My Bhindi Bhaji

If you've never had Okra (Bhindi) then you're seriously missing out. Until I lived in London I had no idea what this strange but ultimately delicious vegetable was. Now I pick them up whenever I can from the local market, speciality deli's or certain supermarkets.

They're long and thin like green chillies, but with a star shape to them. They're slightly fury and unlike anything you've seen before. So they're not just great to eat but look amazing too. It's the perfect accompaniment to a curry, be it hot or not.

This is my own recipe and I wouldn't change it for anything. Don't be scared of the amount of spices in this dish. These are all unique and add a flavour of their own. However, once together you will be blown away by the incredible dish you've created. (You can actually use this spice paste as the base for most curry dishes, just add tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, yoghurt, or water and pretty much any veggies or meat you wish).

Authentic Bhindi Bhaji

What you're going to need:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• Thumb sized ginger, pureed
• 2 large cloves garlic, pureed
• 2 or 3 birds eye chillies (red or green, these are small but potent), finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 500g Okra (more famously known as Lady Fingers), roughly chopped in 2cm lengths
• 2 ripe tomatoes chopped into segments (like an orange)
• Fresh coriander, chopped and whole

How you're going to make it:

1. Start with a heavy based pan / pot and get your ingredients ready.
2. Heat the oil in the pan / pot for 1 minute until hot (not boiling).
3. Add the cumin seeds and roast them for 30 seconds – 1 minute.
4. Next add the chopped onion and brown (roughly 5 – 10 minutes).
5. Once a light shade of brown, add the ginger and garlic puree as well as the finely chopped chillies.
6. Fry for another 2 – 3 minutes.
7. Add the spices (turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, garam masala) and fry for 2 minutes.

You should have a lumpy paste at this stage

8. Next, add the chopped Okra and fry in the paste for roughly 5 minutes before adding the chopped tomato. At this stage the tomato juices will coat the spices and create a little sauce. (Add a little water if the spices start to catch)
9. Lastly, add some chopped coriander and dish up in a side dish / bowl.
10. Sprinkle with fresh whole leaf coriander

Enjoy.

Fet

Don't forget these useful techniques:

Fixing your chopping board: Wet a kitchen clothe and place it, folded, on your counter with a heavy chopping board on top. this should fix your chopping board in place to let you get on with chopping.

Spices: Because all the spices go in at the same time you can pre-measure these and put them aside. This avoids one spice going into the recipe and burning while you're measuring off the other spices. (It's very important to cook the spices for the same amount of time).

To Puree: Finely chop your ginger and garlic (keep them separate). Once chopped take your large blade knife and flatten the chopped ginger and garlic with one end pushing down away from yourself at a very acute angle to the chapping board. Keep doing this until the chopped ginger and garlic forms a juicy paste.

Pad Thai – the Khao San Road Kind of Way

Khao San Road is somewhat of an institution in Bangkok. It’s the place to go when you don’t know where to go. From there anything is possible. Need a tuk tuk, get one there, need a hotel? Get one there. Need to do some shopping? Do it there. Need some food? Get it there. You get the point. It’s what I like to call the Bangkok melting pot. Everyone comes here. I just met twins from Hong Kong in a tattoo parlour, a British girl shopping for washing detergent in the seven eleven and an Aussie drinking a beer (typical), and it’s not even 6pm. I landed here at around 3pm from Krabi, a coastal town which boasts sandstone cliffs, endless beaches and humidity beyond compare. When I got here I boarded a bus and made my way to central Bangkok before swapping the aircon of the bus for the natural cooling air on the back of a taxi motorbike. Zooming through traffic, even up the wrong way on a highway, I eventually landed at the familiar spot that is Khao San. This road is about 400m and, like I made clear before, has everything you can want. I needed WiFi and here I am enjoying a beer at a bar while reminiscing about my day.

