Braaied Spice Rubbed Pork Fillets with Chilli Peach Braai Sauce

It might be winter here now, but we never put our Weber away; it's used all year round. 

Pork fillet is a wonderful cut of pork to cook on the braai, especially done with a great sauce or spicy rub. 

The rub used for this grilled pork fillet is not a dry rub, but a paste in texture. It's robust in its combination of flavours, and goes well with a braai sauce such as a chilli-peach sauce with a sweet and spicy bite. 

Ingredients:
2 pork fillets

For the rub paste :
2.5ml chilli powder

2.5m mustard powder

2.5ml paprika

2.5ml cocoa powder
5ml salt

5ml onion powder
7.5ml garlic powder
5ml oregano

5ml chopped dried chillies
5-10ml lime or lemon juice
10ml olive oil
15ml brown sugar
a few turns of black pepper

Method:

Place all of the rub ingredients into a small mixing bowl. Mix to form the paste.

Rub on all sides of the pork fillet, then cover with plastic wrap, and place into the refrigerator. Marinate the fillet in the rub for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.

Remove from the fridge around 20 minutes prior to grilling to allow the meat to warm to room temperature. Seer the fillet over the hot coals of a prepared braai fire for 2 minutes on all 4 sides. Continue to cook on the widest sides for 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your fillet. 

Adjust the cooking time based on how thick the fillets are that you're cooking. The fillets pictured were approximately 6-7cm at their thickest. The general recommendation is to cook whole pork [not mince] to an internal temperature of at least 63-64°C. 

Brush on the grilling sauce during the last few minutes of cooking to char slightly.

Rest loosely covered with aluminium foil for about 5 minutes before carving. Serve with chilli-peach braai sauce or your favourite sauce.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Chilli Peach Braai Sauce

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet onion, diced
60g butter
4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 large peach, peeled and diced
1 x 410g tomato purée
325ml peach nectar
1 x 175g can tomato paste
180ml molasses
125ml apple cider vinegar
125ml brown sugar
30ml Dijon mustard
30ml honey
3 red chillies, roughly chopped
5ml white pepper
5ml sea salt
5ml ground cumin
2.5ml powdered pickling chilli mix
2.5ml cayenne pepper

2.5ml paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
In a medium size stove top saucepan, heat the butter together with the onions over medium-high heat. Cook until the onions are translucent. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Next, add the garlic and diced peach. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes to cook the garlic.

Lower the heat and add the peach nectar, tomato purée, tomato paste, molasses, honey, Dijon mustard, red chillies, brown sugar and all of the spices and seasoning. Stir well and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour to allow the sauce to thicken and reduce.

Using a stick blender, purée until smooth. If you don't have a stick blender, puréeing the sauce can be done in a liquidiser.

Use immediately or store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

Yield: approximately 4 cups.

Jalapeno Ribs

These ribs are unique because of the spicy rub and the combination of sweet brown sugar and spicy jalapeno peppers in the sauce. If you are pressed for time on the day you want to eat ribs, bake them ahead of time and prepare the sauce a day ahead and refrigerate them until required, then they can be grilled as described below until heated through and nicely glazed. These are great for the Braai or Barbecue. 

Ingredients for the Rub:
20ml brown sugar
5ml sea salt
5ml paprika
5ml pepper
1ml garlic powder

1.5 kg pork spareribs

Jalapeno Sauce:
300ml tomato purée
200ml chicken stock made with 2 stock cubes
150ml packed brown sugar
80ml lemon juice
60ml Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

Method:

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the rub and apply to both sides of the ribs, rubbing all over. Place the ribs, meat side up, on a rack in a foil-lined roasting pan. Bake at 220°C for 90-105 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine sauce ingredients and simmer, uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Grill the ribs, uncivered, over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until browned, basting with sauce and turning several times. Reheat the remaining sauce and serve with the ribs.

Butter Bean, Tomato and Red Onion Salad

Serve this salad with toasted pitta bread for a fresh summer lunch, or as an accompaniment to meat cooked on the braai or barbecue.

To make a variation add a 200g tin of tuna. Drain and flake the tuna and stir into the bean salad. For extra colour and flavour, stir in a handful of pitted black olives and a handful of chopped fresh parsley or a teaspoonful of capers and a couple of gherkins, chopped or sliced.

To make a wholesome version of the Italian salad, Panzanella, tear half a loaf of ciabatta into bit size pieces and stir into the salad. Leave to stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Ingredients:

2 x 400g cans butter beans, rinsed and drained

4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 red onion, finely sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

45ml herb infused olive oil

Method:

Mix together the beans, tomatoes and onions in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the oil.

