Caribbean Cooking Class Saturday 21st February 2009

We held our Caribbean cooking class last Saturday to a very enthusiastic audience. Altogether 9 dishes were demonstrated including:

Tofu Coconut Soup
Okra Fried Rice
Quinoa Salad with Citrus Dressing
Eggplants Stuffed with Sweet Potato
Pumpkin Coconut Curry
Mango, tomato and red onion salad
Coconut ice cream
Tapioca Pudding
Pina Colada Granita Smoothie

Over the next few weeks I will be posting all the recipes that we domonstrated in the cooking class, so keep your eyes peeled.

Gayatri

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Vegetarian Caribbean Class

Today is the day we will be holding our vegetarian Caribbean cooking class. You will learn to cook 8 delicious, mouth watering recipes that you get to savour during the buffet meal served at the end of the demonstration.

How much? $35
Time? 2-6pm
Where? 23 Kurilpa Street West End
Contact? Candace on 3895 8944

Gayatri
Instructor
Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Equipment Required for Making Chutney

In a previous post, we discussed the origin of chutneys and how you can dress up a dhal or curry with a good chutney. We also gave some tips on other ways of serving chutneys, such as as a dip platter with a variety of chutneys, sour cream or natural yoghurt and chapatis or naan bread. In this post we will give some tips on they equipment needed for making chutneys and some ideas on adding flavours and preserving chutneys. I'll also be giving you a delicious chutney recipe.

Equipment needed:
• A stainless steel or enamel-lined pan that is large enough to contain all the ingredients (if you’re also a big jam maker it may be well worth in investing in a preserving pan). Brass, copper or iron pans should not be used as they react with the vinegar and give a metallic flavour to the chutney.
• Long-handled wooden spoon – this should be reserved for chutney-making only as the wood becomes impregnated with the spiciness of the chutney and will taint other recipes.
• Sieves – stainless steel or nylon
• Heatproof jug or wide necked stainless steel funnel - a heatproof glass, stainless steel or enamel jug is useful for pouring the chutney into the jars. Alternatively a wide necked stainless steel funnel or a large ladle can be used.
• Muslin or cotton squares – to tie up whole spices wanted for flavourings.
• Scales – preferably dual marked in metric and imperial.
• Chopping boards and stainless steel knife.
• Heat proof jars of assorted sizes. These should be clean, dry, sterilized and warm before pouring in the chutney. To sterilize the jars just before filling, put into a "cool" oven, 140°C.
• Covers – these are most important. Vinegar corrodes metal, so use plastic screw or snap-on type or plastic preserving skin. Specialist preserving or bottling jars are suitable, either with screw-on or clip-on lid, providing the lid is made of glass.
• Labels – For the front of the jars to identify the chutney and the date made.

Kerala Mango Achar (Mango chutney)

• Mangoes-2 Cut into small square pieces
• chilli pwd-4 T
• salt-3T
• Asafoetida-1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric pwd-1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds-1/2 teaspoon
• Oil -1 T

Heat oil in a pan.
To that add mustard seeds.
When it pops reduce heat to low and add chilli pwd, salt, asafoetida, turmeric and stir for about 3 min.

Turn off the heat.
Let it cool for a while.

Add this mixture to the cut mangoes and mix thoroughly.

Keep this for 7-8 days for the flavour to seep into mangoes.

You can add a little bit of distilled vinegar if you like.It will help to keep the freshness.

Gayatri

Instructor

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Parathas (buttery unleavened bread)

Paratha Ingredients:
· 4 cups of white flour or Whole Wheat Bread Flour - fine ground
· ½ tsp Salt
· Water, preferably warm (makes softer bread)
· 250g ghee or butter

Equipment:
· Bowl
· Rolling pin
· Cast Iron frying pan
· Heat source
· Cookie sheet or baking paper for putting the uncooked rolled out parathas on
· Dish or cake pan for putting cooked parathas on
· Foil to keep them warm

Method:
· Mix sifted flour and salt in a bowl
· Pour in enough water to make a soft dough (will depend on the flour) you can easily knead without having to add too much flour to the board or counter.
· Knead for a few minutes using additional flour to avoid sticking until the dough is smooth and elastic.
· Place the dough back in the bowl, spread it out, poke some holes in with your finger, and pour a little more (warm, or not is okay) water on the dough, cover, and let sit while you go do something else. This step is not necessary but makes the bread more tender.
· Come back and re-knead the dough just for a minute or two until it's smooth and cohesive.
· Chop or cut the dough into equal small egg-sized pieces
· Sprinkle a little flour on them to keep them from drying out.
· Take each segment of dough and roll into a round ball in your palms - either one by one as you roll them out with the rolling pin, or all at once.
· Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough a few mm thick.
· Brush some ghee, melted butter or oil over half the circle, and fold it over.
· Roll it out carefully again (it will form a sort of rounded triangle) and brush ghee over half of that, fold over, and roll out a bit again.
· Now, put a little ghee in the frying pan and fry the paratha in a sort of similar way, on medium heat - pressing/rubbing it a bit with a good sized spoon, and then turning over once or twice.

