Roasted broccoli

Make a dressing with the juice of a lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil. Add torn fresh basil, oregano or thyme (optional).

Break into florets, place on a baking tray and scatter with thinly sliced garlic. Roast at 180°C until broccoli is beginning to brown. Scatter with crushed walnuts and return to hot oven for 2 minutes. Immediately grate a little parmesan over the broccoli. Once the cheese has melted, add broccoli to the dressing and mix well until the dressing has all been absorbed.

Minced pigeon with lettuce leaves

Minced pigeon, or lean minced chicken or pork
1 TBS Hoisin sauce
1 TBS Chili bean sauce
1 TBS Rice wine
1 TBS Soya sauce
2 tsp Cornflour
A few crushed Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
Water chestnuts, quartered
Ginger (if not using Sichuan peppercorns)
Lettuce leaves
Spring onions

Mix first 6 or 7 ingredients and leave to marinade for 20 minutes.

Warm ginger in oil, and add marinaded meat to wok before ginger starts to brown. Stir fry until mince is cooked then add water chest nuts and warm through.

Serve up the dry mince/water chestnut mix with large lettuce leaves and chopped spring onions on the side to include in lettuce wraps.

Canary Burritos

Canary burritos

First, separate your canaries into green and yellow piles, for the green and yellow sauces used to top this dish.

Just kidding. Actually, you should make a tomatillo sauce (green) and buy a jar of old el paso cheese and red pepper dip (yellow), as the name refers to the dishes colours. You’ll also need a tin of refried beans and I’m yet to find a brand that tastes as good as old el paso and some tortillas, where supermarket and other brands are generally pretty good.

A pack of flour or corn tortillas
Tomatillo sauce
1/3 of a jar of old el paso cheese and red pepper dip
2 tins of black beans
2 tins of tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 large onions, one thinly sliced and one finely diced
2 bell peppers, any colour, thinly sliced
1 heaped TBS cumin
2 heaped TBS oregano
Chili sauce or chilli powder/flakes or fresh chilli, finely diced
1 pint of cheap lager
1 tin of sweetcorn, or 2 if the tiny ones

Prepare the drunken beans filling for the green burritos by:

• Fry diced onion until translucent
• Add garlic and fresh chilli (if using) and continue frying until onions begin to caramelise
• Add cumin and fry for a few minutes
• Add strained liquid from tomatoes and continue to fry
• Finely chop (don’t blend) tomatoes and when contents of pan are largely dry, add these and fry vigorously.
• When the tomatoes have broken down a bit, add chilli products (if not using fresh chili), the drained black beans and sweetcorn, the oregano and the lager
• Cook until liquid has reduced and the remaining sauce is thick

Prepare the filling for the yellow burritos by:

• frying the sliced onion and peppers until slightly caramelised and warming refried beans in the microwave.

To finish the dish:
• Alternate drunken bean burritos with refried bean burritos, topping each with tomatillo sauce or cheese dip respectively
• Bake at 180C until the cheese starts to brown

Bhindi do-pyaza

do-pyaza = double the (usual quantity of) onions

1/4 kg fresh tender lady’s finger, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 kg onions, finely sliced
1 large tomato, finely chopped
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1″ ginger piece, grated
big pinch turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp garam masala powder (optional)
1/2 tsp kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
salt to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp coriander leaves
1 1/4 tbsp oil
1 Wash and dry the okra thoroughly (dry with a kitchen towel). Trim the ends and cut them into one inch pieces.
2 Heat one fourth tbsp of oil in a cooking vessel. Add the sliced okra pieces and stir fry them till they are three-fourth cooked. Constantly stir fry on medium to ensure they don’t burn or stick to the pan. Add salt and turmeric powder and remove.
3 In the same pan, add the remaining oil. Add the cumin seeds and toss for 8-10 seconds. Add the, grated ginger and immediately add the sliced onions and saute till they are transparent yet crisp.
4 Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and saute for 2-3 mts. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook further for another 4-5 mts.
5 Now add the stir fried okra and combine well and cook further uncovered for 12-15 mts. Add kasoori methi, sugar and lemon juice. Combine well and adjust salt. Turn off heat.
6 Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with hot rotis or rice.