Cover the bowl with cling wrap and chill for 20 minutes before serving.

Carrot and Nut Salad

This salad is a real family favourite. 

My daughter, in particular, raves about it 

because it's so healthy 

and fits in with her weight management diet. 

It's truly well worth making, 

especially for a girly get together 

or for a summer picnic, braai or barbecue.

Ingredients:

4 medium or 3 large carrots, grated

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

1-2 inches slice fresh pineapple, peeled and diced finely

125ml macadamia nuts

125ml seedless raisins

Zest of 1 orange

45ml fresh orange juice, or juice of one orange

5ml Dijon mustard

Poppy seeds or Sesame seeds to garnish

Method:

Mix together the grated carrots, chopped celery, sliced onions, diced pineapple, macadamia nuts, raisins and orange zest in a salad bowl.

In a small mason jar, make the dressing. Shake together the orange juice and mustard and pour over the salad. Toss to coat all the salad with dressing. Garnish with Poppy seeds or sesame seeds and serve.

Texas-Style Barbeque Chicken with Carrot and Red Cabbage Slaw

Texas-Style Barbeque Chicken 

with Carrot and Red Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

4 chicken quarters, skinned

For the Texas Dry Rub

15ml sea salt

15ml paprika

15ml golden caster sugar

15ml dry mustard powder

Zest of 1 lemon

2.5ml cayenne pepper

5ml freshly ground black pepper

6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

For the Slaw

½ cucumber, cut into julienne strips

1 large carrot, coarsely grated

¼ red cabbage, finely shredded

50ml red wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Mix together the dry rub in a bowl. Rub over the chicken and leave for at least an hour, or preferably overnight in the fridge.

Combine the salad ingredients in a bowl. Season and toss together to mix well.

Cook the chicken on the barbeque, braai or under a medium-hot grill for 10-12 minutes on each side, or until cooked through – when pierced with a skewer the juices should run clear.

Serve with the prepared slaw.

All-Weather Barbecue Chicken

All-Weather Barbecue Chicken

Ingredients:

4 large chicken legs with skin on

75ml tomato sauce

15g soft brown sugar

50ml clear honey

Juice of half a lemon

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Slash through the skin of each chicken leg across the bone and arrange the legs in a large roasting tin. Roast for 30 minutes. Pour off any excess fat from the roasting tin.

Whisk together the tomato sauce, sugar, honey, lemon juice and garlic. Brush the mixture over the chicken and cook for a further 25 minutes, basting a couple of times with the cooking juices until the chicken pieces begin to caramelise.

Check that the chicken is cooked through – the juices should run clear when the thickest part of the leg is pierced with a skewer. Serve immediately.

Braaied Spareribs

For a long time I battled with spareribs on the braai, or even grilling them in the oven, for that matter. They were always either under-cooked, a definite no-no with pork, or the sauce was burned, making them bitter and unpleasant. Then I saw this way of doing them, I think on a TV programme and I couldn’t wait to try them. Making sticky spareribs like this just couldn’t be easier now I know how to get them juicy and delicious.

The ribs can be cooked the day before you need them if you are short of time on the day of feasting. The sauce can also be prepared ahead of time; for the sake of convenience I make up a jar of sauce a day or two before I need it and keep it ready in the fridge. I have seen some recipes that just mix everything together for the sauce, but this sauce definitely needs to be boiled to bring it together. It’s definitely a basting sauce, not a dipping sauce. If you boil the sauce for too long and it becomes thick and gloopy, simply add water, mix it and boil it up to blend again. The sauce should still be a little runny when cold.

Ingredients:

2 large racks of pork spareribs

For the sauce:

125ml brown sugar

60ml tomato sauce

60ml sherry

60ml sweet chilli sauce, more if you like it spicy

60ml olive oil

30ml soy sauce

30ml Worcestershire sauce

10ml chopped garlic

10ml Dijon mustard

1 chicken stock cube

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Cut the spareribs into serving portions and steam them in a steamer for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how tender you would like them. I have done them for only 20-25 minutes and they have been OK,  but just a little too chewy. I prefer them tender, almost falling off the bones.

Once the ribs are sufficiently steamed, wrap in aluminium foil and store in the fridge if you are not grilling them straight away.

