Southern Fried Cauliflower

I do somewhat seem to attract people who think they are in influential and powerful positions and somehow I should bow down to them because they think they can make things happen.  When truth is they have very little power and abuse it.  I'd even go down as saying, perhaps there is an element of class and racism coming into play as well, but its hard to tell when people hide behind a fascade of being people led, when really its a few dominant people really in charge who are pulling their puppet strings. The problem people have with me is, I don't tolerate this nonsense and confront them, and tell them as I experience it - then they are clever and are able to twist things, so it appears that I am the one with the issue, but then I learn from others like me - that they have also been treated the same way. This cannot continue. 

Anyway, onto something really delicious.  I have only ever had  KFC once in my life, it was in my early teens.  My father took us out on a day trip to Birmingham and we ate out.  This was a big deal for as we rarely ate out, my mother is a fantastic home cook you see.  

I remember only ever liking the spicy batter, even then I disliked the eating meat.  

D has had KFC or the equivalent from his time in the US. He said the batter was spot and the cauliflower worked well in place of chicken.  I have mentioned before, my husband only ever eats fish and seafood now and even then, that's quite rare as I don't make it at home. So he was really delighted with this change of flavourful lunch. Of course, he dipped his in blue cheese with some pickled gherkins - apparently that is the way to eat it. 

Just a word of warning, when deep frying the cauliflower - your hot oil will turn red from the paprika.  

Assorted Vegetable Tempura

I've made tempura before, many times - but the one and only time it has featured on my blog was in my first proper year of blogging 2009.  I like to try recipes from cookbooks on my shelf, but there are some books I return to more than others.  

I had originally planned to make peixinhos da horta which I saw Sarah Beattie tweet and found in her cookbook Meat Free Any Day , but after eating out at a vegan Japanese restaurant in Shrewsbury recently, D made me change my mind as he wanted us to make the most of the vegetables we had in the house, as well as those coming from the garden and suggested tempura instead,  so I plucked for her tempura recipe instead.  Sarah's tempura is made with asparagus, mine are made with  Assorted vegetables.

From the garden we have: green beans and courgettes, the yellow and green variety; and from the vegetable basket: cauliflower, red onion and some mild green chilies known as Padron.  

Delicious.

Since I was gifted Meat Free Any Day it is one of my most thumbed and well used cookbooks as it features food that you really want to eat and can easily make at home.  

I wrote about Sarah Beattie and her cookbooks before, so if you are interested please see here, as well as some of the recipes I made from the cookbook including:
Leek and Brie Rostiflette
Parsnip Tamarind Curry
Tandoori Butterflied Aubergine
Winter Vegetable Tagine   

And now I have Tempura to share. Please do check out Sarah Beatties Facebook Page too.

I am sharing this Beth's Weekend Cooking.  Gosh its been a while since I joined in.  This week it is being hosted by Deb who blogs over at Kahakai Kitchen.

Homemade Vegan Corn Dogs - Yes Corndogs

Drum roll please....

Here are some awesome homemade vegan Corn Dogs.

I had seen vegan corn dogs a couple of years back on a fellow bloggers blog and was mighty curious about them. I had thought it was literally sweetcorn deep fried in batter, then told it was a hot dog sausage covered in golden corn batter and then deep fried.  Very popular in parts of America. 

I have been waiting for an excuse to make them and a little while back when I had a full house of guests the opportunity to make these vegan Corn Dogs were presented to me. had not int

I do have have a deep fat fryer, I do but i don't cook in it often to merit it taking up valuable space in the kitchen.  So made these vegan corn dogs in a deep wide pan, three at a time .  My guests all stood around me and watched me in amazement as I made these vegan corn dogs and took pictures.   

These pictures belong to them, as my hands were busy. 

Vegan Corn Dog drowning in  yellow cornmeal batter

I was pleasantly pleased with the result as well as the fact, that they tasted delicious.  D wants me to make them again, and I have vowed to but I need 4 more people in the house to justify it.  Do you want to be my guest?!  

vegan Corn Dogs sizzling in the hot oil

I am sharing these with Inheritance Recipes co hosted by Solange at Pebble Soup and Coffee and Vanilla as the vegan Corn Dogs will be made every time I have a particular crowd of friends over.

