Red Freezer Masala

The secret to preparing Indian dishes that delight the palate, without a lot of fuss, lies in the masala, or masalas, you use. Any dish may use one, or two, or even three masalas.

The term, masala, is often thought to only refer to combinations of powdered spices, but this is far from the truth.

The science of making a good masala is not exact, but is governed by a few rules:

·         Ensure your spices are clean, free of sticks, leaves and dirt.

·         Never use pre-ground spices; fresh ingredients like garlic and ginger should be super-fresh, smooth and firm with crisp but tender flesh.

·         Test your masala soon after making it. Every batch of masala will be slightly different from the last, depending on your ingredients. The first dish you make will tell you if your masala is strong and hot or weak and too bland.

Prized for its bright colour and vivid aroma, Red Freezer Masala provides important ingredients and flavour required to make an excellent curry in a teaspoon or less. It is the “Master Masala” sometimes used in combination with other masalas. The secret to this masala lies in the quality of the chillies used to make it. I use the ubiquitous mature, red bird’s eye chilli, which provides ample heat and flavour, plus red chillies that have been dried from last season’s crop of red chillies.

When buying fresh chillies, select chillies that are as bright in colour as possible. To test for freshness, break the skin of the chilli lightly with your thumbnail, touch the fluid that seeps out with a finger and lick your finger. This should tell you the firmness and crispness of the chilli and if it has a punch of flavour required to make a good masala. A chilli that packs a good punch should also ‘smell’ hot.

Dried chillies, however, as very potent, provided, of course, they have been made from select, hot chillies. Select dried chillies that are whole, full of seeds and still hold a good colour.

Red Freezer Masala, a homemade masala, is one of the moist pastes that are frequently used. Homemade masalas are always superior to any found in a bottle in the store as you are able to choose your own quality ingredients. A little of this masala goes a long way. Although we now have wonderful machines like food processors and blenders that make producing masalas simple, these masalas have been made for donkey's years. In the past, before electronic technology, housewives made them the hard way using an ancient implement, the pestle and mortar.

Red Freezer Masala should be an even glistening, slightly dark red paste with a strong chilli aroma. This masala can be stored in an airtight container in the deep freeze for up to a year. Because of the masala’s salt and oil content, it never freezes completely solid and may be scooped straight from its container.

Ingredients:

30g garlic

60g root ginger

Water for soaking

50g dried red chillies

25g fresh red chillies

40g fresh green chillies

7.5ml lemon juice

30ml salt

30-45ml sunflower oil

Method:

Soak the garlic and ginger in water for 10 minutes to make the peeling easier. Take the stalks off the dried red chillies and place the chillies into a medium sized bowl filled with lukewarm water, immersing about three quarters of the chillies. Stir to wet them all. Soak for 15 minutes until soft. Remove the stalks from the fresh red and green chillies and soak in a separate bowl for 10 minutes.

Drain the garlic and ginger. Peel the garlic and scrape the ginger clean with a teaspoon. Rinse the ginger and remove any dark spots.

Drain the soaked dried chillies through a colander resting in a bowl to collect any spilled seeds. Return the seeds to the chillies. Drain the fresh chillies and slice into quarters. Mince all the chillies in a food processor to a coarse paste, first pulsing, then on high speed. Add the ginger and garlic and mice to a smooth paste, stirring once or twice to ensure everything gets minced.

Transfer the paste into a mixing bowl, pour in the lemon juice and stir well. Mix in the salt until dissolved and then add the oil, mixing well.

Store the paste in an airtight container in the freezer.

Brinjal and Courgette Chilli Bites

These chilli bites, also known as Bhajias or Pakoras, are simple to make and simply delicious as a snack or served as a vegetable dish with a curry. The aroma when cooking the vegetables in the oven is enough to draw crowds and it’s hard to wait for the little morsels to be fried in their batter. Golden and crispy, they crunch with every bite and everyone comes back for more.

Ingredients:

500g baby finger brinjals, stems removed and cut lengthways.

500g baby courgettes, topped and tailed and cut in half lengthways

*** If the brinjals or courgettes are longer than 3 inches, cut them into 2-3 inch lengths.

45-60ml olive oil (or sunflower oil)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Hanneica’s Steak and Chops seasoning

Cayenne pepper or red chilli powder

1 packet Chilli Bite Mix

Oil for frying

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Soak the brinjal in salted water for 20-30 minutes to remove any bitterness. Rinse and dry on absorbent kitchen paper or on a clean tea towel.