To make the sauce:

In a medium saucepan, mix together the sauce ingredients and bring them to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

To Grill the Ribs:

Prepare you braai with charcoal at least 4 inches below the cooking grid. Allow the charcoal to burn until it is the required heat for cooking steak. Brush the cooking grid with sunflower oil before putting the ribs on. This helps to prevent them sticking to the grid. Place the ribs over the fire and baste them with sauce repeatedly as they cook. Turn each piece of ribs often so as to prevent the sauce from burning. Each time you turn, baste the top side of the meat. You will need to cook the ribs about 25-30 minutes before they are done.

To serve, cut down between each bone to separate them into holdable pieces. These are definitely for eating with the hands. Lay the ribs on a large platter, place it in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves as they eat.

Clockwise from top right, Mealie bread, sweet and sour carrot salad,
Braaied Spareribs, Honey and Garlic Chicken wings,
Green salad, Braai roasted potatoes.

Lamb Kofta with Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
For sauce:
1 cup plain yoghurt, preferably whole-milk
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Sea salt

For kofta:

2 slices firm white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
500g ground lamb
1 small red onion, grated
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
15ml baharat spice blend
15ml chilli flakes
10ml sea salt

Optional accompaniment:
16 soft lettuce leaves for wrapping

Special equipment:
16x10-inch-long wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Charcoal or gas grill
Method:
For the sauce:

Stir yoghurt together with garlic and salt to taste in a small bowl.

For the kofta:
Cover bread with water in a small bowl and let soak for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a charcoal or gas grill: If using a charcoal grill, open vents in bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Fire is hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for just 1 to 2 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat on high, covered, for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderately high.

Squeeze bread to remove as much moisture as possible. Put in a large bowl, add remaining ingredients, and mix with your hands until thoroughly blended. 

Divide lamb mixture into 16 portions and form each into a ball. Roll each ball into a 7- to 8-inch-long cigar, rolling it first between your hands and then on a work surface (be sure the kofta are uniformly thin for even cooking.) Slide a skewer lengthwise through centre of each kofta.

Oil grill rack and grill kofta, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, loosely covered with foil, and serve warm with yoghurt sauce, wrapping them in lettuce leaves, if using.

Cheesy Braai Pie

Ingredients:
2 rolls of puff pastry, defrosted
15ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 Italian sweet red pepper, finely chopped
400g chicken fillet, cut into thin strips (as for stir fry)
250g streaky bacon chopped into bits
1 packet Thick White Onion Soup
1 bunch of Swiss chard (or spinach), washed, removed from the thick stems and roughly chopped
50g button mushrooms, sliced (optional... before using please check that there isn't anyone who is allergic to mushrooms)
200g Mozzarella or Cheddar cheese, grated
1 round of Feta cheese (about 50-60g), crumbled
1 egg, lightly whisked

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and red pepper over a medium heat until they are soft. Add the chicken strips and brown them before adding the bacon. Fry until the bacon is cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Prepare a cool braai with an elevated grid.

Brush the braai grid with a wire brush to remove any charred deposits, then brush the grid with vegetable oil.

Unroll a roll of pastry onto a pastry board. Place a layer of spinach over the pastry and top with the prepared chicken mixture. Sprinkle the White Onion Soup powder over this. Add a layer of mushrooms, if using. Top everything with grated cheese and finish the layering with spinach. Place the second roll of pastry on top. Seal the edges of the pastry as if making a pie. Lightly brush with egg wash. With a small sharp knife, make a few slits in the top pastry to allow steam to escape.

 Slide the pie onto the braai grid and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, turning the pie over half way through the cooking so that both sides are cooked through.

Cooks Note

If you only have a small braai, this pie could be made in small individual portions by cutting the pastry sheet into 4-8 rectangles, thus making smaller pies that can be put around the outside of the braai to cook while you are doing braaied vegetables or braai roasties.

Pineapple Chicken Kebabs

These are great done on the braai, 

or if cooking inside, 

in a cast iron ridged skillet pan.

Kebab Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
250-500g bacon
1 can of pineapple chunks
Vegetables (mushrooms, onions and peppers or others you may wish to use)

*Note: The amount of bacon and pineapple is not clearly defined in the ingredients because it just depends on how much you want to use. Alternate this way: chicken wrapped in bacon, pineapple, chicken, pineapple, chicken wrapped in bacon, etc.