Other Vegan Corn Dog recipesVegan Crunchy Corn Dogs from VegSpinz
Baked Corn Dogs from Go Vegan Meow

World Vegan Day: Burmese Yellow Split Pea Samosa Soup

Oh can it be true? Yes indeed!  Two of my favourite dishes on one big bowl: South Asian style spicy Dal and deep fried triangles of delicious Samosa.

Today it is World Vegan Day and the start of Vegan Mofo.   I have no set theme for the month of November, so I will probably follow some of the Vegan Mofo themes and prompts. The theme today is what is your favourite food?  I am of South Asian heritage and very fond of my Dals and deep fried snacks including the pakora aka onion bhaji.  I consider both these dishes to be comfort food in my eyes, so you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across the recipe a few years back. 

Inspired by a Burmese Samusa Thouk they had at San Francisco's Burma Superstar  in 2007, the food blogger NCJay went back home and re-created a version.  And guess what Samusa Thouk is still featured today at the Burma Superstar restaurant.   Burma Superstar assert that it remains one of their most popular soups for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.  Well I don't think I will be travelling from Wales, United Kingdom to San Francisco anytime soon, so I am pleased this recipe was recreated in their home so that I could enjoy it in my home here in the Welsh valleys and shared with my readers as well as those of you visiting my blog for the first time through Vegan Mofo on World Vegan Day.

I think this Burmese Yellow Split Pea Dal is perfect to share on World Vegan Day as its very different from those dals you find in South Asian homes and eateries.  It contains an added ingredient in the form of shredded white cabbage.  Most Indian style dals are just made with the lentil and spices and then simmered slowly to be transformed into something quite simple, yet delicious.

The Samosa drowning in the Yellow Split Pea Dal Soup acts like a crusty bread roll or croutons.  This combination may sound a bit unusual, but it makes sense to me as my family do eat samosa this way but its with salad and a raita and then crushed into those components into a spoonful of messy deliciousness.  I won't fib, the samosa's are homemade, but not by me.  My sister in law sometimes makes me a batch that I put in the freezer and shallow fry at home when snack attacks, but feel free to make your own or even buy from a good South Asian take-away. I also loved the sharp tangy undertones of the tamarind that was soothing on my throat. 

Even though the Burmese Yellow Split Pea Soup was tad too spicy for me, I loved it.  We had it over the weekend when the Welsh weather outside turned a little nippy.  My original thoughts were this would be like a starter, but to be truthful - we were both way to full the rest of the evening to eat anymore, other than grazing on some left over Birthday cake.  Once again Happy World Vegan Day.


I am sharing the Burmese Yellow Split Pea Soup with Inheritance Recipes co hosted by Solange at Pebble Soup and Coffee and Vanilla as this recipe combines two dishes from my heritage: Dal and Samosa.  

I am also sharing it with  Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen; Sneaky Veg, Hijacked by Twins for CookBlog Share; My Legume Love Affair that was started by The Well Seasoned Cook and now administed by Lisa's Kitchen.  this month is is hosted by Briciole; Honest Mum for Brilliant Blog Posts; and finally Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition.

Panko Crusted Beetroot Croquettes

I don't know why I don't make potato croquettes more often.  Not only do they harp back to my teenage days; as a couple we seem to devour them in no time at all.  

I do however like to enhance them further though with the addition of different herbs and/or vegetables. Sometimes with cauliflower, sometimes broccoli, other times carrots or shredded kale, but this time round it was with beetroot.

I actually made these Panko crusted Beetroot Croquettes last month.  The recipe is based on my Beetroot Croquettes.  I like to mix the vegetables with my bare hands so it is proper combined, no white potato bits, but if the beetroot dying your hands bothers you, then please do use a wooden spoon. These croquettes can easily be reheated in the oven or microwave (though the crisp crumbed exterior will soften), and take away some of the pleasure of eating. 

Serve hot or warm, when the coating is still crispy and crunchy, and the beetroot filling warm.  

Smoked Paprika Red Kidney Bean Schnitzels

I bookmarked this Red Kidney Bean Schnitzel recipe immediately when I saw it in October on The Veg Hogs blog.  I have been meaning to make it for months, but I did not always have all the ingredients to hand, namely the semolina and dried sage.  

Finally I got some semolina, (Thanks to my mother who tends to keep semolina for her Halwa recipes) and decided to make it over the weekend.

