It's amazing what *doesn't* change. I've had a perfectly abnormal year, as we all have, with the small advantage that I've missed out on at least 40% of the birthday-Christmas overeating bloat. I therefore didn't spend last week eating nothing but herbs and miso. But this week, as if none of that mattered, I have flipped into my post-Christmas Give Me Spice mode. Enough chestnuts, cream and sultanas. I want something that zings. Today: double zing.
Lunch is back to being soup, and this week's soup is a butternut squash one (sweat an onion, add spices, then add cubed squash, fresh ginger, tomato puree, water, seasoning and cook for 25 mins or so). The interesting thing - aside from the fact I'm now out of tomato puree, something I previously considered to be physically impossible to achieve - is the spice.
It's a berbere mix - coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, paprika, fenugreek, chilli, ginger, cinnamon, all that sort of deal. I made this myself from a book recipe, but broadly as at the linked recipe. What I didn't do was use a spice grinder, so I cheated as much as possible, with ground cardamom and cloves (the latter leftovers from my grandmother's kitchen, which were far from new when she died this week in 1998...). It's wildly inauthentic this way, but it's still super warming.
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| Halfhearted pestling to avoid getting too much whole fenugreek |
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| It's a good week for big vats of soup |
Whereas for dinner, I let someone else do the hard work. This time two years ago I was just getting myself together to do a fortnight's secondment in York in February. It was a great time out of my regular job, but it was also accompanied by some excellent shopping advice. Go to Rafi's Spicebox, they said. You'll thank us. I did, and I did. And back when I thought I might need Christmas presents for my usual 15 people or so, I remembered this, and shopped. (They sound a bit stressed by demand at the moment as they've just closed their shops, but keep this link... They do brilliant fresh spice mixes as well as the dry ones I ordered a while back). I got a dry spice blend for a 2-3 person Indian feast, which in true Confined Kitchen style, I'm splitting across four meals in two weeks.
This week, cos veganish: carrot salad and Bombay aloo. Both are doable from home spices, especially the carrots. I just felt laaaaazy.
Carrot salad: grate carrots, dress with a pinch of salt, a bigger pinch of sugar, a big squoze of lemon.
Bombay aloo: boil potatoes till done. Meanwhile, sweat off an onion with the spice mix (which you'll have to work out from a recipe - this sort of deal).
Mix the potato chunks with the onions. Finish it off with tomatoes, coriander and lemon juice.
Devour cheerfully. Possibly being thankful you left someone else to measure out all the spices. If someone could just remind me that since it's cold and my fridge is exploding I've put the leftovers in the oven to keep for tomorrow, that would be helpful. Pretty sure I'm not using the oven for anything else till then.
Yes please to that Bombay aloo, it looks yummy. And why is it for all the years I lived in or near York I didn't know about Raffi's Spice Box - sigh...
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