Tamales go East

I'd made a batch of tamales a few weeks back, and a friend had commented on how they reminded him of a zongzi, a Chinese steamed rice dumpling.  Since then I'd been mulling over the idea of trying to make Chinese style dumplings but using the tamale method, and wondered if it was doable.  A weekend of snow, post holiday blues and an early case of spring cleaning gave me the opportunity. Lurking at the back of my kitchen cupboards was half a bag of ground rice, that, along with leftover corn husks, cashew nuts, dessicated coconut and some baby corn located in the fridge gave me an idea... 

I wasn't sure whether the method would work, but it was worth a try, and the end result would be edible if nothing else.  As it turned out, making the rice dumplings tamale style worked very well, and the filling, while not in anyway resembling what you would usually find in Chinese steamed dumplings (more often than not something piggy) was very tasty. 
So here follows the recipe for rice dumplings tamale style, with a vaguely Malaysian-y filling...

For the dough:
250g ground rice
1 tsp baking powder
400ml vegetable stock
100g margarine

For the filling:
2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
4 baby corn chopped (water chestnuts would probably work really nicely as well)
1 medium sized red chilli (finely chopped)
100g cashew nuts (crushed)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 heaped tablespoon of dessicated coconut
1 handful of fresh coriander (finely chopped) 
Soy sauce to taste

20 corn husks  

Directions
1. Soak the corn husks in hot water for 1-2 hours before you start to soften
2. Mix all the ingredients for the filling together and put it to one side
3. Put the ground rice and baking powder in a large bowl
4. Melt the margarine and pour it into the rice, mixing well until all the fat is absorbed
5. Slowly add the vegetable stock, you want a fairly loose dough, if you've made tamales before then that's what you're aiming for.  If not, then you're looking for a spreadable consistency (almost peanut butter-ish)
6. Take the corn husks out of the water and pat dry
7. Add a spoonful of the dough mix to the centre of the corn husk and spread out

8. Then add a spoonful of the filling onto the dough and fold, the aim is to make a nice neat little package
9. Repeat the process until you've either a) run out of dough, b) corn husks, or c) patience

10. Place the dumplings in a steamer, and steam for around 1 hour/ hour and a half
11. Then eat! They taste extra nice with a dipping sauce, something like sweet chilli would do.  I made a quick sauce from some ghost chilli relish, sesame oil and soy sauce

Purim Cookies: Oznei Haman (Haman's Ears)

Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the time when the Jews living in Persia were saved from destruction, and is retold in the Book of Esther.  Unlike the majority of Jewish holidays which are solemn occasions, Purim (the name means 'lots', as in 'casting lots') is a particularly joyous occasion with a party-like atmosphere where people dress up in costume and alcohol consumption (often to excess) is encouraged. I used to live in an Orthodox neighbourhood, and it was always great fun watching the usually serious rabbinical students from the Talmudic college staggering along the street much to the amusement of everyone.  

As with other religious holidays, Purim has its associated foods, particularly the triangle shaped cookies known as Hamantaschen (Haman's bags) by Eastern European Jews, or Oznei Haman (Haman's Ears - Haman being the prime minister who was behind the plot to kill all of the Jews living in the Persian Empire) in Israel. Purim this year starts on the evening of the 23rd February and ends sunset 24th February, so Hag Purim Sameach!

I don't really do religion, but I do do food, so here's a recipe for oznei haman...

For the pastry:

250g self raising flour
150g semolina
1 tsp baking powder
100g margarine
1 tablespoon rose water
100ml milk (or water)

For the filling:

250g dried figs or dates

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tablespoon chopped crystalised ginger (optional)

1 tablespoon of orange flower water

2 tablespoons of boiling water

Preheat the oven to 150C 

1. The night before you plan to make the cookies, chop the figs or dates and put them in a container with the ginger, orange flower water and boiling water. Leave overnight to soak and then roughly puree the mixture
2. In a large bowl mix the flour, semolina and baking powder, and then rub in the margarine until you get a breadcrumb consistency
3. Add the rosewater and slowly pour in the milk, you may not need the whole 100ml
4. Mix until you get a firm dough
5. Flour your work surface and roll out the dough until it is around 5mm thick and cut out circles (I used 68mm diameter circle cutters - I only know this because the size is printed on the side!)
6. Add 1 teaspoon of the filling to the centre of each pastry circle, folding the sides in to make a triangle shape

7. Pinch the edges together tightly to ensure that the filling doesn't spill out

8. Bake the oznei haman at 150 C for around 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown
8. Allow to cool and give a light dusting with icing sugar

Turkish Delight

Turkish delight has always been a kitchen nemesis of mine. I'm not sure why I thought of it that way, because I had only attempted to make it once before, when I was fifteen. 

Back in the pre-internet days I was reliant on library books, and unfortunately the only recipes I could find all contained gelatine rather than the traditional Turkish method of getting that gorgeous jellyness - cornflour. 

I did try substituting agar agar (the only easily available vegetarian jelling agent at the time). The resulting horror has forever stuck with me. A strange crispy crust, with a jelly centre oozing a watery rose-flavoured liquid. It tasted okay, but that was its only saving grace.