These golden vegan schnitzels were proper crunchy on the outside.  I loved it.  After my teeth had bit through the crisp exterior, came the smoky spicy soft inside, delightful.  I served these schnitzels simply with a light rocket salad and a red tomato chutney; or like D you could just dollop a bit of brown sauce next to it.   

I followed the recipe pretty much as it was, but as I have signed up for Veganuary for the month of January, I omitted the egg.  To be quite honest, the beany mixture was quite pliable that it did not necessarily warrant egg as a binder.  The second change I made, I wanted to use Japanese panko breadcrumbs that have been staring at me, every time I went over to one of the kitchen cupboards, but please feel free to use additional semolina as suggested by the Veg Hog, or even fresh breadcrumbs, made with stale bread.  Whichever way you decide to coat it, these are delicious morsels to snack on any time of day.  

Thank you Veg Hog for sharing the recipe with us. And please, please dear readers do go by and check her blog -The Veg Hog, I have found her blog space utterly refreshing, down to earth, homely, honest and unpretentious. I am also sharing this bookmarked recipe with Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes for January's edition of Bookmarked Recipes.

Black Rice and Butternut Squash Savoury Fritters

I am pretty pleased with myself, missing only four days of blogging for Vegan Mofo 2013 two days of which have been the weekend.  Will you forgive me if I told you it was because I had my own vegan/vegetarian food stall at a Food & Craft Market yesterday?!

Anyway, I've enjoyed participating in Vegan Mofo 2013.  As a vegetarian, its not been that hard for me to cook vegan meals at home.  It has been harder to eat out though, there are not that many places in Wales, United Kingdom that offer imaginative vegetarian or vegan dishes, hence the reason all my post have been about home cooking.   

Well for my last post for Vegan Mofo, I thought I'd share a dish I made some time last week.  Its Black Rice and Butternut Squash Savoury Fritters.  

Leafy Beetroot Bites

I know in the very near future I will be harvesting my own homegrown beetroot, but right now I must say I am fortunate to find beetroot with its vibrant leaves still in tact.  This beetroot comes from just across the Welsh border.  Chances are if you are purchasing from a supermarket these will be lopped off.  A shame, as beetroot leafy tops are edible and full of beta carotene, calcium and iron, which is great in salads or cooked simply like Swiss chard or spinach. 

Early this afternoon, I went a a step further and decided to shred some of the leafy tops and add them to my beetroot batter for deep frying. 

These beetroot bites are a bit like pakoras aka bhajis made with potatoes and spinach, but these do not have much in the way of spices. Feel free to add cumin, coriander and chilli if you so wish. Today I just wanted to let the beetroot flavour shine here. And they were most welcome, dipped in soured cream as nibbles. 

I know its not Friday, but with the Queen's Jubilee, lots of families are getting together for the long weekend.  So I am sharing some of these deep red morsels with Family Friendly Fridays.    June's edition of Family Friendly Fridays is being hosted by Solange over at Pebble Soup on behalf of Ren over at Fabulicious Food.  This recipe is also linked to Just Another Meatless Monday hosted by What's for Dinner Mom? and Jill at Real Food Forager who is hosting Fat Tuesday 5th June 2012. 

Beetroot  Bites
You will need a deep fat fryer for this recipe
Ingredients
200g raw beetroot, peeled and coarsely grated
50 g beetroot leaves (or spinach), washed and finely sliced
1 small onion, finely sliced
Optional: 2 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander (or parsley)
Salt and pepper to taste
100g gram flour
Method
Mix the beetroot, beetroot leaves, onion and herb together. Season, then mix in the gram flour to combine. Cover and refrigerate for  30 minutes to an hour.
Stir again, heat oil.  Drop a a few tablespoons of the beetroot batter into the oil and fry in batches until golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.  Serve immediately.

Tofu 'Fish', Chips and Mushy Peas

This Great British Pub grub has been given the veg(etari)an culinary makeover.

All that is missing from this plate is a generous dolloping of bright red sauce.

For those of you who have been reading my blog a while, will note that I am a greasy fingered girl.  I like my deep fried snacks, especially chips, pakoras aka bhaji's and samosas.  When I told D I was going to be making Battered Tofu 'Fish' and Mushy Peas, he snugged his nose.  Not so much at the idea of the Battered Tofu 'fish', (though his preference is bread crumbed) but the mushy peas.  For some reason, he has never been keen on mushy peas - not sure if its the processed flavour or its luminous green colouring. Mushy peas like the ones I've made here are traditionally made from dried marrow fat peas.