One of the highlights of my day, which was definitely not being denied taking certain items on the plane from Krabi, has to have been my late lunch. A paupers meal on the side of the road on, you guessed it, Khao San Road. There are a number of meals you can get on the side of the road while walking and admiring the sights – fresh fruit, grilled corn, BBQ sausage and palony’s, chicken kebabs/wraps, spring rolls or Pad Thai (plain, with egg, with chicken or with seafood). I opted for a Pad Thai without hesitation - my staple when in this area. A random traveller advised me once to get a Pad Thai with egg and a spring roll which they cut up into the Pad Thai and mix it through while cooking it in a wok in front of you. I tried this and have never looked back. It’s become my staple, my Bangkok saviour. These hawker artists throw the ingredients together in a wok or flat top grill and within minutes you have a delicious concoction of fresh vegetables, herbs and noodles flavoured with typical Thai tastes. Then it’s up to you to give the Pad Thai character synonymous with your own personal style. Mine is a dash of dried shrimp for salt, a smidgen of sugar for sweetness, a lump of dried chilli flakes for heat, a squeeze of lime for tang, a hell of a lot of crushed and roasted peanuts for crunch and a few splashes of chilli oil to bring it all together. It blows my mind every time.

Having visited Bangkok five times now and planting myself firmly at the virtual entrance of Khao San Road at the Top Inn I have become accustomed to the nuances of this place. I’m still no expert but I’d like to think I know how to spot a good Pad Thai. After witnessing several being made over the course of my travels here this is a recipe I’ve thrown together just like a proper Pad Thai should be, thown rogether...

My Authentic Khaosan Road Pad Thai

For one!

• 60g stick rice noodles, soaked for 15 minutes in warm water seasoned with 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup Chinese greens (these could be bok choi or spinach or any greens bought at a Chinese/Asian supermarket)
•  ¼ cup finely sliced carrots
• ¼ cup bean sprouts
• ¼ cup spring onions
• ¼ cup morning glory (optional – bought exclusively at an Asian supermarket. I fount this ingredient recently in Cape Town at an Asian supermarket at N1 City)

• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp roasted and crushed peanuts
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp dried shrimps (optional – you can substitute this with extra fish sauce)
• 1 tbsp (less or more) dried chilli flakes

1. Firstly get your noodles ready by soaking them in some warm water for around 15 minutes with fish sauce and soy sauce. This will flavour the noodles and colour them slightly. After 15 minutes remove them and pour a little vegetable oil over them and lightly massage them with your fingers to prevent them sticking together.
2. Now that your noodles are prepped and ready get your wok on the heat – ideally a round based wok on gas but if you don’t have one then a flat based wok or a large pan will go fine.
3. Heat a little vegetable oil in the work or pan. When hot add you egg, within 30 seconds add your Chinese greens, carrots, bean sprouts, spring onions and morning glory. Stir for about 1 minute until the vegetables are covered in oil and the egg is scrambled.
4. Add your noodles to the vegetables and stir fry for 2 minutes before seasoning with fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice.
5. Turn off the heat and serve onto a plate. Season with dried shrimps (optional), crushed peanuts, chilli flakes and chilli oil.
6. Enjoy with chop sticks.

There you have a traditional Thai meal of the highest order ready in under 30 minutes. The key here is to make Pad Thai individually – one at a time. Don’t try make a big portion for 4 or more people, you’ll only end up disappointed.

Right now I’m so satisfied, nothing in the world could have made me happier than eating this Pad Thai like I did just now.

Enjoy!

fet

Shake it up

The Thai’s are spoilt for choice when it comes to fruit. All around you, whether it’s a market, a stall on the street or a vendor cruising around on a bike and side cart you can get the ripest seasonal fruit for next to nothing. From individual portions to bags full, options are endless. Just this morning I tucked into some delicious, sweet and juicy pineapple. The vendor I bought it from prepares it in such a unique and attractive way. Despite the unbelievable freshness of the fruit, it simply looks good too. He was an artist. Sculpting the fruit to make it beautiful only helps the taste.

