Pomelo Salad Yam Som-O ยำส้มโอ

  

400 G PRAWNS, SHELLED AND CLEANED 
2 C POMELO OR GRAPEFRUIT, PEELED AND DEMEMBRANED 
2 FRESH CHILIES (SMALL), ONE GREEN ONE RED 
1 MEDIUM ONION, FINELY CHOPPED 
3 SPRING ONIONS, CHOPPED 
3 CLOVES GARLIC, FINELY CHOPPED 
2 TBSP PEANUT/VEGETABLE OIL 
3/4 C DESICATED COCONUT 
1/2 C COCONUT CREAM 
1/4 C PEANUTS 
1 TBSP SOY SAUCE (FOR TOASTING THE PEANUTS) 
1 TBSP BUTTER, SALTED 
1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER, CRACKED 
2 TBSP LIME JUICE 
2 TBSP FISH SAUCE 
1/2 TBSP SUGAR (DEMERARA) 
CHOPPED MINT AND CORIANDER TO GARNISH

Asian Chopping Board Series: There is something about the tartness and bitterness of Grapefruit that I find so refreshing, which interestingly enough I have only acquired a taste for in the last few years. For me, Grapefruit is the ultimate thirst quencher immediately after a hard workout session at the gym. I knew when I stumbled across this salad that it was going to become one of my favourite dishes, rich in Thai flavours and bursting with the zesty grapefruit flavour. This Thai salad is traditionally made with Pomelos, which are native to Thailand and Southeast Asia. This fruit is a lot sweeter than the Grapefruit and does not have the bitter flavour common to Grapefruits. This said, I have use Grapefruit in the salad, and find the combination of flavours rich and harmonious. Enjoy!    

PREPARATION  

Start by peeling the Pomelo/Grapfruit and breaking it into segments. Next, remove the outer membrane from each of the segments and gently separate the rubies between your fingers.

Fry the chopped onion, chili, spring onion and garlic in a hot pan with the peanut/vegetable oil till the onions brown and caramelise slightly, this should take about 8 to 10 minutes. Next, stir in the coconut cream, while still on the heat and cook in for about 2 minutes, the sauce will take on a brown colour.

In a separate pan dry toast the coconut on a medium-high heat till lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Toss the pan continuously or use a spatula to move the coconut around as you do not want to burn the coconut, once it is toasted, remove from the pan and set aside. In the same hot pan add the peanuts and the soy sauce swirling the pan to rotate the peanuts through the sauce allowing it to coat, and cook onto the peanuts. The peanuts should take about 5 minutes to toast. Set the toasted peanuts aside.

In a large frying pan, on a medium-high heat fry the prawns in the salted butter and black pepper. They should take about 5 to 7 minutes to cook and will turn a bright orange colour when they are ready. Once they are cooked, set aside.

In a large salad bowl, toss together the Pomelo/Grapefruit, coconut cream mixture, toasted coconut, toasted peanuts, and the cooked prawns. Dissolve the sugar in the lime sauce and fish sauce and pour the sauce over the Pomelo and Prawn salad. Lastly, season with salt and garnish with chopped mint and coriander.       

    

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THAI POMELO SALAD

JAMUN SISTAS

  

1 1/4 CUPS MILK POWDER

1/3 CUP CAKE FLOUR

2 TBSP BUTTER, LEVELED

1/2 CUP EVAPORATED MILK

1/2 TSP BAKING POWDER
OIL FOR DEEP-FRYING

SYRUP:

2 CUPS SUGAR

2 CUPS WATER

2 TBSP ROSE WATER

5 CARDAMOMS, CRUSHED

GARNISH:
LEMON ZEST
COCONUT AND 

TOASTED ALMONDS

A while back at the Eastern Food Bazaar in Cape Town, I was introduced to these amazing little fried Indian desserts called Gulab Jamun. They were brought in fresh each week from Durban and sold at the bazaar. I have been wanting to do a Gulab Jamun recipe for a long time now, but thought I would give it a little bit of a "twist" excuse the pun :). Another amazing Indian dessert to try out is Barfi, these two desserts are most definitely at the top of my list of unforgettables ... Enjoy! 

