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Leila Ally Eshana Suleman

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Ingredients

250g Butter1 cup Taystee Wheat or Semolina1 litre Milk1 extra large egg1 tin condensed milk2 tablespoons desiccated coconut (optional)1 teaspoon elachi powder (freshly ground)1 cinnamon stick1 teaspoon egg yellow or pinch saffron2 tablespoons sultanas (optional)1 tin Nestles CreamAlmonds and pistachios (slivered)

Method:

In a large bowl whisk together the milk and egg. Melt butter in a pot on medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick and taystee wheat and stir continuously until it turns a pinkish colour. Remove from stove. Add the sultanas, coconut and milk/egg mix-ture, whisking to prevent lumps forming. Now place the pot on low heat whisking continuously. When the milk heats up and it starts to thicken, remove from stove and add the condensed milk, elachi powder and saffron/egg yellow Place on stove again and allow to thicken further.Preheat your oven to 180C and place pot (covered) in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. It must be soft and sticky (not grainy) when done. Garnish with Nestles cream, and slivered almonds/pistachios I promise you, this recipe is superb!

PS: Using freshly ground elachi powder makes a huge difference! Simply toast the elachi seeds in a frying pan, cool and crush with a rolling pin.

Even though it seems the recipe has too much butter, believe me it is necessary. As long as you follow the recipe using the exact amounts, you

will have perfectly soft and delicious soji

SojiQuick and Easy (serves 6)

Ingredients

1 1/2 L milk1/3 cup of rice of choice1 tablespoons slivered almonds2 tablespoons coconut1 teaspoon ground elachi1 tin condensed milk1 tin Nestl creamFew strands saffron

Method

Soak rice in cold water for about 30 min-utes. Bring milk to boil and add rice. Lower heat and simmer slowly till rice is cooked and mixture has a consistancy of a thin porridge. Add the almonds, coconut,saffron,condensed milk and Nestl cream. Serve hot. Although some prefer it chilled.

Kheer

Ingredients

5 meduim potatoes ( cut into circles or diced)1 green pepper diced2 tablespoons oil1/4 teaspoon jeera seeds1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds1/4 teaspoon tal (sesame seeds)1 teaspoon of each: salt, tumeric powder, red chillie powder, dhania/jeera powder.

Method

Braise jeera, mustard seeds, and tal( sesame seeds) in oil. Add the potatoes, green peppers and spices with a 1/4 cup of water. Steam on meduim heat till done.

Aloo Fry

Ingredients

2 cups rice of choice, 1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder (arad)1 cup oil dhal2 cloves1 cinnamon stick4 black peppercorns2 teaspoons salt5 cups water

Method

Soak the oil dhal in cold water for about an hour. Wash well. Boil water, add the oil dhal, boil for 15 minutes. Wash rice and add with the other ingredients to the oil dhal and boil. Test the grain of rice. When there is a hint of kernel, drain and rinse well. Place the rice back into the pot, and add 1 cup of water and add a green chillie. Steam until done. Saut a little onion with ghee and pour over the rice. Serve with Khuri.

Khitchri

Ingredients

500 ml Inkomasi or Greek yoghurt1 Tablespoon chana flour*1 small onion *1 teaspoon salt*1 small bunch green dhania *2 green chillies *1 tablespoon coconut *1 teaspoon crushed garlic *1 tablespoon ghee1 teaspoon fresh ginger *1 teaspoon dhania powder*1 cinnamon stick4 cloves6 black peppercorns1/4 teaspoon methi (fenugreek) seeds1/2 teaspoon jeera seedsCurry leaves

Method

Liquidise together all ingredients marked with an asterix. In a pot, add the ghee and the rest of tbe ingredients, and saut. Add the sour milk mixture and allow to boil, stirring constantly to avoid curdling. Serve with Khitchri.

This dish can be served with a host of side dishes Aloo fry, fried brinjal, bhinda(okra), chicken or mince curry, fish curry or fried fish,tin fish chutney and steak chutney and a green chutney completes the meal.