Pineapple alone isn’t exciting even though it is the tastiest pineapple you’ll ever have. There’s something about the tropical environment of Thialand and SE Asia that transforms the fruit into sweeter and juicier than we’re used to. The variety is what makes fruit here so exciting. Fruit like 

• Longon - a yellow ball about the size of a lychee and wikedly sweet
• Sala - Remember Wicks bubblegum? Well this fruit tastes like it
• Dragon fruit - The weirdest looking of the lot. A bright pink fruit that grows on a cactus and is pure white with thousands of tiny black pips. Slightly sweet and of the texture of kiwi fruit
• Star fruit - Also unusal looking and with a juicy flesh with the texture of grapes  
• Mangosteen - Sweet like a lychee with a dark purple shell 
• Jack fruit - Stinky and known to grow up to 30kg in weight. Jack fruit has a less pungent smelling fruit with a crispy texture unless it's kept outside where it can go slightly rubbery
• Rambutan - Red/pink in colour it's another lychee type fruit with small soft spikes
• Yellow watermelon - Exactly the same as watermelon but yellow. I was so excited when I first saw this
• Durian - A huge spiky fruit, often confused with jack fruit. It's known as the king of fruits and has a custard type pod inside. The flavour is rich and luxurious, it's definitely the most unusual fruit you'll ever have

Another thing about the Thai’s is that they’re industrious. They make use of everything. Almost nothing goes to waste. This has given them an ability to have more than one use for the fruit they have. They sculpt it, cook with it, add it to sauces, make juice and other drinks, feed their animals all with fruit.

One of my favourite uses of fruit is juicing. Here’s a fool proof Thai shake recipe that, if made at home, will be exactly as good as one you’ll order while lying on a tropical beach in Koh Samui. It's enough for two shakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of your favourite fruit – mix them if you want
• My favourite mix is: juice of 1 small orange, juice of ½ a lime, ¼ mango, 1/3 cup pineapple
• ½ - 1 ½ tsp sugar (depending on the ripeness of your fruit)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 cup ice

Method:

1. Peel and roughly chop the fruit.
2. In a blender add the fruit, sugar, water and ice and blend together until the ice is well crushed.
3. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
4. Pour into a cocktail glass and enjoy.

This is the easiest way to recreate authentic Thai flavours at home. It's also a great way to get those vitamins in... Give it a try.

Enjoy

fet

The perfect hangover cure

It is with great appreciation that I write this blog post... On my latest trip to Thailand with my friend Thomo, we decided to go and watch a ping pong show (for those of you who don't know what a ping pong show is I'll let you google it) and proceeded to get horribly drunk last night. It wasn't intended but I guess some places just have a knack of pushing your fun buttons - Patong Beach is just one of those places. It's not the most glamorous tropical island in the world but when the sun sets there is just one thing to do, and that is have fun.

The downside to all this "fun" that's had in Patong is that every day and every night eventually comes to an end and the next day inevitably hurts a little more than you want it to. This morning (or should I say this afternoon when I finally woke up) was no different. You'd think a person would learn but like I said, spontaneous fun has a way of convincing you that everything will be alright.

Now back to the appreciation I spoke of earlier... everyone has their own hangover cures and remedies, except for me! I don't know how to rid myself of a hangover except to wait it out and hope it goes away before too long. But today I found what I think could just be my perfect hangover cure! Now I know not everyone reacts the same to hangovers and these so-called cures but this one worked amazingly well for me. It's called Hoy Tod.

Hoy Tod is greasy, it's salty, with just the right amount of sweet, it's not healthy but who the hell cares!

This recipe will serve 2 people, make the batter at once and then the omelette one at a time using half the remaining ingredients in each omelette.

Ingredients:

• 100 ml all purpose flour
• 200 ml tapioca/corn flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• salt
• 150 - 300 ml water, as needed to make a smooth batter
• 2 eggs
• 5-10 tbsp vegetable / sunflower oil
• 1 cup fresh raw mussels
• 2 spring onions, cut at an angle in 1 inch lengths
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• black pepper
• Siraracha sauce

The key to a good Hoy Tod is in the crispiness of the omelette. This is achieved with two main ingredients, fine flour like tapioca or corn flour and oil, lots and lots of it. You're essentially frying an omelette.