If your lucky to be near a Chinese Wholesaler, you can find soya fish, Soya fish fillets, soya squid and soya scallops from Chinese wholesalers. I actually did see some Soya 'fish' (head, fins and tail) at SeeWoo, Glasgow a few month ago when I picked up the vegetarian 'prawns' and wonton wrappers.  Momentarily, I had considered purchasing a packet of a soya 'fish', but it was mighty for me to wolf down alone and D wasn't keen on sharing.  I wish I had done so now, as I may not find Soya 'fish' when I move down South.  Also there are not many places in the U.K that make 'Fish' and chips suitable for vegetarians or vegans.  In fact, I know of only one place, a company called Something Fishy: Purveyors of fine quality soya meat and seaweed that do so.

Anyway, here I have used firm tofu and my fish biscuit/cookie cutter to mimic the shape of a fish.  If you can't find a fish shaped cutter, just slice the tofu and make 'fish fingers' and then coat it in a batter. If I had the patience I would have wrapped my tofu 'fish' in some dried seaweed to give it the smell, if not the taste of the sea.

Wild Garlic Pakora

Oh I couldn't resist, I just had to have some deep fried goodness.  Here are some in the form of Wild Garlic Pakora aka Bhaji's - golden-green, crisp and crunchy.

I know the wild garlic star like flower heads are very pretty, but I found myself covering some with batter and then deep frying them.  I liked how the delicate crispness of the wild garlic flower heads shattered between my teeth.

If you don't try any other Wild Garlic recipe on my blog, please try this one. I think you will like it.

Wild Garlic Pakora or Bhajis
Serves a crowd
Ingredients
1 medium onion, cut in half then thinly sliced
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
60g – 80g wild garlic, washed, blanched and then chopped
120g – 180g chickpea flour
1½ - 2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 – 2 green chillies, minced
1 generous teaspoon cumin seeds
Salt to taste

Water to combine
Vegetable oil to deep fry
Method
Put all the ingredients (except for the water and oil) and mix together. Then add enough water to bind, you want to achieve a free form dropping consistency.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  I like to let the mixture sit for 30 minutes or so for the flavour to mingle.

Heat the oil in a large pan or deep fat fryer, drop a couple of large tablespoons of batter gently into the hot oil, cook on one side for a couple of minutes until crispy and then turn over until the other side is crisp and golden too. Drain on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.  Continue cooking this way, until all the pakora mix is used. Eat immediately, while fresh and crispy.

Gobi Fritters with Carrot Salsa

Instead of having what some people do on a Friday night in Scotland - Fish Supper - we've had Gobi fritters and Beetroot-mint tea cakes. Many of you will be familiar with the word Gobi, its the Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi word for 'cauliflower' and I have to say they were very nice too. The Gobi fritters were lightly spiced. I'd go as far as describing them as cauliflower popcorn, as the bite size pieces were perfect to pick and eat with your fingers.

I accompanied the Gobi fritters and Beetroot-mint tea cakes with a light and refreshing carrot salsa. I really enjoyed the carrot salsa. It was sweet, spicy and herby. I will be making it again, perhaps to serve with some tortilla chips.
Those of you keen on the Beetroot -mint tea cakes will note that I have not posted the recipe, I promise to do so tomorrow.
Carrot salsa
Makes a large bowl
Ingredients
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1 small red onion, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons Jalapeño from a jar, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, minced
Method
Mix all the ingredients together in a dishing dish. Chill for an hour before serving. Adapted from 'Tis the Season.
Gobi Fritters
Ingredients
1 small cauliflower
For the spiced batter
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoons black mustard seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
100g chickpea flour, sifted
Enough water to combine
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Method
For the batter
Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, then pour in enough water to combine and whisk gently. Season with salt and set aside for flavours to mingle.
Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower. Rinse the cauliflower under water and then chop into bite sized florets.
Heat oil in a deep pan.
Add some of the cauliflower into the batter and coat well, then carefully place them in the hot oil in batches. Turning them now and again, so that they are browned and crisp all over. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon onto a kitchen paper. If you are not serving them immediately, they will keep warm in the oven on low heat for a little while, but they are best eaten immediately.

