Welcome dear readers to this Heritage Month edition of Bhabi’s Corner. Heritage Day, celebrated this year on Thursday (September 24) is a wonderful occasion to celebrate the traditions and flavours that make South Africa so special. As we celebrate Heritage Month, let us embrace the diversity of our Rainbow Nation and appreciate the different cultures that enrich our lives. In this edition we feature some popular South African favorites including creamy milk tart and masala biryani. So, put on your apron, gather your ingredients and celebrate our heritage, one delicious bite at a time. Happy cooking!!
Chicken / Lamb Masala Biryani
Steam 4 peeled potatoes (quartered & coloured with a little food colouring) in microwave for 5 mins then lightly fry until crisp on the outside. Par boil 3 cups rice of your choice. Boil 2 cups biryani dhall (masoor) or use 2 cans of brown lentils. In a large pot, fry 2 large onions with 1 tsp each jeera & fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp freshly ground elachi and 2 cinnamon sticks in 2 tbs olive oil. Place the ingredients below into the onions & spices in the pot and mix well to combine.
2 kg chicken / lamb pieces
2 teaspoons each of freshly roasted dhania seeds, jeera seeds, fennel seeds,
2 cinnamon sticks,
2 star anise,
4 cloves & 4 elachi (all ground)
1/4 tsp hing (used to eliminate the gaseous effects of foods like lentils, cabbage)
2 bay leaves,
1 tsp tumeric,
2 tsp ginger and garlic paste,
2 tbs chilli powder,
4 dried chillies,
2 tbs mixed masala,
1 grated tomato,
2 sprigs curry leaves,
10 peppercorns freshly & coarsely ground,
1 cup sour milk / buttermilk / yogurt
1 sachet tomato paste,
Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight in fridge.
Cook for +-30 mins on medium high heat/until marinade has reduced & thickened.
Mix in: 1 bunch of mint leaves (roughly chopped)
Layering: Spread a thin layer of par cooked rice at the base of an oven proof pot or large oven tray. Top with some lentils and meat mix and cover with the remaining rice, lentils and a few blobs of butter and food colouring over the top. Add half tsp saffron mixed in 1 cup boiling water, cover pot / tray with foil and then the lid & bring to the boil. Reduce heat to the lowest and steam until rice is cooked through for -+ 1 hour or bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 1 hour. Do not mix the biryani. Serve the rice and meat mix as layers. Enjoy with raita.
Milk Tart
Filling:
4 cups milk
1 cup cream
1 egg
1 cup sugar
Quarter cup corn flour
Quarter cup cake flour
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
Pastry:
125 grams butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Method:
Make a pastry by processing all pastry ingredients.
Process until combined into a soft dough.
Line a pie dish.
Bake at 180 for 25 minutes.
Boil milk
Beat egg, sugar, corn flour and flour separately until sugar is dissolved
Stir mixture quickly into hot milk with the heat turned off, stirring until thick
Pour into baked crust. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
Salted Caramel Malva Pudding
Malva Pudding:
80ml softened butter,
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs,
3 tbs apricot jam
1 tbs vinegar
1 can Nestle Ideal Milk
2 cups self raising cake flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Salted Caramel Sauce
1 can Nestle Ideal Milk,
125ml butter
1 cup muscovado sugar (demerara sugar OR brown sugar can be used instead)
1 tbsp apricot jam 1 tsp caramel essence
+/- 1/2 tsp salt (to suit your palate)
Method:
In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar.
Once light & airy, beat in the eggs thoroughly one at a time.
Add the apricot jam and vinegar and mix well.
Add the sifted flour & bicarb to the wet mix, alternating with Nestle Ideal Milk.
Fold together until just combines… don’t over mix.
Pour the batter into a greased, medium sized square oven-proof dish and bake for +- 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve with a salted caramel sauce (Recipe below)
Salted Caramel Sauce
Add all the sauce ingredients (besides essence and salt) to a saucepan approximately halfway through the cake cooking time and bring to the boil, stirring continuously and making sure the sugar is dissolved.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in the essence and salt & pour over the Malva pudding as soon as it is removed from the oven and let it soak in.
Serve warm on its own or with custard… both are divine.
Can be refrigerated once cooled and served within the next few days.
Just warm in the oven on a low temperature and serve once warmed to your liking.
Can also be heated in the microwave.
Food for thought
Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter. Someone will always be younger. But they will never be YOU.
-Reader
Household tips & hints
- Shine silver in a pinch: Notice your favorite ring or bracelet looking a bit dull? Wet it, rub with a little toothpaste, rinse and dry with a clean cloth.
- Iron clothes when they’re damp: The moisture helps release wrinkles, so press your peskiest pieces right out of the dryer (or use the spray feature on your iron).
- Lift the worst carpet stains: It’s dish liquid to the rescue. Dissolve one tablespoon of dish liquid into two cups of warm water and blot the stain with a clean white cloth dipped into the solution. Repeat until the stain absorbs into the cloth and disappears from the carpet. Then sponge with cold water, and blot dry with a clean cloth.