Mild Mulligatawny Soup
Serves 6

A lovely clear, aromatic, spicy but light soup. An ideal way to start a meal.

1 T (15 ml) butter
3 T (45 ml) canola or peanut oil
2 apples, diced (any sweet eating apple will do)
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 sticks celery, sliced
1 T (15 ml) curry powder
3 T (45 ml) flour
6 cups (1½ litres) water
4 T (60 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
2 T (30 ml) lemon juice
2 t (10 ml) sugar
Ina Paarman's Garlic and Herb Seasoning
½ packet two minute noodles
chopped parsley to garnish

Sauté the apples and vegetables in the butter and oil in a heavy based, medium-large saucepan until limp and glazed.

Add the curry powder and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the flour, blending in well. Add the water and Chicken Stock powder and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a colander. Discard solids. Add lemon juice, sugar and seasoning to taste.

Place a spoonful of uncooked noodles in each bowl. Pour the soup onto the noodles and sprinkle chopped parsley on top before serving.

 CHEF'S TIP:

TWO MINUTE NOODLES

Just use the dry noodles, you don't need the 'flavour' sachet.

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This Cape-style curry is given a lovely twist with the addition of dried mango. It looks stunning served with golden rice, magenta eggs and sambal salads.

12-14 skinned chicken thighs
2 T (30 ml) flour
1 T (15 ml) medium curry powder
3 T (45 ml) canola or sunflower oil
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Chilli and Garlic Seasoning
2 large onions, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 x 100 g pack of dried mangoes
1 x 400 g chopped tinned tomatoes
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Tikka Curry Coat & Cook Sauce
½ cup (125 ml) hot water
2 t (10 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder
1 cup (250 ml) coconut milk. Regular or fat reduced cream are suitable substitutes
fresh coriander to garnish

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Remove excess fat from chicken and roll in a mixture of flour and curry powder. Warm a large, heavy based frypan until hot, before adding the oil. Coat the base by tilting the pan. Add the chicken pieces in 2 batches and brown. Spoon out onto a plate and season with Chilli and Garlic seasoning.

When all the chicken pieces have been browned, add the onions and carrots to the remaining oil in the pan and stir-fry until soft, aromatic and beginning to brown. Add any of the flour/curry powder mixture leftover from coating the chicken.

Add the mango strips cut into shorter lengths and tinned tomatoes. Add the Tikka Curry sauce, hot water, Chicken Stock powder and coconut milk. Bring to the boil. Layer the chicken pieces and prepared sauce in a large caserole dish with a lid or an ovenproof saucepan. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook slowly in the oven at 160°C for 1½ hours. Just before serving, top with plenty of fresh coriander leaves stripped from the bigger stems. Delicious with golden rice with magenta eggs.

 VARIATION FOR LAMB CURRY:

Replace the chicken with 800 g cubed shoulder of lamb (remove excess fat).

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1½ cups (375 ml) long grain rice
3½ cups (875 ml) water
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Seasoned Sea Salt
2 t (10 ml) turmeric
2 sticks cinnamon
1 T (15 ml) butter
Magenta eggs (recipe below)
fresh coriander to garnish

Boil the rice in the water with Seasoned Sea salt and turmeric for 12-15 minutes. Decant into a colander and rinse under the cold tap. Place into a microsafe dish. When ready to serve add the cinnamon and microwave for 5 minutes on high (covered) until the rice is fluffy and puffy. Fork the butter through.

Dish the rice on a flat round platter, piling it to a high point in the middle. Arrange the eggs on the rice and garnish with fresh coriander.

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2 raw beetroot, peeled and cut into cubes
6 small or medium eggs

Boil the peeled and cubed beetroot in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes to extract as much colour as possible. Hard boil the eggs (10 minutes), then peel them. Can be prepared in advance to this point. Soak the eggs in the beetroot water for about 20 minutes, to tint the outsides. Best done close to serving time otherwise the colour draws too deep into the egg white. Slice the eggs in half lengthways for serving.