Kohlrabi fritters or kohlrabi pakoras

Kohlrabi, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is a German turnip. The word comes from the German kohl (cabbage) and Rübe ~ rabi meaning turnip. You would think it is a root vegetable like a turnip but it has more in common with a cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, as it is a member of the Brassica family. Kohlrabi has a stout bulbous shape which is caused by the swelling of plant’s stem near the ground.

Last year, a fellow vegetable grower at the allotment gave D and me a couple of kohlrabi’s. He had only been growing them as an experiment and had no intentions of eating them. Knowing the D and me liked (most of ) our vegetables, he was happy to donate them to us. I was glad to take them off his hands, as the ones I had grown, (sorry planted) had been ravaged by the slugs prematurely. With them, I made a huge amount of kohlrabi slaw. It was a nice change from the crisp crunch of cabbage, almost like a delicate mooli (white radish).
This year, at home I have sown three Kohlrabi plants all tucked under the scarlet runner bean poles. It is an amazing vegetable to look at, especially if you grow it yourself, I have enjoyed watching them plump up and then unexpectedly spurt all those multi-directional stems. Unfortunately if you purchase kohlrabi from the supermarket, grocers or even the farmers market, these are usually lopped off. Shame as the leaves are edible, but I won’t get to enjoy the leaves this time either, as the slugs have got to them before me or was it those dastardly white cabbage butterfly and her caterpillars.

Anyway, instead of making a variation on kohlrabi coleslaw, this time I wanted to do something different. I came across two recipes that nearly tempted me: Grandpa’s kohlrabi and chard lasagne and these handsome savoury Kohlrabi Cakes from Matthew of Muffin Tin Mania, but I decided I wanted something a little more comforting and dare I say it, a little greasy. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, my love for things deep fried food (in moderation of course) is recorded on this blog. This recipe is a cross between courgette fritters and onion and spinach pakoras aka bhajis.

It’s also a great excuse to get me into the mood of going to my parents for a long weekend. Oh I haven’t told you all. I am taking a few days off blogging to visit the Mango family in Wales; and then we are off on holiday to France for a week. I may get to check your comments when in Wales, but when I'm in France I will officially be on Blog break too. So this may be my last food entry for a week or two. Enjoy!

Kohlrabi and chard Fritters
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
150g – 250g Gram or besan flour aka chickpea flour
Water
A handful of shredded chard or spinach leaves
1 medium kohlrabi, peeled and grated, and squeezed of excess juices
2 tbsp fresh mint, minced finely
4 fresh spring onions, chopped
1 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika (not smoked) to taste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
Optional Natural yoghurt for serving
Method
First whisk together 150g gram flour, and enough water to form a paste. Add kohlrabi, chard, spring onions, mint, cumin seeds, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Stir well. Here you will need to use your judgment, you may need to add more gram flour and water to get the right consistency for making the fritters, but ensure that you don’t overdo it with the gram flour as you want the flavour of the kohlrabi coming through. Set it aside for some 10-15 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
When ready to make the fritters. In a wide frying pan, add enough oil (it needs to come up halfway the fritters. Then gently heat. Take a spoonful of the batter, place on the frying pan and flatten it gently with the back of a spoon. Repeat to fit in as many fritters as the pan allows. Fry until golden brown, flip over until the other side is golden too. Be very careful when flipping over as the hot oil with splash a little. I’d advise using tongs if you have them, or two wooden spatulas. Place the cooked fritters on a paper towel to remove the excess of oil. Serve immediately with optional natural yogurt. You can reheat them in the oven, but they are not as nice when freshly cooked.

If you want to make pakoras instead of fritters, follow the recipe. But when it comes to deep frying them. Make the pakoras in a deep fat fryer and drop a spoonful of the batter into the hot oil. Pakoras tend to be free form and are merged in the oil to ensure even cooking on all sides.

Vegetarian Haggis Pakora Bites

Call them haggis popcorn, call them haggis morsels, call them haggis balls, even haggis bon bons - one thing for certain though, they are definitely bite sized.

I made these with the left over vegetarian haggis and pakora batter from my belated Burns Supper celebrations. Tasty they were too.
My regular readers will note that I have a new blog header too. I was going to post this on my 500th blog post, which is about a fortnight away, but as you can appreciate circumstances have changed a little. I won't be changing the name of my blog though, I am accustomed to it. Also I will still be growing some of my own soft fruit and vegetables, albeit from my tiny garden plot.