Fast forward 20 plus years and I prepared to do battle with my nemesis once more....

Note: As a rule I don't weigh out ingredients, the sugar was estimated (I had a 500g bag), but because the cornflour is essential to the gelling process I thought I had better be accurate.  Most of the recipes I found, specified using a sugar thermometer. I don't have one, but I figured if the Turks could make it for centuries without, then so could I...

Ingredients

450g granulated sugar

900ml water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

100g cornflour

100g icing sugar

2 tablespoons orange flower water (or rose water)

50g pistachios (optional)

Additional cornflour and icing sugar to dust

1. Line a tin with oiled cling film (I used a 18cm/7 inch sandwich tin) and put to one side.

2. Pour the 450g granulated sugar into medium sized pan, with 150ml of the water and the cream of tartar. The reason for the cream of tartar is so that the sugar doesn't crystalise as it sets. 

3. Bring to the boil and simmer until it reaches 115C (if you are using a sugar thermometer). If you are cooking by eye, then this stage takes around 10-15 minutes. To tell if it's ready, dip a spoon in the syrup and then plunge it into a glass of cold water. Have a feel of the ball that forms. It should be soft and pliable, Hence the reason this stage is called 'soft ball' in sugarwork.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and put it to one side.

5. Put the 100g cornflour and 100g icing sugar into a large pan, adding a little (~100ml) of the remaining 750ml water and mix it into a paste. Slowly add the remainder of the water whisking to ensure that there are no lumps.

6. Bring this mixture to the boil, whisking constantly until it thickens into a gloopy (technical term) gluey paste. It should take around 5 minutes.

7. Take the pan off the heat and slowly pour in the sugar syrup into the cornflour/icing sugar mixture, whisking all the time.

8. Return the pan to the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, once it starts to boil turn down the heat to a simmer. What's going on in your pan should be similar to a bubbling mud spring except without eruptions (if it gets to that stage turn down the heat).

9. Stir regularly to ensure that the mixture doesn't stick, the aim is to cook it until the mixture reaches 120C, if you're not using a thermometer this will take 30 minutes to an hour. Over this time the mixture will thicken to a jellyish consistancy and becomes progressively harder to whisk. 

For my batch, it reached that stage after around 45 minutes.

10. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the orange flower water (or the rose flower water) and the nuts. If you're using rose water you could always put a drop of red food colouring into the syrup.

11. Pour the mixture into the prepared tray and leave to cool overnight.

12. Once cooled dust the visible side with icing sugar and turn out onto a tray then dust its bottom with more icing sugar. You can cut it into cubes at this stage and eat!

Storage

You may find that on standing the Turkish delight 'leaks' a little liquid, traditionally it should be left in an airy place to 'cure' which will toughen the surface and create the leathery skin you get on the commercially prepared stuff. If you are wanting to save it then I'd recommend leaving it on a baking rack in an airy place for a few days before storing it in a box (cardboard or wooden with lots more icing sugar, don't store in plastic or it will sweat!).

Maamouls stuffed with Turkish delight

Maamouls are delicious Middle Eastern shortbread pastries usually filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts. After seeing a box of Turkish delight stuffed maamouls in my local Asian grocery store,  I was inspired to try and recreate the recipe at home as a change from the date or apricot versions I usually bake.
The traditional way to make maamouls is to form a ball of pastry, make an indentation for the filling and then seal them up. I did try that way initially, unfortunately because the pastry is quite flaky it didn't have enough structural integrity to hold in the molten Turkish delight and the result was an explosion. Not one to be beaten, I thought I'd try again, this time making the pastry a little moister than usual and cut it into circles to fill empanada style. 

Ingredients (makes 25-30 maamoul)

250g self raising flour
150g semolina
1 tsp baking powder
100g margarine
1 tablespoon rose water
100ml milk (or water)
200g Turkish delight (around 8 cubes, each cube cut into smaller pieces) 

Preheat the oven to 150C

1. In a large bowl mix the flour, semolina and baking powder, and then rub in the margarine until you get a breadcrumb consistency
2. Add the rosewater and slowly pour in the milk, you may not need the whole 100ml
3. Mix until you get a firm dough
4. Flour your work surface and roll out the dough until it is around 5mm thick and cut out circles (I used 68mm diameter circle cutters - I only know this because the size is printed on the side!)
5. Add 2 small cubes of Turkish delight to the centre of each pastry circle, folding the sides to make a neat little parcel

6. Pinch the edges together tightly to ensure that the filling doesn't spill out

7. Bake the maamouls at 150 C for around 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown
8. Allow to cool and give a light dusting with icing sugar or cinnamon

Eat!!





