I thought this was the most magical compromise that I probably enjoyed even more than the original!

This is a HUGE portion and will make a hearty portion for 6-8 eager adults.

INGREDIENTS
Rice Flour 6 heaped tbsps
Almond Meal* 2 heaped tbsps
Ghee / Butter 1/2 cup, about 125 gms
Cardamom Powder 1 tbsp
Vanilla Ice Cream 1 2 liter tub

METHOD
– In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the ghee or butter on a medium heat.
– Add the rice flour along with the almond meal and cook till the flour is a very light brown (take care as you don’t want the flour to burn).
– The cardamom powder goes next. Mix well.
– Scoop about a quarter of the tub of the vanilla ice cream and while it’s melting, keep an eye out for any lumps. You might need to use a whisk if you spot any.
– Add the rest of the ice cream and let slowly melt.
– Keep the heat relatively low and heat this decadent mixture right through while stirring occasionally to ensure that the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom.
– Pour into individual ramekins or containers and sprinkle a bit of cardamom. Other garnish options – crushed pistachios, slivered almonds or edible roses & flowers.
– You could also leave to rest in a wide dish and scoop out individual portions while serving.

Delicious hot or cold!

*Use an additional spoonful of rice flour if you have nut allergies.

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The flip side is that the bread consumption has nearly doubled!
Especially we have also taken to making our own butter (our 12 year is a great butter churner!)

This is a basic, white loaf. No kneading required and I get two decent sized loaves at the end of a day.

Warm water 2.5 cups
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Yeast 1 tbsp

Flour 4 cups + 2 cups
Oil 1/4 cup
Salt 1 tsp

– Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water and leave aside to activate.
– When the yeast is nice & bubbly, mix well.
– Add the oil and salt and give it a quick stir.
– Pour this into a big bowl and add the 4 cups of flour into the yeast slurry.
– Mix well with a wooden paddle and leave covered to proof.
– When the mixture has doubled, stir again.
– Add the additional 2 cups of flour and mix again.
– Spray your hands generously with oil and divide the dough into 2.
– Line 2 loaf tins with baking paper.
– Form a log like shape, tucking the edges on the underside and put into loaf tins.
– Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise.
– When the dough is well risen, bake at 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

We’ve been using this for sandwiches as well as toast.
I’ve yet to play with seeds and other grains to make this a “healthier” option.

An aside – I have noticed that you don’t really need to knead the dough to get a great bread. But there seems to be a difference in the texture of the loaf when you pour the flour into the yeasty slurry. It seems to be better – softer and nicer.

This is a slow, whole day process but I find that it’s easy enough to do as there’s actually very little to be done.

Let me know if you make this.

The post Basic Bread Loaf appeared first on Mixed Roots.

Add your favourite salad dressing or a splash of good quality oil, lemon juice, salt and pickled onions.

We love this salad through the year. In the summer, it is what my heart (and belly!) desire, and in the winter, it helps cut through the heaviness of most winter meals and brings a zesty freshness.

Don’t ask me for proportions and quantities on this salad – eyeball your ingredients and let your taste buds decide how much you want of any of the ingredients (and also how much you have of anything in your fridge!)

The post Crunchy & Fresh Salad appeared first on Mixed Roots.

Cucumber – 1 whole.
Sliced lengthwise in half, smashed with the blunt edge of your biggest knife and then chopped coarsely into chunks.
Pics Smoochy Peanut Butter 1 tbsp
Hot Stuff Curry Oil 2 tbsp
Coconut Cream 2 tbsp (ish)
Vinegar – a splash.
In a large container with a lid, toss all the ingredients together.
Close the lid and give it a really good shake making sure that all the cucumber is well coated.
Serve with the crunchy & moreish Sago fritters, or just with some grilled lamb.

The post Smashed Cucumber Salad appeared first on Mixed Roots.

I thought it would be in keeping with the theme to demonstrate these crispy Sago & peanut savoury fritters that are traditionally cooked during “Shraddh”, a Hindu ritual performed over a fortnight to honour the deceased. And to add a contemporary twist to it, we served it with the trending Smashed Cucumber salad!