These puff up a little and usually get some dark brown spots here and there. Keep warm until ready to eat.

Gayatri
Australian School of Meditation an Yoga

Indian Chutneys - A Great Way to Dress up a Curry!

At the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga we often make delicious chutneys in our vegetarian cooking classes. Chutneys originaged in India and because we have quite a few Indian Vegetarian cooking classes, it is almost always part of the menu. Chutney's are a wonderful way to dress up any Indian dish.
Serve curries with a small bowl of natural yoghurt and of course one of the many different chutney recipes. There are so many varieties to choose from; pineapple, mango, peach, plum, apple, date and tamerind, tomato, fig, corriander, coconut and the list goes on. Add some bombay chips (made from chickpea flour - hot spicey and absolutely moorish), an ice cold strawberry or mango lassi on the side and instead of plain old curry and rice, you have an absolute feast. A great way to impress your guests with very little effort.
Dhals can also be dressed up with the above items and a light lunch or dinner idea would be to serve a bowls of chutneys and yoghurt with chapatis, puries or naan bread, or all three, as an Indian version of a dip platter. Dip platter are very popular now and are served at many restaurants and cafes, so try something a little different, an Indian version.

How to make good Chutney at Home
Chutneys originated in India – the name derived from the Hindu word chatni – but are now a very popular preserve all over the world. They are made from fruits or vegetables, or a mixture of the two, which are chopped, cooked, mixed with spices, vinegar and other ingredients and reduced to a smooth pulp. Unlike jam making, windfall apples, green tomatoes and other end-of-season fruit such as rhubarb can be used as there is no worry about the setting qualities. Dried fruit, especially grapes, in the form of raisins (dried white grapes usually of the variety 'Muscatel') sultanas (small raisins that are seedless, sweet, pale golden in colour) and currants (dried, black, seedless grapes) are commonly used. The scope of chutneys is endless and the combinations and permutations can be varied according to personal taste and the ingredients available. They can be sweet, sour, hot or mild. A big advantage to both fruit and vegetable chutneys is that they improve with age and, if properly stored, will remain in good condition for years.

Banana and Apricot Smoothie

250g fresh apricots
Large ripe banana
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Honey to taste

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and frothy

Gayatri
Australian School of Meditation

Matar Dal Bara (split-pea croquettes)

2 ½ cups plain yoghurt
1 ¾ cups green or yellow split-peas
2 tbs chopped coriander or parsley leaves
2 tbs grated fresh ginger
2 tbs ground coriander
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 fresh green chilli, seeded and minced
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp asafetida
5 tsp salt
4 ¼ cups warm water
ghee for deep-frying

· Soak the split-peas overnight in water twice their volume and drain well
· Blend the split-peas in an electric blender, adding just enough fresh water to make a very thick paste, scrape past into a bowl
· Add half of each spice to the paste, along with 1 teaspoon of the salt, mix well and set aside
· Reserve a teaspoon of the remaining salt and dissolve the rest into the warm water, set the water aside.
· Heat the ghee over medium heat, moisten your ands and form the paste into small patties
· Fry them in the ghee turning once or twice until they are nicely browned on all sides
· Remover the patties and let them drain over the ghee for a moment, then drop them into the salted water to soak for AT Least 15 minutes
· Combine the yoghurt with the remaining spices and salt in a bowl mixing well
· After the baras have soaked, remove them from the salted water and place them in a serving bowl, cover with the spiced yoghurt
· Bake in moderate oven for 20-30 minutes

Gayatri
Instructor
Australian School of Meditation

Aloo-Bonda (battered potato balls)

Batter
100g baisen flour (chick pea flour)
Salt
Pinch of baking powder
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
150 mls water
Ghee for deep frying

Filling
500g potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
2.5cm ginger root, peeled and finely grated or chopped
1-2 green chillis, chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Freshly gound black pepper to taste
Salt
2 teaspoons dry mango powder

· Sift flour and salt together with baking powder and chilli powder
· Add water and mix well to make a smooth batter
· If the batter is too thick add a little extra water
· If it is too thin add extra sifted baisen flour
· Put aside to rest
· In a large bowl, put cubed potates, coriander, ginger, chillis and lemon juice
· Mix well and sprinkle with pepper, salt and mango powder
· Mix well and take a small lump to form a smooth ball the size of a gold ball
· Mould remaining mixture in the same way.
· Heat oil and dip potato bonda in baisen batter
· Coat well and slide into ghee
· Fry a few at a time until the bonda are golden brown
· Drain on kitchen paper
· Serve hot

Gayatri
Instructor
Australian School of Meditation