 

Tortilla Soup

Deliciousness in a bowl! Traditionally tortilla soup usually has chicken or pork involved in the preparation at some point. However, it's pretty straightforward to create a vegetarian version, and with all the tastes going on, it would take a particularly picky carnivore to actually notice that anything was 'missing'. There are so many recipes for tortilla soup out there, with the exception of the tortillas (the hint's in the name) and probably the avocado all other ingredients are variable. The addition of ancho chilli gives the soup a lovely deep red colour and an earthy flavour, the chipotle adds smokiness and a little heat.
Before I go on, I should probably say something about my measuring system, or lack of it. Any volumes mentioned in my recipes are approximations. If you use a little more or a little less nothing bad is going to happen. Same with the spices, it's not an exact science...

What you'll need:
500ml vegetable stock
500ml passata or canned tomatoes 
1 onion chopped finely
3 or 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Oregano
Cumin
Smoked paprika
1 large dried ancho chilli
1 dried chipotle chilli 

Toppings:
1 handful of coriander chopped
1 large ripe avocado
2 fresh corn tortillas*
1 small red onion
Black olives (optional)
1/2 cup of fresh, frozen or canned sweetcorn (optional)
Grated cheese (optional) 
Sour cream (optional) 

To make the soup
1. First off, soak the ancho and chipotle chillies in boiling water for around an hour to soften. Drain (reserving approximately 1 tablespoonful of the liquid) remove the seeds and blend into a paste. Keep to one side
2.  Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil (or a vegetable oil of your choice) until soft
3. Now add the chilli paste, dried herbs and spices and stir a little longer
4. Pour in the tomatoes and vegetable stock, reduce the heat, put a lid on the pan and simmer for 40 minutes 

Meanwhile... to prepare the toppings. These can be put in separate bowls so everyone can help themselves to a little of what they fancy.

5. Cut the tortillas into strips 1cm (ish) wide and around 4cm long, and fry in vegetable oil until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to one side
6. Using the same oil, toss in the sweetcorn kernels and fry until just starting to go crispy. As an alternative (a tastier but time-consuming alternative), you could roast whole sweetcorn cobs and slice off the kernels 
7. Peel and de-stone the avocado and either slice or chop into rough chunks
8. Slice the olives and red onion finely

To serve:
First add some of the fried tortilla strips to the bottom of the serving bowls and some avocado chunks. Sprinkle in some grated cheese if you want at this stage as well.
Pour in the soup and garnish with more fried tortilla strips and avocado. The additional toppings can be added as desired.

*Note: If you can't get fresh corn tortillas don't substitute with wheat tortillas because you wont get the same taste or texture. You could add some tortilla chips as an alternative, you wont get the same texture but it's better than nothing!  
    

Malabi (Middle Eastern milk dessert with rose syrup and nuts)

Malabi (also called mahalabya, muhallibieh and numerous other spellings) is a milk dessert found all over the Middle East. It's usually flavoured with rose water, though some versions call for orange flower water, and occasionally mastic is substituted. Texture wise it can be anything from slightly runny to a thick, almost jelly-ish consistence. Either way, it's a luxurious, sensuous experience that is actually quite straightforward to make.

 
Malabi with rose syrup and chopped nuts

Ingredients

500ml milk

200g sugar

5 tablespoons of cornflour

2 tablespoons of rose water/orange flower water

For syrup

150ml water

200g sugar

1 tablespoonful rose water

red or pink food colouring (optional)

For topping

Desiccated coconut

Flaked almonds

Chopped pistachios

Rose petals (optional)

1. Bring the milk and sugar to the boil in a saucepan, then reduce the heat to a simmer

2. In a separate bowl add a couple of spoonfuls of the hot milk to the cornflour and mix until smooth (at this point keep one eye on the milk, I didn't, and ended up spending the afternoon scraping the burnt remnants off the cooker because I had forgotten that boiling milk has a tendency to boil over... Cookery 101)

3. Add the cornflour mixture to the pan and whisk well

4. Continue to cook on a low heat for around 5 minutes until the milk thickens, once it has the consistency of custard take it off the heat

5. At this stage stir in the rose water or orange flower water

6. Pour into serving bowls let the mixture cool, and then put the bowls in the fridge

For the sugar syrup:

Bring the water to the boil in a pan and add the sugar, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.

Reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer until it thickens to a syrup, then add the rose water and take off the heat

Once it's cooled slightly add a couple of drops of food colouring (if you're using)

Allow to cool completely and refrigerate

To serve:

Drizzle some rose syrup over each bowl of malabi and sprinkle on the nuts.

Eat!

Baked aubergine in tahini sauce

Simple to make but oh so tasty!

6 baby aubergines or 1 large one

4 tablespoons of light tahini

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp za'atar

1 pinch of ground sumac (or a squeeze of lemon)

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander to garnish

1. Heat the oven to 200C

2. If using baby aubergines cut them lengthways up to the stalk, if using a large aubergine, cut it into slices approximately 3cm thick

3. Put the aubergines in a baking dish, season with a little salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and bake for around 30 minutes, or until tender

4. Meanwhile mix the tahini and olive oil in a separate bowl, and add the zaatar and sumac.  If you can't get hold of these then substitute finely ground oregano and lemon juice 

5. Taste and add salt if needed

6. Once the aubergines are cooked pour over the sauce and garnish with chopped coriander

Delicious either straight out the oven, or at room temperature