Saffron Rice aka Yellow Rice

Due to unavailability of saffron, many a folks in SA, opted to use tumeric as a substitute; it lent an unpleasant taste if over used. Here is the authentic.

1 cup rice (basmati)
3 teaspoons of sugar (as you need) mixed in water and boiled to give 1 cup of syrup. Sir in 2-3 strands of saffron.
Add 1.25 additional cup of water.
1/4 cup raisins.
1 tablespoon shredded coconut.
1 tablespoon of pistachio nut.
2 tablespoon of butter + 2 tablespoon vegetable oil.
1 tablespoon of dried orange peel/zest.

Put these into a rice cooker and leave until cooked. When rice cooker switches off, leave to warm if rice is soggy until it firms up.

Grilled Eggplant dish

1 large eggplant.
1 large onion.
1 medium tomato
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of seasalt.
1 teaspoon of ground coriander.
4-5 tablespoons of green peans.

Place eggplant on a braai or gas grill. Turn until eggplant goes limp. Place under water and remove the skin.

Put couple of oil in a cooking pan and put diced onion; cook until soft. Add garlic, coriander, tomato, salt. Cook until tomato is half done; add eggplant pulp mashed; mix peas. Mix regularly until cooked.

Serve with garnish of green coriander.

Minced lamb kebabs

This is a great dish to be served with green salad and olives.

1/2 kg minced lamb or chicken or beef.
1 large onion minced
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon of ground coirander
1-2 green chilli chopped
1-2 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon of fresh mint minced.

Mix all the ingredients by hand.

Versions:
1. Skewer.
Roll these into into clump and roll onto to metal skewers. Place these on the grill (gas or electric). Turn as required until completely cooked.
2. Fried
Roll these into round meatballs and fry them in a frying pan.

Serve with boiled white rice (basmati).

Fried eggplant

This dish belongs to various continents.

1 large eggplant.
2 medium tomatoes.

Cut eggplant and tomatoes in circular slices. Warm oil and frying 1 to 2 eggplant till soft. Put out on kitchen towel to absorb the oil. When all done, lay the fried eggplant slices in a round pattern in a serving bowl.

Start to fry the tomatoes. When tomatoes are soft, place them over the fried eggplant. Spinkle sea-salt to your taste and ground black pepper. Garnish with minced garlic and fresh green coriander leaves.

In the store, you are able to get regular black eggplant. Best results are using chinese eggplant (long variety - gives extremely soft and creamy texture), sicilian (large - maroon colour).

Fried potatoes

1. 4 medium potatoes
2. 5 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan.
3. 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
4. 1/2 teaspoon of peri-peri or cayenne pepper.
5. 3 cloves of garlic minced.
6. 1 tablespoon ground coriander
7. 1 teaspoon of seasalt
8. 1 medium size tomato diced

Cut potatoes in round thin slices.
Heat the oil on medium heat. Add potatoes, cumin seeds, peri-peri/pepper.
When potatoes are half cooked, add garlic paste. Once garlic is blended nicely (the smell will disappear), add coriander power, seasalt, tomato. Cook till nicely done preferably not soft.

Garnish with green coriander and serve.

Meilie Pap - microwave & stove cooked versions

1 cup maize flour
4 cups of boiling water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoon of butter

Boil water in a kettle. Put 4 cups of water in a microwave proof dish. Stir in the maize flour.

Cover the dish. Cook for 5 min on High in microwave. Take out, stir and add butter. Cook for additional 3 min.

This is a layman's version. Best results are by cooking over a stove.

Stove version:

Ingredients as before.

Boil water in a pan. Switch to medium heat, Stir in flour mixing quickly to prevent lumping. Continue to add until done. Add butter. Cover the pan and leave low heat for 5-10min until done.

Saffron Chicken

This is an excellent dish which should make any chicken lover mouth water. Hats of to a Moroccan cook who introduced this to us.

1 med. onion.
1/2 chicken - cut up in large segments.
2 raw tomatoes - diced.
8 cloves of garlic - paste.
small piece of ginger - small pieces
1 table spoon of dry coriander powder.
2 strands of saffron.
1 teaspoon of sea salt (or as per taste).

Put 2 tablespoons of veg. oil. 1 tablespoon of butter, 1/2 cup of water in a pot.

Put all the above ingredients and cover the pott. Put on full heat. When the water reaches boiling point, check to see if the chicken is half cooked; then turn to meduim heat. Add 1 potato (4 quarters). Cover and let it simmer till potatoes are done.

Saffron give the entire stew a very unique and delicious taste. This is a very fool proof receipe and a must to all to have.

Enjoy.
PS: Trying to figure out how to put a photo of our cooked results.

Tomato and Onion dish

This is a receipe for a dish for use with pap and braai.

1 large onion
4 medium ripe tomatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 green chilli
fresh coriander
1 tablespoon of sea-salt.
0.5 teaspoon of cumin

Dice the onion, pour oil and sautee the onion till soft; add diced tomatoes and remaining items. cook at medium high heat until cooked nicely.

Another variant is to substitute 1 green chilli with 1 scott bonnet hot chilli. This becomes a hot chakalala variant.

Mama Rahim's Apricot chutney

For all the South African diaspora craving for Mrs Ball's chutney. Here is a tried and tested receipe which comes off the pot every year here in Ontario once local nectarines and peaches are in full season. My fellow North Western Transvaalers who have used it say it beats the original.

500gms of dried apricots
3kg fresh nectarines (ripe)
1.5kg of fresh peaches.
200gm of italian prunes (a slight variant and optional).

Cut them up finely and leave them overnight in white vinegar; the vinegar level just enough to cover the fruit (approx 2.3 litres).

Boil above until fruit is soft (2 hrs). Drain the liquid away leaving 20% of the liquid behind.

Take 1kg of onion, 200gms of ginger, 8 cloves of garlic (optional), 6-8 fiery green chilli (thai/periperi) or 2 table spoons of peri-peri/cayenne (3 spoons) powder. Blend these in a food processor.

Liquidise the boiled fruit and place it back in the cooking pot.

Mix liquidised onion garlic chilli mixture to the minced fruit in the same pot. Add 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 tablespoon of fine sea salt, Sugar 1.5kg (start with 1kg and adjust to own taste).

Cook at medium high stirring it regularly to prevent it sticking. When the liquid is slightly thick stop and let it cool down over night.

This will yield 4.5 litres of excellent chutney.

Variations
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1. For pure peach/nectarine chutney, drop the apricots.
2. For pure apricots, just use dried apricots and go to 1 kg of dried apricots.

Please pass it along, in favour of my great mom, Mama Rahim.
Will be putting through receipes for Peri-peri sauce and other cooking techniques.

Please pass it on, compliments of Mama Rahim.

We will be putting across several items as my mother who is a divine cook wishes to share her wealth of cooking knowledge with all those seeking it.

There are several more receipes from including hot peri-peri sauce receipe which I will post as well when that is going to be brewed next week. Several other receipes are going to be followed including tomato relish (hot), melie pap (microwave), kebabs, rice dishes, chicken curry, monate mango achar (yes, it is no longer sold in SA), fish kebabs etc.

We will include photos as well so that it will be easier to follow.