Sago pearls 1 cup
(Soaked in water for at least 4 hours. You could leave them overnight.)
Mashed Potatoes 1 cup (about 4 medium sized Agria spuds)
Crushed Peanuts 4 tbsps
Finely Chopped Onions 1 small
Chopped Coriander small handful
Chopped Green Chilli – optional
Anything Mix Spice Blend 2 tbsps
Neutral Oil – for deep frying

Drain the sago well in a sieve. Use a wide bowl and press down in the sieve to get rid of as much water as possible. (If you leave it too wet, your fritter mix will disintegrate while frying.)
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Heat a pan with at least 4 inches worth of oil till hot.
While the oil is heating, form the spiced sago / potato mix into patties.
When the oil is hot enough*, carefully put in about 4 patties at a time to fry. Turn over after 3 minutes or so and cook the other side.
Fry till the fritters are a nice, crispy golden brown.
Remove with a slotted spoon, hold against the side of the pan to drain as much oil as possible and then sit on some paper towels to absorb any excess oil that might remain.
Serve with the Smashed Cucumber Salad and Pickled Onions, or just with some of our incredible Hot Stuff Curry Oil and a swirl of plain yoghurt.

*To check if the oil has come to temperature, put a tiny bit of the mixture into the pan. If it sinks to the bottom and then floats up within about 3 seconds, the oil is ready to use. If it’s smoking, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. Oil that is too hot will burn the outside and not cook the food through. If the oil isn’t hot enough, your food will absorb too much oil and leave a nasty coating inside your mouth.

The post Savoury, Crispy Sago Fritters appeared first on Mixed Roots.

Don’t be intimidated by glancing across this recipe; it’s actually very simple! (And delicious!)

Gujiya
(A sweet, festive, Indian “empanada”)

Flaky Pastry Sheets 4

Ghee (clarified butter) 2 + 2 tbsp
Mixed Nuts & Raisins (chopped up) 1/2 cup
(I like a mix of cashews, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts & cranberries, rather than the traditional raisins)
Desiccated Coconut 1/3 cup
Milk Powder 1/2 cup
Masala Chai Honey 2-3 tbsps

Sugar Syrup
Water 1/3 cup
White Sugar 1/2
Rose Water 1 tsp (optional)
Or rose petals (optional)

– Thaw out the flaky pastry sheets as per instructions.
– Cut into quarters and if you wanted a more “traditional” approach, use a large cookie cutter or tumbler to cut into large disks.
You will get 16 nice sized “Gujiyas”.

– In a heavy bottomed pan, warm the 2 tbsps of the Ghee. When melted, add the milk powder.
– Cook on a medium heat till well incorporated and this is a nice, caramelised but crumbly texture.
– Remove and set aside.
– Use the same pan for the nuts & coconut.

– Blitz the nuts & raisins (or cranberries) till coarse. Or pound in a mortar & pestle.
– Mix with the desiccated coconut.
– Melt the remaining 2 tbsps of ghee along with the Masala Chai honey and toast the nuts & raisins & coconut mix.
– Add the crumbly milk powder mix.
– Mix well. You should have a sticky mixture.

– Spoon this into the pastry disks, taking care not to put too much.
– Fold the pastry in half and seal the edges using a fork.
– If you’re feeling adventurous twirl the edges to give a rounded feel.
– On the other hand, if you don’t want to be bothered with cutting into disks, you could always just use the squares and fold into triangles.

– Bake in an oven pre-heated to 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or till golden brown.
– You could glaze the pastries with an egg or milk wash for a sheen.

While these are cooking, make the sugar syrup.
– Mix the water & sugar in a pan. (if you’re using rose petals, add them now).
– Bring to rolling boil and simmer on a low heat for about 3-5 minutes.
– If you’re using rose water, add it towards the end.

When the Gujiyas are baked and still very hot, dunk into the sugar syrup using tongs and let them sit on a cookie cooling sheet to drain off any excess syrup.

When cooled, garnish with slivered almonds & pistachios and rose petals (or even edible silver foil, if you’re feeling grand!).

These will last for a week or so in the fridge (but lose their crispyness).
You could just fill and freeze the Gujiyas to cook at a later date.

I have substituted milk powder for “Mawa” – milk solids. The Masala Chai Honey is a nice spicy touch. You could use plain honey or even soft brown sugar, instead. If you love cranberries as much as I do, why not go all out and use our Yuletide Spiced Honey, instead!? 😉
You can use unsalted butter instead of ghee.
The cranberries bring a lovely tartness to another wise sweet & heavy dessert. Also, I can’t stand the taste of cooked raisins! Hah!

… Image Unsplash

The post “Gujiya” // Sweet, festive Indian “empanadas” appeared first on Mixed Roots.