Place the brinjal with the prepared courgettes in a large mixing bowl and pour over the oil. Mix them around to ensure all the pieces are covered with oil. Spread the vegetables over a baking tray and season with sea salt and black pepper. Sprinkle over steak and chops seasoning and cayenne pepper or red chilli powder. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes; the vegetables will be just cooked, but not too golden. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile make up your chilli bite mix by adding sufficient water to create a batter of the consistency of pancake batter, whisking to ensure the batter is not lumpy. When the vegetables have cooled, add them to the batter and mix through gently so as not to break up the pieces. With a spoon, select pieces one by one and drop them in hot oil to fry. This will need to be done in batches; don’t be tempted to add to many at once as this will drop the temperature of the oil and the bhajias will sauté, rather than fry crispy. Once the chilli bites are golden and crispy, remove them from the oil to a plate lined with absorbent kitchen paper to drain. Repeat the frying with consecutive batches in the oil until all the vegetable pieces have been made into chilli bites.

Serve hot and crispy as a snack with a dipping sauce or chutney, or as a side dish to a curry.

Achar Masala

Achar masala - Indian pickle masala - A blend of aromatic spices roasted and blended together to make a rich and spicy masala that can be used to dress many vegetables to transform them into instant pickles.This Achar masala can be used to pickle mangoes, carrots, green beans, cabbage, or what ever vegetable you like to pickle. Achar masala should be dry and crumbly. Extra oil is added as required when making the pickle.

Ingredients :

125ml red hot chilli powder
2.5ml turmeric powder
125ml fenugreek (methi )seeds
12 black peppercorns
2.5ml mustard seeds
1ml asafetida
60ml salt
30ml olive oil, sunflower or peanut oil

2 red dried chillies

Method :

Dry roast the fenugreek seeds in a frying pan and dry grind them coarsely and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan, and add the mustard seeds,black peppercorns, red chillies and asafetida . Keep aside to cool slightly.(I f you add hot oil to chilli powder it will burn it and discolour)

To the ground fenugreek add the chilli powder and salt and turmeric mix well.

Add the warmed oil to the fenugreek mixture and mix well. Leave to cool.

Transfer the achar masala to sterilised jar and use as required. 

Potato Pakora

Thinly sliced potatoes, dipped in a batter and deep fried. 

These slices are crisp on the outside with a soft potato centre. 

A yummy Indian-style snack that you can expect your friends to compliment you on! 

This batter can be used to make onion rings or other vegetables like courgette (zucchini)  and brinjal (aubergine).

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, thinly sliced
125ml flour125ml + 15ml rice flour (rice powder)125ml + 15ml gram flour (chick pea flour)
A pinch of salt
A dash of white peeper
5ml of chilli flakes
375ml soda water, chilled (highly recommended to be chilled)
sunflower oil for deep frying

Chopped coriander to garnish
Method:

In a bowl mix the flour, gram flour, and rice flour. Add the soda water, salt, white pepper, and chilli flakes. Whisk just to obtain a batter. It should have the consistency of thick cream.

Heat the oil in a fryer to an adequate frying temperature. Test with a drop of batter; the batter should sizzle and begin to cook.

Dredge the potato slices in the batter one at a time and fry in batches until golden on both sides. 

Serve garnished with chopped coriander or with a spicy dipping sauce or chutney.

Potato Curry Aloo 65

Aloo 65 is an amazingly tasty and easy snack. The cooked potatoes are mixed with a spicy mixture consisting of ground coriander, red chilly powder & ginger garlic paste. It tastes lip-smacking, as the Indians would say, when hot & crunchy. Serves as an excellent starter snack and everybody loves!
This spicy potato mixture also makes a great filling for samoosas.
Prepare the mixture up to when it is fried, mix in some chopped green beans or baby peas and fill sammosas ready for frying. Yum!

Ingredients:

2-3 potatoes

7.5ml chilli powder

7.5ml ground coriander

5ml Garam masala

5ml ginger and garlic paste

30ml corn flour

30ml all purpose flour

200ml yoghurt

10ml chopped garlic

1-2 green chillies, split

a twig of curry leaves

sea salt to taste

Oil for frying

Method:

Wash and cook potatoes until it is three-fourth done. Allow to cool and peel off the skin. Chop the potato into fine bite-sized cubes.

In a mixing bowl, mix 5ml chilly powder, ground coriander and garam masala. Add ginger garlic paste, corn flour and all purpose flour. Season with salt and mix well.

Add yoghurt to the spice mixture and make a thick paste. Add finely cubed par boiled potato pieces. Mix well, so that the potato cubes are coated well with the marinade. Allow to rest for 5 mins. 