Once again, may I take this opportunity to Thank you all for your kind words of support at this time. It really is most appreciated.

Gold Beetroot and coriander pakoras

Today I decided to cook the Detroit 2 and Golden beetroot picked from the plot last weekend (see below). I had already picked and jarred the Detroit 2 red beetroot, so earlier on I was thinking about how to use up the golden beetroot, and yes, more deep frying and more pakoras came to mind. Well why not, I don't do it that often, honest! But before I give you the recipe for these lovely golden beetroot pakoras. Let me tell you a little bit about this root vegetable.

Beetroot has edible leafy tops which contain beta carotene, calcium and iron, which is great in salads or cooked simply like spinach or Swiss chard.

These days however, only the root is eaten - it can be grated raw, boiled, pickled in vinegar, roasted or baked in foil. Cooking beetroot can also be a bit of a pain, most people tend to boil them, but I think boiling beetroot introduced a wateriness to the texture, so I would recommend to reader to roast them, which guards all their juiciness. Then allow it to cool, before peeling the skin off gently.

Beetroot apparently has one of the highest sugar contents of any vegetable. What is unusual about the beetroot is the taste and texture of the cooked vegetable remains quite close to the raw, which is not good for someone like me. Well you see I am not a big fan of eating beetroots, as I find the flavour quite strong and earthy, but my husband D likes them, hence the reason me growing them at the plot. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that there were many other varieties, not just in size and flavours but also in colours. For example, when you cut into a chioggia betroot it has alternating red and white rings inside of it. There is also white devoy, bulls blood, moulin rouge and burpees golden, which is what I am using for this dish. This golden beetroot is not so strong in flavour as the common dark purple variety that are available in most supermarkets. So you can imagine, I really liked these pakoras.

Also did you know that these days, many bakers are using Beetroot juice as a natural alternative to red food colouring. Have you heard of Red Velvet cake?!
I am submitting this recipe into this weeks Weekend Herb Blogging #198. This weeks host is Rachel from The Crispy Cook. The weekly food blog event showcases information and recipes about herbs, vegetables, fruits and other plant ingredients. Weekend Herb Blogging was first initiated by Kalyn's Kitchen in Utah, and is now organized by Haalo in Sydney, Australia, Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once.
If you like the the look of these morsels, please do come back for my red beetroot kofta which I will be making later.
Gold Beetroot and coriander pakoras
You will need a deep fat fryer for this recipe
Ingredients
200g cooked beetroot, peeled and coarsely grated
2 spring onions, finely chopped including greens
60g feta cheese, crumbled (can be omitted for vegans)
2 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander (or mint)
salt and pepper to taste
80g fresh breadcrumbs
60g gram or plain flour
Method
Mix the beetroot, spring onions, feta and herbs together. Season, then mix in the breadcrumbs to combine. Cover and refirgerate for about an hour.
In your hand tightly shape the mixture into golf size balls, adding a little flour to bind the mixture. Heat the oil and fry in batches until golden on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Warning: please note the fresh coriander will splutter a little when you deep fry it, so just be careful. Inspired by a recipe from Maria Elias The Modern Vegetarian

Courgette pakoras in a spicy tomato sauce

I spent a few hours at the allotment today, not good news I'm afraid, my san manzano plum tomatoes have all got blight, so no home-made tomato sauce for me. D spent a couple of hours in the greenhouse pulling them out. Whilst did a little bit more harvesting: a bag full of colourful green beans, some round squash and two rather sad looking courgettes, one of which I turned into the dish below. I think the courgette plan is done for sure now, so either tomorrow or next weekend, I am planning to pull them out of the squash bed.

