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Mousakka
INGREDIENTS
To serve 4
2 medium aubergines
4 medium potatoes
2 medium courgettes
2 1/2 lbs minced lamb
1/2 lb grated white cheddar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Tomato sauce ingredients
1/2 lb ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 dessert spoons tomato puree
1 tbsp or so extra virgin olive oil
3 fat cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
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 Prepare all the vegetables by slicing the aubergines, courgettes and peeled potatoes into thin discs.
Place on separate plates and cover with a damp tea towel and set aside until needed.
Gently fry the onion and the crushed garlic in the olive oil until soft but not brown, about two minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato puree, then the oregano, pepper, cinnamon and salt to taste. Stir, then
turn the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer.
In another pan brown the minced lamb, and when it is a good colour add about half the tomato sauce mix
well.
When that's done, turn the mince out into a bowl into a bowl and wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
Now add another glug of oil and gently fry, separately, the aubergine, courgette and potato discs until
each vegetable is softened but not brown.
They're all going to be cooked again in the oven, so being completely cooked through is not the object.
As each is done, dry them on some kitchen paper.
Now assemble the Moussaka. In a reasonably deep baking dish spread the remaining tomato sauce in a layer
over the bottom.
Then add about one quarter of the minced lamb mix, followed, one by one, by a quarter of the potatoes,
then courgettes and, finally, aubergines.
Keep layering everything in this order until everything is finished - you should end up with four
layers in total.
Sprinkle the grated cheese in a layer over the top and put the dish into a pre-heated 180 degreen oven
and cook, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden-brown on top.
Alternatively, as you are building up the layers of meat and vegetables in the baking dish you can add
a sprinkling of cheese on top of each line of fried aubergines.
However, just make sure you've enough left for a good sprinkling of cheese on the top. This makes the
dish nice and gooey in the centre.
Just before he serves this Abraham (head chef at The Silk Road Cafe) normally garnishes the top of the
dish with freshly roasted red peppers.
At home you can get away with using some good quality Italian peppers from a jar. |
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Hummus
INGREDIENTS
To
serve 4
240g
cooked chickpeas
3
tablespoons of tahini
Juice
of 1 lemon
1
handful mint
3
tablespoons olive
oil
2
cloves garlic
Pinch
of salt
˝
teaspoon ground cumin |
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Add
all the ingredients to a food processor and blend until it has a
runny consistency.
Silk
Road
Café note:
If
you would like your hummus spicy you can add a bit of ground chilli.
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Falafel
INGREDIENTS
To serve 4
200 g chickpeas,
soaked over night & drained
1 handful of finely
chopped parsley
3
cloves crushed garlic
3
teaspoons ground cumin
2
finely chopped white onions
1
teaspoon salt
1
teaspoon ground nutmeg
1
handful of finely chopped coriander
1
teaspoon baking powder
Pinch
of pepper
˝
sesame seeds
Olive
oil for deep-frying
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Place
the drained chickpeas in a food processor and blend.
Add
the parsley, garlic, cumin, onions, salt, nutmeg, coriander, baking
powder and pepper. Blend until it has a fine consistency.
Allow
the mixture to rest for 30 minutes.
Form
the mixture into 8 small balls. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on each
falafel and fry them in olive oil until brown and
crispy.
Silk
Road
Café note:
You
do not have to use olive oil to fry the falafels. Any vegetable oil
is suitable.
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Lamb with okra
INGREDIENTS
To serve 4
˝kg
lamb sliced
2
tablespoons olive oil
200g
fresh okra
3
cloves crushed garlic
2
finely chopped white onions
200g
tomatoes cut into pieces
2
teaspoons tomato puree
1
teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch
of salt and pepper
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Boil
the lamb in 1 litre of water for 40 minutes.
Cut
the tops of the okra, if the okra are very large cut them in half.
Add
the oil to a pan. Shallow fry the garlic and onion till
golden.
Add
the fresh tomato, tomato paste, cumin, salt and
pepper.
Drain
the lamb from the stock and add the lamb to the sauce. Make sure you
keep the stock the lamb has cooked in.
Then
add the okra and fry everything together for 10
minute.
Add
the stock from the lamb to the dish and simmer for 30 minutes.
Serve
with rice.
Silk
Road
Café note:
If
you can’t find fresh okra you can use frozen. You do not need to cut
or clean the frozen okra just defrost and add to the dish.
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Turkish chicken
INGREDIENTS
To serve 4
4 filets of chicken
1 tub of Greek yoghurt, 250 ml
Juice of 3 lemons
4 tbsp of Olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp Turmeric
1/2 tbsp of chilli powder
1/2 tbsp of cumin
1/2 tbsp of sea salt
1/4 Black Pepper
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Mix the Greek
yoghurt with the lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, chilli, cumin, sea salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Slice
the chicken fillets half way through and marinade the chicken in the yoghurt mixture for approximately 1 hour.
Place the chicken in a baking tray. Cover with tin foil and bake the chicken in the oven at 170 degrees for
40 min. Take the tin foil off the last 5 minutes. Served with basmati rice and chick pea salad
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Chickpea salad
INGREDIENTS
To serve 4
3 cups of chick peas
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 whole lemon
salt & pepper
3 red peppers
Fresh parsley
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Start with roasting the peppers in the
oven. Clean the 3 peppers and cut them through. Place them up side down on a baking tray, and brush
them with oil. Place them in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for approximately 20 min or until they turn
soft.
Leave the roasted peppers to cool down, before cutting them into small
pieces.
Mix the chick peas with the juice of the whole lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper and flavour with lemon
zest.
Chop the fresh parsley and add it and the roasted peppers to the
salad.
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Roasted seeds
INGREDIENTS
To serve 4
1 cup of pumpkin seeds
1 cup of sunflower seeds
1/2 a cup of sesame seeds
2 tbsp of dark soya sauce
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Mix all the seeds together in a baking tray and add the soya. Place the tray in a hot oven for 10 minutes.
Keep stirring the seeds until they are golden. Make sure that you do not add any salt to the seeds as they are
getting enough from the soya sauce. |
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