Marinade Ingredients:
50ml. coconut aminos (or soysauce if these are not available)
50ml apple cider vinegar
30ml. raw honey
30ml. olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed

Method:
Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes.
Combine coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, honey, oil and garlic in a small bowl and blend well.
Put chicken (and vegetables, if marinating) into dish and pour marinade over top of the chicken. Stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Cut bacon strips in half so you have shorter lengths to work with.
Wrap chicken chunks in bacon and put skewer through both bacon and chicken so bacon is secure. Alternate with pineapple chunks and veggies, as desired.
Braai or grill for 10 minutes. Use tongs to turn kebabs over and cook another 10-15 minutes or until chicken juices are clear and bacon is crispy.

Braai Grilled Onions

These savoury onions are great to grill during the last 15 minutes while cooking your meat. They go well with almost all cuts of meat.

Ingredients:

4 medium onions, topped and tailed and skins removed

30ml Worcestershire sauce

30ml balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

30ml soy sauce

30ml olive oil

1-2ml dried tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Cut each onion in half lengthwise and place the halves in a shallow, flat container. Beat the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, tarragon and oil together and pour this mixture over the onions. Allow them to marinade at room temperature for about 1 hour, basting occasionally.

To cook, arrange the onions around the edges of the grid. Cook until the onions are tender and brown, basting occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. These cook best on a covered grill, but may also be done on an open fire. Once done, remove the onions to a serving dish and season with salt and pepper.

Easy Barbecued Roasties

If you have never thought to do roast potatoes on the braai or barbecue, give it a try.

These are just amazing!

They take about an hour to do, so they will need to go on long before your meat, unless you are doing a large chunk of meat for a roast, with which they make a great accompaniment, but we like them with any chargrilled offering....

Ingredients:
6-8 potatoes, peeled and quartered
60ml boiling water
60ml olive oil
60ml butter, melted
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2ml turmeric
2ml paprika

Method:
Prepare a direct fire, if you are doing steaks, chops or chicken pieces, or an indirect fire if you are cooking a roast on the barbecue.

Par boil the potatoes in salted water for about 10 minutes and drain. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer in a cast iron pan or in an aluminium foil drip pan.

Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the potatoes; toss to coat all the potatoes well. Cook over the drip pan until you put your meat on, then move to the side of the fire while you cook your meat if you are using an indirect fire. If you are using a direct fire put the tray of potatoes on the side of the fire for about an hour; the potatoes will absorb all the liquid and will be puffed, crispy and golden brown.

Cooks Tip:

Using a Kettle Braai or Barbecue...

There are two different ways to cook over a braai, especially if you are using a kettle braai, which has a lid or cover - what we call a 'Weber', the favourite Braai in South Africa, which is also available in the UK.

The method you select will depend on the type of food to be cooked. As a rule of thumb, place the most emphasis on the type of meat you are going to be cooking - vegetables usually cook just as well on both methods of cooking, but many meats benefit from what is called the 'indirect' method of cooking over coals, especially if you are preparing large pieces of meat, such as roasts, hams, whole chickens, duck or turkeys. It is also the best method for cooking fatty meats, such as ribs, park rashers and duck breasts.

When using the indirect method, food is cooked by reflected heat, not directly over the coals. Hot coals are positioned at either side of the fire bed and a drip pan is placed between the two beds of coals. the food is placed on the grid over the drip pan. food cooks slower than by direct heat. Because there are no coals directly under the food, flare-ups and smoke are minimised.

The second method id the 'direct' method. This is suitable for cooking steaks, hamburgers, chops, sausages, kebabs and most vegetables. A direct fire requires the hot coals to be spread over the fire bed and food is placed directly above the hot coals. Food to be cooked by this method may be placed in an open or covered Weber.

'Open' or 'covered' are the further two options, which the kettle braai permits - to cover or not to cover.... Open grilling is probably the method of choice for cuts of meat that are no more than 6-7cm thick, such as fish fillets, vegetables, steaks or chops. These will probably cook in 10-12 minutes, before excess charring occurs on the outside.

Most foods cook more evenly on a closed braai. Very thick steaks, roasts, chickens, chunky vegetables or large whole fish need to cook slower in order to cook through. the covered barbecue will also keep the food from drying out while cooking and fatty foods that may cause flare-ups, or foods with oily marinades or sauces will cook better if covered.

Gingered Chicken on the Braai or Barbecue

Summertime ... and the living is easy...

I love summer because it's a time you can get outdoors and enjoy fresh air....

Or it's supposed to be.

Even if we are having a bit of a wet spell, my hubby and I try to make the best of it; perhaps we are becoming a bit British - we stand in the rain to cook over the Weber if we are forced to by this inclement weather we are having this year. One moment it's sunshine and the next the wet stuff is coming out of the sky again, just when we have put the meat on the fire! Ah well, that's life...

