When we first came back to the UK Sera hated British food, every time we were faced with a buffet I was left with a grumpy hangry man so I set about spicing up everyday foods. This recipe stuck with us and has found a place beyond our own table.
In a large mixing bowl mix the pork mince, ginger, masala, turmeric, coriander, and salt together until everything is evenly combined. Set the pork mixture aside while you roll out the pastry to roughly 50cm | 20 inches long by 16cm | 6 ½ inches wide. Place the pork mixture in an even sausage shape on top of the pastry, close to the edge of the long side. Carefully roll the pastry tightly around the pork and seal the edges well with a little water. Wisk the egg and brush it all over the top of the pastry, sprinkle with sesame seeds then cut into 8 equal sized rolls. Place the rolls on a lined baking tray and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until the pastry is a rich golden brown. Allow the pastries to cool a little before serving.
Winter nights in the Himalayas can leave you cold to your bones and wanting hot chocolate. In the early days hot chocolate simply wasn’t available, what we had was bars of the worst chocolate known to man. Nuclear fusion couldn’t get that stuff to melt. What I did discover was that smashed in a pestle and mortar with powdered milk, spices and rum transformed the chocolate into a paste that was surprisingly good as hot chocolate. This is the updated version that is, thankfully, a lot less work, rum and a dollop of cream optional.
Ingredients
100 grams | 3 ½ oz good quality dark chocolate
50 grams | 2 oz good quality white chocolate
1 ½ tablespoons Chai mountain masala or cinnamon
½ tablespoon cornflour
Method
Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a food processor with the masala (cinnamon if you’re using it) and cornflour and blitz until you have a mixture that is as powdery as you can get it. Store in an airtight container.
To make the hot chocolate
Place 2 tablespoons chocolate mix into a cup or mug. Heat the milk until just boiling and pour over the chocolate stir well until all the chocolate has melted. Add sugar to taste.
The amount of chocolate you add to your milk is down to personal preference, I have said 2 tablespoons for a starting point, please adjust the amount to suit you.
Driving through central Nepal on the way back from a rafting trip I spotted some elderflowers and had to collect some. They made a passable cordial and massively improved a ‘local’ gin and tonic.
Ingredients
20 fresh elderflower heads, rinsed and picked over to get rid of any bugs
1 lemon
25 g citric acid
750 ml | 3 cups boiling water
750 g | 1 lb 10 ½ oz white sugar
Method
Carefully peel the zest from the lemon trying not to get any white pith in the zest, then peel or cut the white pith from the lemons and throw it away. Roughly chop the lemon flesh. Place the sugar, citric acid, and lemon in to a large bowl and pour the boiling water over them, stir until the sugar has dissolved. Leave the mixture to cool down to blood temperature, before adding the elder flower heads. Cover with a lid or cloth and leave the mixture to infuse for 24 hours.
After 24 hours strain the elderflower mixture through a muslin cloth or jelly bag, and bottle in sterilized bottles. Your cordial is ready to drink straight away and will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.
Serve diluted with water or sparkling water to taste.
Tip
If you want to keep your cordial out of the fridge and for a longer time, add ¼ of a well crushed Camden tablet, make sure the tablet is completely dissolved before you bottle your cordial. Camden tablets are readily available from home brewing and wine making suppliers they contain sulphites so check for allergies before you use them.
Lassi, the go to cooling summer drink, just visit Indrachowk in Kathmandu and check out the queues at the lassi wallah stalls. Until recently lassi wasn’t that well known in the UK. It was the exotic drink parents would get for kids in the restaurant and first choice whenever I wanted cool mum points from my kids friends. Then one day for no apparent reason, other than why not?, I started putting alcohol in my lassi and have never looked back.
Ingredients
5 medium ripe strawberries
2 tablespoons Cointreau, Adult optional extra
120 ml | ½ cup milk
120 ml | ½ cup plain unsweetened live yoghurt
3 to 4 ice cubes
1 tablespoon granulated sugar or to taste
Method
Place all the ingredients in a liquidiser and blitz for 2 to 3 minutes, check the sweetness and add more sugar if you prefer. Strain into a glass and serve.