1 cup of cooked rice
1 tsp of Hot Stuff Curry Oil
1 Egg
Handful of Grated Cheese (I used some generic cheese, some parmesan and a smidge of creamy blue)
Chopped Spring Onion
Chopped Coriander
️Chopped Green Chilli
Pinch of Salt

Mix it all up well. You get a sticky mixture.
Heat your waffle iron.
Spray some oil to prevent sticking.
Put a generous helping of the spiced rice and spread evenly.
Shut and cook till your Rice Waffle attains the level of crispy crunchiness you desire.

️ I had mine with some sweet chilli sauce.
It was SUPER YUMMY!

I also made them fairly thin and got about 6 generous sized waffles. Some got put some in an airtight container and I snacked on them the next day for lunch.

These will go into the repertoire of regulars and will also feature on my next charcuterie board to replace crackers. SO much better – and no nasties!

Let me know if you try this.

The post Spiced Rice “Waffles” appeared first on Mixed Roots.

Hard-boiled Eggs 12-14
Good Quality Mayonnaise 3-4 tbsps
Salt & Pepper to taste
Water Chestnuts (chopped up) 3-4
Chopped Chives
Golden Breadcrumbs with a generous pinch of Hurry Curry Spice Blend – 2 tbsp

Shell the eggs.
Cut in half – lengthwise.
Scoop out the yolks and mash with the Mayonnaise, salt & pepper, chopped water chestnuts and chopped chives.
(We love the home-made mayo at home – when I get around to making it! Otherwise, our preferred shop-bought jars come from Culley’s.)
(If you want to / could be bothered to) Scoop the mashed, spiced yolks into a piping bag and swirl into the hollowed out eggs. Otherwise spoon them in.
Garnish with some more chopped chives and the spiced breadcrumbs for extra oomph.

The post Devilled Eggs appeared first on Mixed Roots.

*Yolks of 2 large eggs

* Neutral Oil 1 cup

* White Vinegar 2 tbsps

* Caster sugar 1 tsp

* Salt 1/2 tsp

* Mustard 1 tsp (I prefer using dried, whole mustard seeds which I pulverize in a mortar & pestle, but feel free to use 1/2 tsp of English mustard)

– separate the yolks into a bowl and mix on high roll creamy & fluffy (you really don’t want to skimp on this step or you risk chucking all your ingredients down the toilet!)

– when nice & creamy, keep adding a bit of oil at a time, making sure it’s all mixed in before you add some more

– when all the oil is well & truly incorporated and it looks like what mayonnaise is meant to look like, add the dry ingredients and give it all a final mix

– taste to see if it needs anything more in there

– transfer into a clean jar with a lid 
Keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

I usually do a double batch once a fortnight and I always lick my fingers when I clean the edges

The post Mayonnaise appeared first on Mixed Roots.

Kalpana. x

SPICY TOMATO (AND MIXED VEG) SOUP

*Asstd Diced Tomatoes – 4 cups (ish)
Seasonal Diced veges – pumpkin, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes – 2 cups
Chopped Onion 1 medium
Garlic Cloves 6
Bay leaf 1
Basil 1 tbsp**
Crushed Fennel Seeds 1 tsp
Anything Mix Spice Blend 2 tsp
Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Freshly cracked pepper (to taste)
Olive Oil / a generous slug
Water 1 ltr
To serve – torn basil leaves / fresh cream
METHOD
– In a heavy bottomed stock pot or pan, heat the olive oil along with the bay leaf.
– When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and garlic.
– Once the onions turn translucent, add the sugar and let caramelise.
– Stir occasionally (if you stir too often, the onions don’t sit on the hot surface long enough to caramelise and will actually take longer to cook!)
– Add the tomatoes, basil (if using dried), fennel along with salt & pepper and the Anything Mix. Stir in well.
– Cook together about 5 minutes till the tomatoes turn a rich red colour.
– Add the assortment of diced veg and mix till coated in the spicy tomato sauce.
– Add water, cover and bring to the boil. Start with about half the water and add as much to bring to your preferred consistency, while ensuring the veggies are cooked.
**If you’re using fresh basil leaves, add now.
– Fish the bay leaf out and using a stick blender, blitz to your preferred consistency.
– We love this with a drizzle of fresh cream and a sprinkling of some more Anything Mix on top.

Serve with some crusty bread.

This also makes a great base sauce for pasta or pots of chilli, or even a pizza sauce!

(You could always use stock in place of water. Just cut down on the salt.)

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