So we substituted a lot. Parsley for basil, or coriander, or chives. I have even used rocket and baby spinach. Or simply left the basil out. It is so versatile.

We often add sun-dried tomatoes and fennel seeds - it is a fabulous idea that came out of #Moosewood by #MollyKatzen – we've adopted this combo and use it in all sorts of things now.

Fried Upma with Ricotta

Upma is a delicious breakfast dish and snack from South India, made from rava. Rava (also called Rawa, Sooji, Suji or Upma grain) is a semolina product that is cooked with spices and sometimes finely chopped vegetables for a stunningly delicious dish.

#Ottolenghi, in his book #PlentyMore takes his version of Upma and allows it to set before pan frying wedges. It is a delicious way to use Upma and a great use of left-overs. Rather than use his recipe, I cook Upma in a more traditional South Indian way, using his method to pan fry it, then serve it with either seasoned yoghurt or ricotta.

Rava, like semolina, is a granulated wheat flour that has a grainy texture to it. There are two types available, a fine-grained version and a coarser-grained one that is better for making Upma. In general, sooji will have a finer grain than rava.

I cook Upma until it is thick and holds shape. One variation has a looser consistency but if making the fried upma, it is best to cook it until quite thick.

As an aside and just for your information if you are interested: There are many different types of rava, perhaps thousands of regional variations. Some of the variations are because different wheats are used. Eg Bansi Rava, also known as samba wheat, is a very fine powdered flour unlike the more coarsely granulated Rava. It is made from a variety of wheat called samba godumai that has a long body and slightly sharp edges on both sides.

Another famous Rava is Bombay Rava which has a very coarse texture that is a little bigger than regular Rava. It is made from whole wheat grains of mottai godumai wheat.

There is another type, chamba rava, which is a by-product of wheat flour. Semolina, on the other hand, is always made from Duram wheat.

Kuzhambu is made daily in Tamil households, and has hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties. It is basically a spicy broth that can but might not include vegetables and it is spooned or poured over rice as it is eaten.

This Kuzhambu (pic) is one that is tamarind based and is strongly flavoured with curry leaves. There are many different recipes for this dish – you can search for them as 'curry leaf kuzhambu' or as 'Karuveppilai Kuzhambu'. This one looks good: https://rakskitchen.net/karuveppilai-kuzhambu-recipe-curry-leaves-kuzhambu/ I use the recipe from #Dakshin - it is a little simpler than the one at the link. You might like to check it out if you have that book.

Apricots are another fruit with both sweet and savoury uses. They are best home-grown - shop-bought ones have terrible flavour and texture. Home grown are out of this world.

With their fresh fruity flavour they add a lightness and great colour contrast to salads and fruit salads. They bake and poach well and pair surprisingly well with vegetables like okra.

Dried apricots also have numerous applications in the kitchen, either pureed or soaked and cooked.

We keep store-bought apricots for cooked dishes. When we have the delight of a gift of home-grown apricots, they are eaten as-is and in salads.

I am a fan of artichoke hearts, and use them particularly in Summer salads. Although they can be roasted, sauteed, gratineed, used to top pizza and turned into a dip, our uses are primarily in salads.

19 février 2014 - Il y a 11 ans jour pour jour, j’ai atterri de nouveau à Kyiv pour couvrir les derniers jours de la révolution ukrainienne. J’ai retrouvé la Sotnia que je suivais un mois plus tôt et j’ai passé la soirée sur les dernières barricades au milieu de la place.

Et puis ma carte mémoire de travail a lâché. Depuis, impossible de la monter pour la lire. Il me fallait donc trouver une boîte qui puisse extraire la puce mémoire et la lire et voir si les photos étaient toujours là, sans que ça me coûte un rein ou l’âme de mon premier né.

J’ai fini par trouver, et j’ai fini par envoyer la carte et oui, elles étaient bien là.
Je pensais en avoir perdu 300 ; près du double ont été retrouvées. Je les avais quasi toutes oubliées.

Les roses dans les cocktails molotov, les visages harassés, Ihor et Sasha, la main sur le cœur, l’infirmerie et Ihor le Sotnik, blessé, son pistolet dans un holster...

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Looking for a nice cuppa chai? Try this. Make it as sweet as you like. White sugar is ok if you don't have the others.

Clove, Cinnamon and Cardamom Chai (CCC Chai)

Simmer 1 tspn cloves, 8cm cinnamon sticks and 1 tspn cardamom pods in 0.5 cup water with 2 cups milk for several minutes. Add 1 tspn black tea and 2 – 3 tspn jaggery or brown sugar and continue to simmer for another 3 or 4 minutes. Strain and serve.