For a thicker Lassie use 240 ml | 1 cup of yoghurt and omit the milk
No-one tells you that summer monsoon rains are really cold. After a good Kathmandu night out I felt we could do with making some hearty bean soup and totally misjudged the quantity of beans to soak. Next morning I woke to beans spilling out all over the kitchen and a mildly annoyed mother-in-law. Embarrassed and with a slight air of panic, I cooked all the beans and made a curry leaving everyone to believe that’s what I intended all along.
Ingredients
100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried kidney beans
100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried yellow peas
100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried black eye peas
100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried chickpeas
100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried green peas
Water as needed
60 ml | ¼ cup vegetable oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 inch piece fresh ginger (approx.10 grams), finely sliced then cut into very fine matchsticks
2 teaspoons salt
2 dried red chillies preferably Kashmiri
1 teaspoon Yak Yeti Yak or garam masala
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
To finish
60 ml l ¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
Method
Place all the beans and peas in a large bowl and cover them with 2 inches of water. Soak the beans overnight or for up to 24 hours when you’re ready to cook the beans, throw away the soaking water and rinse them well. To cook the beans, place them in a heavy pan with a well fitted lid, add enough water to cover the beans by 1 inch and set the pan on a high heat until they come to the boil. Boil the beans vigorously for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the heat to a slow boil until the beans are soft, set them aside in a bowl, keep the cooking liquor. Wash and dry the pan ready for the next step.
Make sure the pan is completely dry then, heat the oil to medium hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, and salt cook until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add the chopped tomato and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato has softened and the oil starts to pool and separate from the tomato. Add the masala and turmeric stir and cook for about 1 minute before adding the beans, add in enough cooking water to cover the beans and the salt stir well and place a lid on the pan, simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Squash a few beans against the side of the pan to thicken the gravy and continue to let the curry simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes.
While the beans are simmering heat the oil in a small frying pan until it’s very hot add the cumin seeds, as soon as they start to pop add the sliced garlic and allow the mixture to fry until the garlic turns golden brown. Quickly pour the sizzling garlic mixture to the beans, it will fizz ferociously, stir well and check for seasoning. Set a curry aside for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
If you prefer to use tinned beans. Use one tin each of five different beans, empty all the beans from the tins discard juice and rinse them thoroughly before using them.
The go to midweek meal for us, inspired by Norbu Linka a small hole in the wall restaurant in Lazimpath, Kathmandu. Run by an elderly Tibetan couple, this was the lunch spot for everyone working in the area, the fried rice with chilli vinegar was my lunch everyday. Norbu Linka is long gone now but it lives on in spirit at least.
Ingredients
100 ml | 3 ½ fluid oz rape seed oil
5 cups cooked rice, fluffed and grains separated
1 teaspoon whole cumin
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 inch fresh ginger finely sliced and cut into small match sticks
1 fresh green finger chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Kathmandu or garam masala
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken
½ cup frozen peas
2 small carrots peeled and cut into batons
½ red pepper, deseeded and cut into thin batons
60 ml | 2 fluid oz water
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Method
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan until it’s medium hot, add the cumin seeds and fry until the seeds start to pop about 30 seconds. Add the onion, ginger, chilli, salt, and garlic and fry until the onion is just starting to turn translucent. Sprinkle the masala, and turmeric over the onion and stir gently so the spices start to cook (about 1 minute). Add all the vegetables and the chicken to the pan and gently stir-fry until the carrots start to soften. Stir the rice stirring into the vegetables pour once each grain is coated in oil and there are no lumps left, add the water and continue to fry for until all the water has evaporated and the rice is well heated all the way through. If you like your rice crispy, fry it for longer. Just before serving pour the soy sauce over the rice and check for seasoning.
