Gram Flour Chips

Ingredients:
15ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing and deep-frying
5ml cumin seeds
15 fresh curry leaves
5ml ground turmeric
15ml finely minced ginger
½ green chilli, finely chopped
½ bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
200g gram flour or chickpea flour
600ml water
2ml salt
2ml freshly ground black pepper
5ml nigella seeds
30-50ml polenta meal

Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the spices, ginger, chilli and coriander and cook for a few minutes until aromatic.

Sift the gram flour into a bowl, then whisk in the water until smooth.

Pour the paste into the saucepan, add the salt and pepper and stir over a moderate heat with a wooden spoon or spatula for 10-12 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and comes away from the sides of the pan (the process is similar to making firm polenta, but the gram flour takes a little longer to thicken).

Grease a small oven tray and sprinkle with the nigella seeds and a little polenta. Pour over the gram flour mixture, cover with a piece of greaseproof and quickly flatten out the mixture. Chill in the fridge until the mixture has hardened.

Preheat a deep-fat fryer to180C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)

Carefully turn the hardened gram flour mixture out onto a chopping board and cut into chips. Dust the chips with polenta meal.

Deep-fry the chips for 2-3 minutes, or until golden-brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

Lemon Polenta Cake

This wonderful lemony concoction has an Italian-Spanish flavour to it

as it is made with polenta and almonds.

The combination of these two ingredients, which replace the use of flour,

give a desirable moistness to the cake that you don't get with flour.

Imagine what lemon curd tastes like in a cake...

This is the manifestation of your imagining.

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Ingredients:

For the cake:

200g soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing

200g caster sugar

200g ground almonds

100g fine polenta or yellow cornmeal

7.5ml baking powder

3 eggs

zest of two lemons

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For the Syrup:

juice of 2 lemons

125g icing sugar

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Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the base of an 8 inch round cake tin with baking paper and grease its sides lightly with butter.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and whipped.

Mix together the almonds, polenta and baking powder and beat a third of this into the butter and sugar mixture, followed by one egg. Add another third of the polenta mixture and then another egg. Repeat with the last of the polenta mixture and the last egg.

Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour your mixture into your cake tin.

Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Test that the cake is done by inserting a skewer in the centre - it should come out clean if the cake is done. Another way to see if the cake is done is that the edges of the sponge will have shrunk from the sides of the tin slightly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

Meanwhile, make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and the icing sugar in a small saucepan. Once the sugar has dissolved, the syrup is ready. Prick the top of the cake all over with a skewer and pour the warm syrup over the cake. Leave it to cool before removing from the tin.

Spicy Corn Bread

Corn bread goes great with the braai or barbecue.

It can be made a day ahead, but is nicer if it is fresh and warm.

Ingredients:
185ml self-raising flour
250ml cornmeal, polenta or mealiemeal
30ml sugar
5ml ground cumin
2ml chilli powder
about 80-85ml canned pimentoes, drained and chopped,
or 80-85ml chopped red italian sweet peppers
or 80-85ml chopped sun-dried tomatoes
60ml chopped fresh parsley
250ml plain yoghurt
1 egg, beaten
60ml vegetable oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease a 14x21cm loaf pan.
Combine flour, cornmeal (or mealie meal or polenta), sugar, cumin and chilli in a bowl.
Stir in the pimentos (or red pepper or sun-dried tomatoes), parsley, yoghurt, egg and oil.
Mix to a wet and sticky dough.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until well browned and firm.
Stand for 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool.

Salmon and Polenta Muffins

These are great served hot for breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients:
250ml cup polenta meal
125ml self-raising flour
30ml castor sugar
1 egg
250ml buttermilk
2 eggs, extra
125ml double cream
210g can salmon, drained and flaked
130g can corn kernels, drained
2ml paprika

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
Combine polenta meal, flour and sugar in a bowl.
Combine buttermilk and 1 egg in a jug and whisk.
Mix buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula.
Whisk extra eggs and double cream in another bowl until combined.
Stir in salmon, corn kernels and paprika.
Line a muffin pan with paper cases.
Spoon 1 tablespoonful of cornmeal mixture into each paper-case and top with 1 tablespoonful of salmon mixture.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until muffins are lightly browned.
Serve hot, or cool and cut open and fill with cream whipped with a pinch of paprika.