Chicken isn't something that a lot of people think to put on the braai or barbecue, but we love it and I have a few tips for you as to how to do it. If you put the chicken over hot coals to cook, especially if you have used a marinade or sauce, it's likely to burn before it cooks. No one enjoys burnt but uncooked offerings! The thing to do is to partially cook it in the microwave first. This will ensure that the flesh is cooked thoroughly but not charred on the outside. I don't choose to use the oven for par cooking because this could dry the chicken out before it is transferred to the hot coals and then you don't get so much of the lovely smoky flavour from the charcoal. I recommend marinating chicken before barbecuing; it helps to 'cook' the meat before the application of heat and keeps the chicken moist while it completes its cooking.

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs or breasts
60ml olive oil
1 bunch spring onions, chopped - including the green parts
Juice squeezed from 40ml grated fresh ginger
200ml light soy sauce
30ml brown sugar
20ml sesame oil
3 ml black pepper

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat on the hob and sweat the spring onions for a few minutes. Add the juice from the grated ginger and discard the pulp. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and pepper to the onions and pour over the chicken in a microwavable marinating container. Stand for at least 30 minutes, but leaving it to marinade for 2-3 hours is even better.

Meanwhile, prepare a direct fire - one in which the coals are spread evenly under the grid. When the fire is almost ready, transfer the chicken to the microwave, still in its marinade, and microwave on 70% for 8-9 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and transfer to the barbecue to grill directly over the hot coals. Turn frequently for 10-15 minutes, basting often with the liquids from the remaining marinade.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments.

Steak and Baked Potatoes with Chilli and Garlic Cream Sauce

Now that we are into July, we are also into the full swing of summer with wonderful warm days and long balmy evening. What better way to enjoy these amazing days and extended evenings than to take out the Weber and have a braai. - or barbecue for those of you who are not aversed with South African English...

So many people seem to think that a braai or barbecue is just for sausages, burgers or kebabs, but not in our household; we like to have steaks, chops, even roasts.

I concocted this steak dish to utilise a chutney I bought at a food fair that was held in Ellesmere not so long ago, and even if I say so myself, it turned out divine!

The chutney came from Heather's Harvest, a one-woman home-production outfit in Shrewsbury, UK - not so very far from where we live.

Ingredients: Serves 2

2 large baking potatoes
2 sirloin steaks
steak and chop seasoning

For the Sauce:
30ml olive oil
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
5-10ml chilli and garlic chutney - Heather's Harvest
...... depending on how hot you like it
50ml soured cream
50ml double cream
10ml sugar
5ml Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:
Parboil the potatoes in their skins for about 10 minutes until just beginning to soften, then warp in foil and put on the prepared charcoal fire for about 15-20 minutes, turning from time to time.

Season the steaks on both sides with Steak and Chop Seasoning and grill over a prepared charcoal fire until done to your specifications. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

To prepare the sauce, put the onion, garlic and chutney into a mini-blender and blend to a smooth paste. In a small saucepan over a medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the prepared paste. Cook gently until a wonderful aroma arises and the paste begins to become translucent. Add the soured cream and blend into the mixture in the pan, followed by the double cream, stirring gently all the time. Mix in the sugar, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently to amalgamate the flavours.

When ready to serve, remove the potatoes from the foil, cut across the top and push the potatoes on the sides to expose the soft flaky flesh. Place a potato and a steak on each plate and cover them with the thick, creamy sauce - and enjoy!

Chicken Tikka Masala

When we came to the UK, we found that curries were given some strange names here, 'Chicken Tikka' being one of them. Not wanting to appear ignorant, I asked a Hindu friend back in Durban what a tikka was. When she indicated her forehead, I was totally nonplussed. I thought she was indicating brains, and I wasn't into eating chicken brains; they are too small to be of any significance and who wants to eat brains? Not me, that's for sure!

When she figured that I was asking her about food she laughed and explained: A tikka is the mark worn on the forehead by a Hindu married woman and, simply translated, it is a 'piece'. But when referring to food, it is pieces of meat. So a chicken tikka masala, I surmised, is pieces of chicken in a spiced paste or masala - well that's a curry isn't it? So why the fancy name?

With a bit more investigating I found that this description - pieces of chicken in a spiced paste - needed more elaboration: small cubes of chicken marinated in a yoghurt spice mix, then threaded on skewers and grilled over coals, or more particularly in a tandoor oven. Well, in my book, that's called 'Tandoori Murgh'. However, it seems this is still not quite what the dish has evolved into here in Britain, perhaps because it's not so easy to live an outdoor lifestyle in a cold, wet and miserable place like the UK is.