Anyway onto food. This is something I grew up eating, but I came across an easier version of the spicy tomato sauce in Nadine Abensurs The Cranks Bible who acknowledges Julie Sahni for the recipe. Last year, I must have made this dish about four times, because I had such a glut of courgettes. This year, only once and I thoroughly enjoyed the dish. Normally these little vegetable pakoras would contain either potatoes, grated carrots or cubes of aubergines, but this one has courgettes. You can eat the courgette pakoras just as is, a delicious moreish deep fried snack. For a vegetarian version, you could stir in some Greek yogurt to the sauce, but add this towards the end and do not boil the sauce, just allow it to simmer for a few minutes.
Courgette pakoras in a spicy tomato sauce
You will needs a deep fat fryer for this recipe.
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the courgette pakoras
700 – 750g courgettes, grated
1 medium onion, finely sliced
100g chickpea flour
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
2 – 4 green chillies, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped coriander
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
For the spicy tomato sauce
8 tomatoes, roughly chopped or in the winter 1 x 400ml tin of tomatoes
4 green chillies
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 teaspoons of garam masala
6 tablespoons of sunflower oil
Coriander
Salt to taste
Method
For the courgette pakoras
Squeeze the grated courgettes of its excess liquid. Then place all the pakora ingredients in a large bowl an mix well with your hands.
Heat the oil for deep frying. Then drop a large tablespoons worth into the oil, turn them carefully so that they are golden all over, which will take about 4 minutes. Remove and drain on layers of kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. Keep doing this until all the batter is used.

For the spicy tomato sauce
In a food processor, blend the tomatoes, chilli, ginger and spices to a smooth puree. Season with salt to taste. Then in a wide pan, heat the oil. Add the blended sauce to the pan and fry over high heat for a few minutes. Then lower the heat and simmer for 35 – 40 minutes, about halfway through the process add about 200ml water to loosen the sauce. When sauce is ready, gently add the pakoras and heat together for a few minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve with naan bread, plain boiled rice or potato wedges.

Recipe adapted from Nadine Abensurs The Cranks Bible: A Timeless Collection of Vegetarian Recipes

Vegetable Tempura

Some people have fish and chips on Friday night, I have just had vegetable tempura.
Everything on the plate is from the allotment: squash, courgette and nasturtium flowers, green beans, baby carrots, turnip, white onion, broccoli and the smallest ever cauliflower. I do not have any sweet chilli dip in my kitchen cupboards, so had to do with Levi Roots fiery guava dipping sauce. It wasn't very fiery, but it worked well with the vegetables.

Now who has been a good girl and had her five veg a day. I have, I have!

Caerphilly cheese and Welsh pakoras

As a welsh girl, I have to say a few words about Welsh cheese, and in particular Caerphilly cheese as I have been cooking a lot with it recently. This vegetarian cheese is made in South and West Wales. When young, Caerphilly has a moist, supple texture and fresh taste. However, with age, it becomes creamier around the edges and more flavoursome. This welsh cheese is less crumbly than its English counterparts such as Wensleydale and Lancashire.

If you get a chance try and get hold of a proper mature Caerphilly cheese. It really makes a difference from the crumbliness of a supermarket one. The real Caerphilly cheese has a proper rind with a soft yellowing edge and a creamy centre. Hence the famous Welsh rarebit, cheese on toast – you won’t get that lovely melty sheen with a crumbly cheese. Saying that I found it really difficult to track down authentic Caerphilly cheese in any of the local Scottish supermarket, I even tried I J Mellis: the West Ends best cheese monger who informed me that they no longer stock it, but had similar crumbly type cheese. Eventually I did track some down, but it was a supermarkets brand, not the real stuff, it will have to do for now.
You can make pakoras from any vegetable: aubergines, mushrooms as long as you make them with besan, also known as gram flour (chick pea flour). These pakoras are made with welsh flavours: finely shredded leeks and cubes of Caerphilly cheese. I served them with grated carrots stirred through natural yogurt , yes they are the carrots from the garden plot. I appreciate this may not be to everyones taste, but have a try at least.

Pakoras are not the easiest to photograph, they look rather messy, but let me tell you they are so delicious, you'll be going back for more.

Traditional Welsh Pakora recipe

Makes about 12

Ingredients

100g potato, cut into small even sizes cubes
110g Caerphilly cheese, Wensleydale, Lancashire or cheddar will also work but the taste will be different, cut into small cubes

150g gram flour

1 leek, finely sliced

½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 – 2 fresh green chilli, minced
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

Salt to taste
Cold water to bind mix

Oil for deep frying

Method

Place 150g gram flour in a large mixing bowl along with the potato cubes, leeks, cheese, fresh chilli, cumin seeds, chilli powder and salt. Now mix together. Add enough water to bind, you want to achieve a free form dropping consistency.

Heat the oil in a large pan or deep fat fryer, drop a few large tablespoons of batter gently into the hot oil, cook on one side for a couple of minutes until crispy and then turn over until the other side is crisp and golden too. Do this until all the pakora mix is used. Eat immediately, while fresh and crispy.