 CHEF'S TIP:

Dress the beetroot with a little balsamic vinaigrette and finely chopped onion and serve as a sambal salad.

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Let's bring a healthy modern twist to the sambal salads served with curries. Fresh fruit cools the palate and pleases the eye with vibrant colours. Usually sambals are best when freshly prepared, but we have given you ideas on pre-preparation that work really well. By all means serve an old favourite like banana in yogurt, but we have given you a couple of new ideas to try.

Papaya and Blueberry Sambal
Serves 6

1 small ripe papaya or biggish papino, peeled and pipped
100 g blueberries, rinsed (use a kiwi fruit when blueberries are out of season)
1 small red skinned onion, chopped
1 T (15 ml) brown sugar
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Chilli and Garlic Seasoning
3 T (45 ml) fresh lime or lemon juice

Cut the papino into 1cm x 1cm cubes. Toss gently with whole blueberries and chopped onion. Can be prepared in advance to this point.

Just before serving, sprinkle with sugar and Chilli and Garlic seasoning. Add lime juice and gently turn the mixture to distribute everything evenly. Spoon into a serving bowl.

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3 oranges
1 ripe avocado
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Lemon and Black Pepper Seasoning
fresh coriander leaves

Segment the oranges as illustrated below under Chef's Tip. Work over a bowl to catch the juice. Can be prepared in advance to this point.

Halve and pip the avocado. Peel and cut into 1cm x 1cm blocks. Toss with the orange juice that has leaked out during segmenting to stop discoloration. Can be prepared in advance to this point.

Season the avocado very generously with Lemon and Black Pepper seasoning and toss lightly with orange segments and a handful of coriander leaves.

Spoon into a serving bowl

 CHEF'S TIP:

Segmenting an orange, grapefruit or lemon:

1. Cut the ends from the fruit and position it on a flat surface. Trim all the peel and white pith
using a large chef's
knife, making a series
of vertical cuts.

2. Work over a bowl to catch the juices. Insert the blade of a paring knife between the membrane and the pulp of each segment
and cut towards the centre.

3. Flip the cutting edge away from you so that the blade is now parallel to the next membrane. Push out to remove the segment.

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200 g baby tomatoes cut into halves or quarters
1 red bell pepper, diced into very small cubes
1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced with green tops
½ cup (125 ml) fresh mint leaves, snipped smaller in a cup, with a pair of scissors
½ t (2,5 ml) Ina Paarman's Chilli and Garlic Seasoning
½ t (2,5 ml) Ina Paarman's Garlic and Herb Seasoning

Gently toss all the ingredients together until evenly mixed. Can be prepared in advance to this point.

Season just before serving. Spoon into a serving bowl.

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This easy pudding is the perfect cool and light way to end a curry meal. It also makes an excellent ice cream. See variation below.

2 cups (500 ml) ready made custard
4 nuggets of preserved ginger, finely sliced
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
pinch salt
4 T (60 ml) ginger syrup from preserved ginger

Add the ginger strips to the custard and leave in the freezer, to get really cold, while whipping the cream. Whip the cream with a pinch of salt until it starts to firm up. Beat the ginger syrup in.

Using a spatula and a gentle folding movement, fold the whipped cream into the well chilled custard.

Divide between 8-10 individual pudding bowls or one large dish. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with biscuit curls or finger biscuits.

 VARIATION: ICE CREAM

Line a 20cm x 10cm x 7cm high small loaf pan with a double layer of cling film. Pour mixture into the pan and freeze overnight.

Turn out on a rectangular dish and re-freeze. Can be prepared in advance to this point. Remove from freezer at the beginning of the meal and leave in the fridge to soften a little. Serve with fresh fruit.

 CHEF'S TIP:

If the ice cream is still too hard to slice put it into the microwave for 20 seconds at a time until it is soft enough to cut.

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