Khuri

Ingredients:

350g mutton or chicken (cubed, preferably on bone)1 teaspoon ginger/garlic2 teaspoons dhunia/jeera powder3 teaspoons chilli powder1 teaspoon turmeric powderSalt to tast1/2 teaspoon whole jeera seeds1 teaspoon gharum masala2 pieces cinnamon sticks3 whole elachi3 whole cloves teaspoon crushed black pepper cup cooking oil1 large onion (sliced) cup chopped or grated tomatoesOR 1 sachet tomato paste1 bunch dhunia (chopped)A few sprigs curry leaves1 bunch shallot (spring onions) chopped1 cups oil dhal or pea dhal cup whole or split masoor dhal1 tablespoon chana (gram) dhal cup whole moongh dhal

Method:

Wash and drain lentils (dhals) and boil in salted water in a pressure cooker until completely soft. Use a stick blender to make smoother.

Braise onion in oil together with whole jeera

seeds. Add meat and all spices and whole seeds. Allow spices to fry on low heat until you get the aroma of the fried spices and it starts to catch at the bottom of the pot. Now add tomatoes and allow to cook a further 10 to 12 minutes, until tomatoes softened and cooked through. If us-ing paste, cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Now add the cooked dhals and some boiling water (if too thick) and allow to simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour (stirring often to prevent scorching). Add gharum masala, greens and va-gaar

VAGAAR:

3 tablespoons ghee or butter1 small onion (sliced)2 whole green chillies (Slit)1 teaspoon whole jeera seeds1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Method:

Fry onions and jeera until golden brown, add garlic and chillies. Fry further 1 minute and add to pot together with greens and gharum masala.

Serve with braised rice and salads. Boil 2 to 3 ta-blespoons chana (gram) dhal in water until soft but still whole (not mushy). Boil rice in salted water. Drain. Add boiled chana dhal. Toss well. Fry 1 medium onion in 3 tablespoons butter un-til golden brown and toss over rice.

Dhal Gosht

Ingredients: Filling

4 to 5 medium potatoes (peeled and chopped into cubes)1 medium onion (finely sliced)1 teaspoon garlic (finely ground) teaspoon whole mustard seeds teaspoon whole jeera seedsSalt to taste1 sprig curry leaves bunch dhunia (washed and finely chopped)2 green chillies (finely chopped teaspoon turmeric powder1 teaspoon red crushed chillies 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Ingredients: Dough2 cups Wheat Flour teaspoon fine salt1 tablespoons butter ghee / cooking oilWater to make dough (room temperature)

Method: FillingHeat the cooking oil in a pot. Add mustard and jeera seeds. When it starts popping, add the finely chopped onions and braise until softened and golden brown. Add ground gar-lic, curry leaves potato and spices (not green chillies and dhunia) Add a little water to al-low the potatoes to cook. When potatoes are cooked through, remove the curry leaves and crush the potatoes with a potato masher un-til smooth, then add the finely chopped green chillies and dhunia. (Please make sure these are finely chopped or they will cut through the dough when rolling). Make sure there are no potato lumps as this will cause problems when rolling

Method: Dough

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the salt and rub in the ghee/oil. Make a soft, pliable dough with the water. Wrap in some lightly oiled cling

wrap and set aside for an hour.

Method: Rolling

There are 2 ways that this can be done I pre-fer method 2

Method 1: Divide the dough into 4 equal por-tions. Roll each out to about 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Place a large lump of filling in the centre and bring the sides together around the filling, twisting and pinching the dough togeth-er on the top, ensuring that the dough encloses all the filling and there are no gaps. Flatten this on a floured surface and gently roll out. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Method 2: Divide the dough in 8 pieces. Roll each out into a circle (4 to 5 inches in diam-eter). Place a large lump of filling in the cen-tre, spreading the filling to within 1 inch of the sides. Now place the 2nd roti over this. Gently fold the sides over (about 1cm of dough around the sides), sealing the edges. Roll out to about 6 inches in diameter.

Cooking process: Preheat a griddle/skillet/tawa on medium heat. Lightly grease and add the paratha. Cook until golden brown, dab lightly with ghee, turn over and cook the other side until golden brown as well.

PS: Make sure the griddle is on medium heat because if the heat is too low, the parathas will be stiff and if it is too hot, it will burn.Serve with yoghurt, Chillie sauce or mango/lemon pickle.

This is my take on Aloo Paratha (South African Style). The traditional method is to boil the potatoes, then add spices and finely chopped onion to the boiled, mashed potato. I prefer doing it the following way:

Aloo Paratha (makes 4)