The first time we went to an 'Indian' in England - by that I refer to the British way of speaking about eating in an Indian restaurant - I decided I had to order Chicken Tikka, more out of curiosity than anything else. I was sorely disappointed though as what I was served I would have called a simple yoghurt-chicken curry - chicken pieces in a yoghurt-curry sauce - no skewers, no grilling, just big chunks of chicken in sauce! Go figure!

To cut a long story short, it appears that everyone has their own idea of what 'Chicken Tikka', supposedly the nation's favourite curry, should be. So I thought the best way to tackle it was to share a few recipes under their relevant names and you can make up your mind how to make a

'Chicken Tikka Masala'

Charga or South African Chicken Tikka (Chicken Braai)

Ingredients:
2 whole chickens
15ml chilli powder
5ml chopped ginger
5ml chopped garlic
15ml green pawpaw pulp (unripe papaya)
30ml yoghurt
salt to taste

Method:
Cut each chicken into four portions and make cuts across, but not through the thicker parts of the meat. Smear well with chilli powder, ginger, garlic and salt. Allow to marinade for 34 hours.

Two hours before cooking, mix yoghurt, green pawpaw pulp and lemon juice and smear over the chicken. Leave to marinade. Cook under the grill, on a cast iron grill, or best of all, on a braai.


Tandoori Murgh

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
30ml oil
30ml melted ghee
1 green chilli, chopped fine
5ml ginger, chopped
5ml garlic, chopped
5ml salt
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
2ml ground white pepper
30ml single cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 pineapple cut into 6 wedges

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C.

Butterfly the chicken. Mix the oil and ghee together. Make a paste of the spices with cream, lemon juice and about 15ml oil/ghee mixture to make it sticky. Smear this paste over the chicken and allow it to marinate for 2-3 hours.

Place the marinated chicken in a deep-lidded roasting pan and bake covered in the oven for half an hour. Remove the lid and place the pan directly under the grill. Pour 15ml oil/ghee mixture over the chicken at 5 minute intervals until the chicken juices have evaporated and the chicken is cooked through. To check that the chicken is done, cut between a leg and breast; there should be no pinkness and any running juices should be clear.

Place wedges of pineapple around the chicken and braise under the grill for a few more minutes, removing before the pineapple looses colour. Serve immediately.


Makhan Murgh or Butter Chicken

Ingredients:
For the Tikka Marinade:
15-20ml lemon juice
100-120ml Greek yoghurt
2-3 cloves of garlic, made into a paste
1 inch root ginger, grated
2ml red chilli powder or tandoori masala
2-3ml paprika
10ml ground cumin
15ml vegetable oil
5ml salt

For the chicken curry:
6 deboned, skinless chicken thighs, cut across, but not right through the thicker parts of the meat.
2 inches root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
30ml vegetable oil
80-100g butter
2 black cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
8 green cardamom pods
1 inch piece of cassia bark
500g tomatoes, pureed
15ml tomato paste
2-4 small green chillies, whole but pierced
80-100ml single cream
10ml sugar
1-2ml red chilli powder or tandoori masala
5ml paprika
5ml garam masala
chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade, add the chicken and leave in the fridge to marinate for 3-4 hours, or overnight if possible. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

In a mini blender, blitz together the ginger and garlic for the curry, using a little water to make a paste. Meanwhile heat the oil and half the butter in a large non-stick saucepan. Add the whole spices and, once they start to sizzle, add the ginger and garlic paste and cook until the moisture has evaporated and the garlic odour is mellow and it looks grainy.

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste to the pan and cook down for about 20 minutes until the resulting paste releases oil. Reduce the heat and brown the paste for 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. The paste should darken considerably. Pour in 250ml of water and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pass the paste through a sieve, pressing the pulp to extract as much liquid as possible from the tomatoes and spices. Discard the solids and set the liquid aside.

Heat the oven to 240C, with the grill on as well if possible. Place the chicken in a foil lined tray on the uppermost level of the oven and cook for 8 minutes or until slightly charred. Remove from the oven. Cut the meat into large chunks.

Heat the remaining butter and add the green chillies, the prepared sauce, some salt and a good splash of water and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Mix in the cream, sugar, chilli powder, paprika and garam masala. Add the chicken to finish the cooking. Simmer, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is lovely and creamy. If the sauce starts to get dry, add a splash of water and mix in. Test for seasoning. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle over with the chopped coriander leaves.