Heat oil in a fry pan. Add masala coated potato to hot oil. Fry to golden brown in medium flame. Drain  on kitchen paper towel. To prepare the gravy,  heat a wok with 30ml of oil. Add finely chopped garlic, split green chillies. Sauté for a minute. Add fresh curry leaves and toss. Add 125ml of yoghurt, the remaining chilly powder and season with salt. Allow the mixture to boil for a minute. Now add the golden fried potatoes to this. Keep the flame in low medium and stir gently. Once the gravy turns dry, turn off the flame. 

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves. Serve the potatoes hot with some tomato sauce or green chutney. Enjoy !

Indian-Spiced Fish Pie

Ingredients:

For the filling:
30ml sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, sliced
5ml fennel seeds
2.5ml black mustard seeds
600g firm white fish, such as kingklip
100g smoked fish, such as haddock or kippers
300g prawns, tailed
30ml shredded spinach
400ml cream
15ml fennel fronds
15ml chopped coriander leaves
2.5ml chilli flakes

For the topping:
2 large potatoes, parboiled and grated
30ml ghee
2.5 ml chopped chives
A pinch of chilli flakes

Method:
Heat the oven to 200°C.
Heat the oil and temper the spices until they are crackling. Add the onions and the leeks with a pinch of salt. Add the garlic and cook to allow the onions and leeks to sweat off and soften.

Scatter the spinach and the chilli flakes over the onions and then pour in the cream.

Add the fish and herbs and simmer gently until the fish is cooked through.

Remove from the heat, season and put the mixture in a casserole dish.

Heat the ghee in a frying pan and add the potato. Sauté for 5 minutes until the potatoes begin to crisp. Mix in the chives and chilli flakes.

Top the fish with the sautéed potatoes and place the pie under the grill for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
 

Yellow Cling Peaches and Onion Atchar

Delicious with mutton, cheese or chicken pie.

Ingredients:

3 kg yellow cling peaches - washed and cut into even sized segments

1 kg baby onions

30 ml coriander seeds

15 ml whole peppercorns

2 litres white vinegar

50 g cornflour (100 ml)

25 ml curry powder

10 ml turmeric

200 g white sugar (250 ml)

10 ml salt water

Method:

Boil the coriander, peppercorns and vinegar together.

Mix the cornflour, curry powder, turmeric  sugar, salt and enough water together to make a smooth paste.

Stir into the vinegar mixture and keep on stirring until the mixture is well dissolved.

Add the peaches and the onions and boil together for 10 minutes.

Spoon mixture into clean, dry sterilised jars and seal.

Makes ± 4 litres. 

Chicken Korma with Cashew Nuts

The word "korma" is derived from Urdu, one of the languages of India. "Korma" means "braise",and has its roots in the Mughlai cuisine of modern-day India and Pakistan. It is a characteristic Indian dish, which can be traced back to the 16th century and to the Mughal incursions into present-day Northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Classically, a korma is defined as a dish where meat or vegetables are braised with water or stock, and yoghurt added. The technique covers many different styles of korma. The flavour of a korma is based on a mixture of spices, including ground coriander and  cumin, combined with yoghurt added at the end of the cooking so as not to allow curdling. Traditionally, this would have been carried out in a pot set over a very low fire, with charcoal on the lid to provide all-round heat. A korma can be mildly spiced or fiery and may use chicken, lamb or game. Beef is not regularly used in India because the cow is sacred to the Hindus, but if you choose, beef can also be used to make korma.

Ingredients:
For the Curry:
50ml sunflower or peanut oil
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
550g boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces.
125ml water
Sea salt
3 small potatoes, cubed
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
115g plain yoghurt
60g roasted cashew nuts

For the Spice Paste:
30ml coriander powder
5ml ground fennel
2.5ml ground cumin
2.5ml turmeric
2.5ml ground chilli
a few twists of freshly ground black pepper
10 raw cashew nuts

Method:

Combine all the ingredients for the spice paste in a pestle and mortar with 50ml water and grind to a paste.

In a medium sized pot, heat the oil. Fry the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves for 1-2 minutes until the spices start to pop.

Add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add the spice paste and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes over a medium heat. Stir constantly so that the spices do not burn.

Add the chicken pieces and continue cooking foe another 4-5 minutes.

Pour in 125ml water, cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Season with sea salt to taste and add potatoes. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and stir in the yoghurt. Allow to simmer for about 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat and allow the Korma to rest for 10 minutes.

Before serving, sprinkle with cashew nuts.