Here's how:

1. In a mixing bowl mix together tapioca / corn flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and garlic with a pinch of salt. Add enough water to make a batter slightly runnier that pancake batter.
2. Let this batter stand for about an hour. It'll thicken up a little so add some more water if necessary and you're ready to go.
3. To a cup add about 1/3 batter and crack an egg into to the cup. Mix well with a fork or chop sticks until well combined.
4. in a heavy based pan heat 3 tablespoons of oil until smoking hot. Add the batter from the cup and pour half a cup of mussels on top of the batter in the pan.
5. Add another 1 tablespoon of oil over the omelette and swirl it around in the pan. 
6. When the edges of the omelette start to go dark brown then start cutting it up with a spatula and mixing it around the pan flipping it over to crisp up both sides. The omelette should break up a little with different size chunks making up your end result.
7. If the pan becomes a little dry add more oil.
8. When the omelette is crispy add half the spring onions to it and give it a few more swirls around the pan before removing it to a plate off the heat.
9. Very quickly in the same pan add half the bean sprouts and fry in the left over oil for 1 minute, constantly tossing. Flavour the sprouts with fish sauce and white sugar.
10. Add the crispy omelette back to the bean sprouts and mix through. Season with pepper.
11. Make your second omelette for someone else, unless you want it all to yourself.
12. Serve straight away with Siraracha sauce (which you should be able to get at most Asian supermarkets)

This is by no means a meal you want to have when you're dieting. It's drenched in oil but as a snack while lazing about watching something good on TV I struggle to have anything better. Make it a Sunday meal you can spoil yourself with for being so good during the week...

Enjoy
fet

Tom Kha Gai – Chicken in coconut milk

A favourite Thai soup that bursts with flavour.

Tom Kha Gai – Chicken in coconut milk

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• ½ cup coconut cream
• 2 tbsp galangal ginger, finely sliced (substitute with ginger if you cannot find galangal)
• 3 stalks lemongrass, lightly crushed under the blade of a knife and cut in 1 inch lengths
• 4 coriander roots, crushed (substitute with 10 coriander stems)
• 6 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn (substitute with 12 dry kaffir lime leaves)
• 250g chicken, thinly sliced (against the grain)
• 400ml (1 tin) coconut milk
• 5-6 mushrooms, cut into quarters (oyster mushrooms work best)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1-2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 birds eye chillies, sliced in half lengthways to release flavour
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Juice of 1 medium lime
• ½ tbsp tamarind paste (substitute with 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tsp brown sugar)
• 1 tsp white sugar

Method:

1. In a pot, add coconut cream. After foaming hot add the galangal, lemongrass, coriander root and kaffir lime leaves.
2. Simmer for 5 minutes to release the flavours.
3. Add the chicken, when nearly cooked, add coconut milk and bring to a boil.
4. When the coconut milk starts to boil add the sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, sliced shallots and chillies.
5. Bring back to the boil and season with fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and tamarind paste.
6. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
7. This soup works very well with rice noodles – simply follow the packet instructions to prepare the noodles. Pour the soup over the noodles in a bowl. 

Massaman - my favourite

This is one of my favourite curries. It combines flavours from Thailand, India and Malaysia. It's a true amalgamation of cultures. Thailand gives us the fresh lemongrass and kaffir lime, India the star anise, cumin and cardamom, while Malaysia brings us the cinnamon and nutmeg. Blend these ingredients, and all the others together in a pestle and mortar to form a perfect spicy paste.

The more earthy flavours that makes this curry so moreish and un-Thai-like is in the roasting of the paste ingredients before it's combined, fried and stewed. Roasting the ingredients releases oils and and gives a slight smoked flavour to the paste. 

Being less fragrant and more robust than other Thai curries, Massaman requires full flavoured ingredients to really bring out the full potential of all the ingredients of the paste. I choose lamb or beef to make my Massaman but chicken and pork could work too if you're not a red meat fan. However, if you do go down the white meat route make sure you leave the meat on the bone for extra depth of flavour. 

Here's my recipe for the best Massaman curry I'm sure you'll ever have.

Massaman curry paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Masaman)

Paste for 6

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks lemongrass, roased
• 8 dried spur chillies, soaked in water for 10 minutes then chopped (seeds removed)
• 2 birds eye chillies, chopped (seeds removed)
• 1 inch length of galangal, finely sliced and roasted
• 2 shallots, finely chopped and roasted
• ¼ kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped and roasted
• ¼ cup / 4 tbsp garlic, sliced and roasted
• 1 coriander root, chopped and roasted
• ½ tsp coriander seeds, roasted
• ½ tsp cumin seeds, roasted
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 5 cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• ¼ tsp salt

Method:

1. Roast all the ingredients above (except chillies, ground cinnamon and nutmeg, shrimp paste and salt) one at a time in a dry pan. (no oil) 
2. Combine all the ingredients from the list above from top to bottom in a pestle and mortar bashing each as much as possible before adding the next ingredient. 
3. The final paste should be totally smooth with as little whole pieces as possible. 
4. The longer you pound the ingredients for the better your paste will be.