Chicken Tikka Pineapple Skewers with Masala Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Marinade:

750g chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch cubes
3ml turmeric
juice of half a lime
100g Greek yoghurt
2ml garam masala
5ml ginger, grated
5ml garlic grated
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
5ml red chilli powder
10ml tomato paste
20-25ml vegetable oil

For the Skewers:

wooden skewers, soaked in water
5-6 x 1cm slices pineapple cut into quarters
50ml light brown granulated sugar
3ml red chilli powder
2ml garam masala

For the masala sauce:

2ml ground cumin
15ml butter
2 inch piece root ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 x 1cm slices of pineapple, shredded
15-20ml chopped fresh coriander

Method:

To make the marinade, Put the chicken cubes in a bowl and mix in the turmeric and lime juice, blending well. Set aside for about 30 minutes. Mix the remaining ingredients for the marinade with the chicken and season with sea salt. Cover the bowl with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours, overnight if possible.

Preheat the grill with the door shut to make it as hot as possible. Mix together the sugar, red chilli pepper and garam masala and sprinkle this over the pineapple pieces. Thread the chicken cubes on the prepared skewers, putting a piece of pineapple between each cube. Lightly grease a baking sheet and lay the chicken skewers on it, leaving space between each skewer. Grill until you have charring on the edges of the chicken and the sugar on the pineapple is caramelising - about 4-6 minutes. Make sure the chicken does not overcook or the chicken will be too dry. Remove, cover with foil and set aside in a warm place wile you make the masala sauce.

Heat a large frying pan and add the ground cumin and butter, moving the spice through the melting butter all the time so as to not let it burn. When the butter begins to froth, stir in the ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry until the garlic changes colour. Stir in the chopped onion and fry until soft. Add the shredded pineapple and stir into the onion. When the pineapple softens into the onion, add the chopped coriander, season to taste and serve with the chicken skewers.

Fruit and Vegetables in May

As summer approaches, long warm days tempt us outdoors for braais, barbecues and picnics. May is a good month for veggie-lover. It's the first month to provide new and welcome produce for the year. There are two undisputed May champions: asparagus and new potatoes, particularly Jersey Royals. Both asparagus and new potatoes, which rank among the worlds great delicacies, may be expensive early in the season, but they are worth every penny for their unique flavour. Later in the month as they become more abundant their price comes down.

Asparagus should be bought, if possible, from a good supplier on the day of picking and eaten on the same day for the best results. Their hard, bright spears lose some of their lustre after even a day in the fridge. If you do buy more than you can eat in one day, keep them loosely wrapped in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. any less than perfect asparagus can be used in things like soups. pies and risottos.

When buying asparagus - or 'sparrow grass' as it was originally called - look closely at the individual spears and squeeze them if you can; they should be rock hard, like any good vegetable, with no sign of wrinkles, and a spear, when held by the end and shaken, should not be flexible enough to bend. The root-ends may be white, where sunlight was kept from them as they were hidden in the soil, but if there is too much white you will loose too much when trimming. The green tops of the spears should be really green, with no hints of the yellow or brown that indicates they are less than fresh. When you get the asparagus home, wash it well to remove any sand or grit that may still be attached to it.

Jersey Royals have a creamy texture and complex flavour that are have no equal and range in size from barely more then an olive to larger than an egg. Squeeze them between thumb and forefinger to check for freshness; if they dent at all, they are far from fresh, but don't be alarmed if the skin appears to be falling off; this is normal for this type of potato. Prepare them by washing only; they do not need to be peeled as the skins have flavour and nutrients. If they are gritty, soak them in warm water to clean them. Boil them whole or slice and saute them for delicious hot accompaniments to a main course or for cold salads.

While new potatoes and asparagus are the stars of May, it is also a good month for a lot of other vegetables as it's the beginning of summer where dining is concerned. Look out for the first sweet and tender broad beans that will be appearing now; it's worth the extra work to shell and skin them before serving, but the small fresh baby broad beans may not even need to be skinned.

Other interesting vegetables this month include spring greens, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, and towards the end of the month the first of the British grown garden peas should appear. Peas should be eaten as soon after picking as possible as their sweetness and succulence begin to wain soon after picking, so don't be persuaded to buy the Spanish imports: they have come so far and it may be days since they were picked before they grace your table. Coming into the stores should be baby leeks, which are great for steaming or stir-frying. British baby spinach will also become available this month, ideal for salads as well as cooking. Watercress will also be available to add crunch to salads and stir-frys. Spring cabbage varieties, will also be gracing the shelves this month. Radishes will begin to appear to grace your salads with bite and heat.