Spinach and Paneer Koftas in Spiced Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Koftas:

250g grated paneer

2 large potatoes cooked, peeled and grated 

5cm piece of ginger, finely chopped 

3 small green chillies, finely chopped 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ajowain or carom seeds

100g spinach leaves finely shredded

Oil for deep frying

For the batter:

100g gram flour (chickpea flour)

1/2 tsp ajowain or carom seeds

75-100ml of water

1/2 tsp salt

For the sauce:

1kg of tomatoes cut into quarters

2 1/2cm piece of ginger, grated 

3 green cardamom pods

5 cloves

1 bay leaf

2 tsp chilli powder

1 heaped tsp dried fenugreek leaves

2 tbsp chilled butter, diced 

100ml single cream

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garam masala

A pinch of sugar

2 cloves garlic, chopped 

Method:

To make the koftas:

Add all the kofta ingredients except the oil and spinach in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon. Shape into little balls the size of golf balls.

To make the batter:

Put the gram flour, ajowain, salt in a separate bowl and make a well in the centre.

Gradually stir in the water until it becomes a smooth thick batter.

Spread the shredded spinach out onto a flat tray.

Dip the koftas into the batter and then roll them in the spinach to form a coating. Keep aside.

To make the sauce:

Put the tomatoes in a large saucepan. Cook and cover over a medium heat until they begin to soften.

Add the garlic, ginger, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf.

Bring to the boil. Simmer until the tomatoes completely disintegrate.

Remove and liquidise in a blender. Strain if necessary, pour into a clean saucepan.

Add the chilli powder and fenugreek leaves and simmer for ten minutes until slightly thickened.

Add the butter a little at a time stirring constantly. When the sauce turns glossy add the cream and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Season with salt, stir in the garam masala and add a pinch of sugar to bring out the flavours.

Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or a deep saucepan until hot.

Add the koftas and fry for 1 1/2 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the sauce.

Lamb in Pickling Spices

Ingredients:

500g lean lamb cut into 4-5cm cubes

1/2 tsp nigella seeds

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

A pinch of asafoetida

4 - 6 cloves crushed

5cm piece of grated ginger

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 tbsp jaggery, broken into small pieces

Juice of 1 lime

Fresh coriander to garnish

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

25ml of mustard oil

100g ghee

4 large onions, thinly sliced

4-6 whole dried red chillies, broken in half

6 whole cloves

3 black cardamom

4 green cardamom

Chapattis to serve

Method:

Boil the meat with salt and turmeric in only as much water that it should dry up when tender. If some liquid remains, drain and keep aside for later.

In a separate pan heat the mustard oil, when it begins to smoke add the clarified butter or ghee.

Fry the  sliced onions to a golden brown, remove and set aside. This will take around 15 minutes and be sure to continue stirring them to get an even golden brown.

In the same oil add the whole dried chillies and fry until they blacken, remove the pan from the heat and discard the chillies.

Bring the same oil to the heat once again, and add the cloves and both the cardamoms and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds, then add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel, nigella, fenugreek and asafoetida.

Once the seeds crackle and pop, add the garlic and ginger stir-fry for one minute then add the cooked meat along with the red chilli powder, jaggery and two thirds of the fried onions.

Stir-fry for a few minutes, add some of the leftover meat liquid or water to keep it moist and break the meat up a little with the spoon.

Add the lime juice with two tablespoons of water and simmer over a low heat until the liquid dries up and only the ghee remains.

Serve with hot chapatis and garnish with the remaining fried onions, and chopped fresh coriander.

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.

Onion and Spinach Chilli Bites

In the Uk, these are known as Onion Bhajis. In South Africa they are usually just referred to as Chilli Bites, but are also called Bhajias. There are all types, some just with vegetables, but some also with meat of some kind. Onion Bhajis are perhaps the simplest Chilli Bites to make, and probably the best know to the British diner.

Ingredients:
25g spinach
1/2 inch of root ginger, peeled
1 clove garlic
1 green chilli, deseeded
1 large white onion, cut in half and sliced
100ml gram flour
2ml ground coriander
2ml salt
2ml chilli powder
2ml turmeric

Method:

In a mini blender, blend the spinach, ginger, garlic and chilli with about 50ml water to a rough paste. Put all the rest of the ingredients into a bowl and add the paste. If necessary, add more water to form a thick batter.

In a wide frying pan, heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop in a nib of the mixture - it should sizzle to the surface quickly when the oil is hot enough. Reduce the heat and gently drop desert-spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil. Fry in batches until golden in colour, then remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.

When all the mixture has been fried, increase the heat and return the cooked chilli bites to the pan. Fry for a second time until crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oil, drain on kitchen paper and serve.