PREPARATION  

Prepare the syrup, by bringing the water sugar and crushed cardamoms to a boil in a saucepan for one minute. Once the minute is up, add the rose water and set aside in the fridge to cool.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together the milk powder, cake flour and baking powder. Crumble in the butter and mix well, rubbing the butter with the powders between your fingers. Next add the evaporated milk and mix; a soft sticky dough should form. Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap it in some greaseproof paper and place it in the freezer for a half an hour. 

Remove the dough from the freezer, dust a working surface with some cake flour and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/2 cm. Cut rectangles of 8 cm x 3 cm. Making two vertical slits down the short end of the rectangles reaching to 1/2 cm from the end, plait the three strips into a koeksister and pinch together the loose ends.

Deep-fry the Jamunsisters in a frying pan on a medium heat. They should take 5 to 7 minutes to fry, remember to keep turning the Jamunsisters to ensure even browning on both sides. Fry until the Jamunsisters become dark brown, they will expand to double their size so give them enough space.

Once dark brown, remove the Jamunsisters from the hot oil and place them straight into the cool syrup. Leave the Jamunsisters in the syrup for at least 15 minutes before serving.     

Garnish with lemon zest, a sprinkling of coconut, some toasted almond slivers and serve with fresh vanilla ice cream. Makes 12 mini Jamunsisters, I would suggest doubling the recipe if you are serving more than four people.      

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JAMUNSISTERS

INDIE-AFRICAN MIELIE MEAL PUDDING

I have a real treat for you guys today, a delicious recipe I tried out, which I have adapted from Maria Parloa's Delicate Indian Pudding. So, last Wednesday I was visiting a couple of friends and they were talking about organizing a couple of hope bags as a group for some of the people in the Masiphumelele settlement. One of the items that goes into the bag is a packet of mielie-meal (maize meal / corn meal), for some reason we got onto talking about how to cook and eat mielie-meal. Of course pap and wors was mentioned; then I heard an "Oh ... wow, I didn't know that you could make a pudding out of maize meal, I must try that. Look there is a recipe at the back of the bag." Funny enough it reminded me of when a couple years back, my mother used to cook up mielie-meal for the dog, with the left over gravy from Sunday roast (lucky bugger). Every now and then, I would steal some of "the dog's" mielie-meal and turn it into a pudding, much like one would make sago. Bringing it to boil in some milk, beating in an egg and sugar, and mixing in raisins, nuts and chopped cherries; it was quite delicious. 

All this thinking, brought me to the conclusion that I just had to do a post on baked mielie-meal pudding; which in addition is traditionally a staple South African food. So here is the recipe and boy will you love it, I have been eating it the whole week ... had to start gyming again.

1L MILK

3 TBSP MAPLE SYRUP

½ CUP RAISINS

2 TBSP MIELIE-MEAL, HEAPED

⅓ CUP FINE DESICCATED COCONUT

1 TBSP BUTTER

3 EGGS

1 TSP SALT

¼ TSP GINGER

¼ TSP CINNAMON

¼ CUP MARASCHINO CHERRIES, HALVED

PREPARATION Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat the milk, maple syrup and the raisins (I used a mixture of dried sultanas and raisins) in a double boiler, sprinkle in the mielie-meal and the coconut, and stir continuously. Cook for about 10 minutes; meanwhile beat the egg, salt, ginger and cinnamon till light and fluffy. Once the mielie-meal mixture is finished cooking, stir in the butter and remove from the heat. Next slowly add the mielie-meal mixture to the beaten egg, mixing it in gently and then fold in the Maraschino cherries. Bake at 180°C for 1 hour, or until golden brown.

Serve with pouring custard, fresh cream or my favourite, dusted with icing sugar and topped with crème fraîche. Tip: To prevent the pudding from caving in once the mielie-meal pudding is done, switch off the oven and leave the pudding to stand inside for about 5 minutes, before removing from the oven.

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INDIE-AFRICAN MIELIE MEAL PUDDING