Apart from rhubarb, most fruits available this month are imported. May is a good month for mangoes and pineapples as well as the ubiquitous banana.

Fish Braai

On a day like today it's wonderful to be able to get outside in the sunshine and enjoy some time in the garden around the braai. As it's Good Friday, tradition holds that we should eat fish, which is becoming ever more popular to cook over the coals. Many different fish can be done on the braai - or barbecue. The results are juicy, tender and really delicious, but be careful not to overcook fish; it cooks quickly and continues cooking for a short while after taking off the fire. Fish should be handled gently, cooked till translucent and flaking easily when tested with a fork. It's also a good idea to oil the grid before putting the fish on it and to turn the fish with a large oiled spatula. If the fish breaks up easily when cooked, wrap it in tin foil to cook - this makes it easier to turn over as well.

When purchasing fish, look for clear, bulging eyes, shiny elastic skin and clear red gills. The fish should have a clean, fresh smell. The best fish to do on the braai are whole fish. Ask your fishmonger to butterfly it - that is too remove the bones - fish are easier to cook and serve with no bones. You can remove the head, or leave it on; it's your choice.

Char-Baked Whole Fish


Ingredients:
1 x 2kg whole fish - black bream, trout, mackerel, bass, pollack, whiting and red or grey mullet
45ml coriander, basil or mint
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
10ml curry powder
2ml cumin seeds, crushed
5ml paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
45-50ml lemon juice
60ml olive oil

Method:
Cut slashes in the sides of the fish through the skin. Season on the inside and over the skin.
Using a mini blender, blend the coriander, onion and garlic to form a paste. Add this paste to the remaining ingredients and combine well.
Rub this mixture onto both sides of the fish, making sure you get some into the slashes made through the skin. Allow to marinade for about an hour.
Place the fish directly on the braai grid over medium coals. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes, turning half way through the cooking time.

Herbed Fish Steaks

Ingredients:
4 fish steaks - cod, tuna or other large firm fish
45ml olive oil
10ml dried thyme
5ml fresh dill, chopped
10ml fresh parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
30ml butter, melted

Method:
Rub the fish with the olive oil, then sprinkle evenly on both sides with the herbs. Allow to marinate for about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the fish with sea salt and cook over medium coals for about 3 minutes. Tunr the fish and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Brush with melted butter and season with freshly ground black pepper just before serving.

Stokbrood

Stokbrood, or stick bread in English, are strips of bread dough wound around green sticks and cooked on the braai grid over the coals. They are always popular with the children. Sticks can be cut from bushes in the garden or in the veld – just make sure the bushes you take the sticks from are not poisonous, like oleander, for example. Usually sticks with bark need to have the bark removed or the bread will cook firmly onto the stick. You could also use doweling rods, but these will need to be soaked in water so that they do not burn.

Ingredients:

200ml water

1 litre basic bread ready-mix

Method:

Mix the ingredients together to make a dough and knead until elastic. Break off a piece of dough and roll it into a thin sausage. Wrap the sausage around a stick and braai it over moderate coals for 20 minutes, turning from time to time to brown all the way around.

Potbrood

Potbrood is a bread loaf baked in a flat bottomed cast iron pot over open coals of a braai – pot bread. This bread is a regular accompaniment to a braai or barbecue, baked over a part of the braai where the coals are not too hot.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

325ml buttermilk

2 litres basic bread ready-mix

Method:

Beat together the eggs and buttermilk. Add to the basic bread ready-mix in a large bowl and mix to a dough. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and place it in a greased, flat bottomed cast iron pot, leaving room around the sides of the dough ball for expansion. Place the pot with the lid on among moderate coals, putting a few coals on top of the lid. Bake the loaf for about 45 minutes. To test for readiness, knock on the top of the loaf – it should sound hollow.

Roosterkoek

These are little roasted bread rolls cooked over open coals on the braai.

Ingredients:

1 litre Basic bread ready-mix

2 eggs

150ml water

Method:

Place the basic bread ready-mix in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and water and add to the mix, mixing well. Knead into a firm, elastic dough. Roll the dough out to a rectangle of about 12 x 8 inches. Cut the rectangle down the middle lengthwise, then across twice to give 6 small flat bread rolls. These can be braaied on a grid over low coals for about 20 minutes, turning over half way through the cooking.