Now that your paste is complete you're ready to make the curry. Now this process does require some time but the results are remarkable. You and your guests will definitely go back for seconds...

Massaman curry with chicken (Gaeng Masaman Gai)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: up to 3 1/2 hours 

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Massaman curry paste (from above)
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1kg lamb knuckles
• 300g lamb shoulder / leg, deboned and cut into bite size chunks
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 star anise
• 3 brown cardamom pods
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon bark
• 1 cup of potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 medium onion, cut into slices
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp tamarind juice
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (ideally fresh)
• 3 tbsp peanuts, roasted and roughly broken for garnish

Method:

1. Preheat the over to 125 degrees celcius
2. In an oven proof pot (with lid) heat the oil and fry the paste for 1 minute.
3. Add a ladle full of coconut cream to soften the paste and fry until the oil separates.
4. Add all the lamb and coat is with the paste mix. Stir fry and seal the meat for roughly 5 minutes. 
5. Add the remainder of the coconut cream and coconut milk.
6. When the gravy comes back to the boil add the star anise, black cardamom and cinnamon stick and stir to mix in.
7. Place the lid on the pot and put it into the oven to stew for 2 hours.
8. After 2 hours bring the pot back onto the stove and bring the sauce to a boil. Add 4 kaffir lime leaves and potatoes.
9. Boil for 25 minutes and add the onions for another 10 minutes.
10. Lastly finish the gravy with palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind paste.
11. Serve with jasmine rice and roasted peanuts.

It's an unbelievably simple curry to make with loads of complex flavours. The only thing you need is time and patience. 

Enjoy

fet

Salads are a wonderful thing

Summer is a time to be healthy. All the vibrant colours of fresh fruit and bright, nutritious, vegetables. The problem for me is the taste of meat, fried and junk food after a long winter is just so too tempting. But when I get stuck into healthy salads and steamed veg with loads of fresh, delicate flavours I always seem to kick myself for not eating more of it. I mean, why do we always add butter, cream, oil or other ingredients loaded with sugar and fat to our meals. Yes, it helps them taste better and once you get into the habit of eating this way it's near impossible to break away for the comfort of it. But again, why don't we rely on what naturally good ingredients we have, especially during our beautiful African summers? Lemon juice, olive oil, fruit fruit juice, joghurt (at a fraction of the fat of cream), vinegars and my particular favourites asian sauces - soy, fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind and lime juice.

Taking just a few of these ingredients you can make yourself a salad you'll be hard pressed to beat. It's a street vendor speciality found all over Thailand called Som Tam - Green Papaya Salad

Papaya Salad – Som Tam

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 small red chilli, roughly chopped (remove seeds if preferred)
• 1 loose cup green papaya, julienne
• ½ loose cup carrot, julienne
• ½ loose cup bean sprouts
• ½ loose cup string beans
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 25g peanuts
• 6-8 prawns, pealed and cooked
• 2 tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• ½ tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp palm sugar

Method:

1. In a mortar with a pestle make a paste of the garlic, ginger and chilie
2. Next add the papaya, carrot, bean sprouts, string beans and tomatoes. Lightly bash the vegetables and fruit together – here you’re not trying to make a paste but soften the ingredients and release their flavours.
3. After a few bashes with the pestle add the peanut and break them lightly.
4. Mix in the prawns with a spoon.
5. In a bowl add the tamarind paste, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Mix well and pour this dressing over the salad before mixing through to coat all the ingredients well.
6. Spoon the salad out of the mortar onto a plate or into a bowl and enjoy immediately.

(image from thai-food-online.co.uk)

It's these kinds of salads that jerk you out of your naughty eating habits and make you realise what you've been missing. 

This wonderful salad is often served in a plastic packet with chop sticks and enjoyed on the go for a light refreshing meal wherever you are in Thialand.

Enjoy