Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Things have been quiet here lately, as I've had so many things going on. I've been hanging on to this very special and very easy recipe for some time (since Jamaica month) so that I still had something absolutely delicious to share with you at a time when I have no time to cook or photograph food! These baked jerk sweet potato chips, inspired by Jamaica's ubiquitous jerk seasoning, were simply superb. I couldn't stop eating them and they were all gone very quickly!

They're great for when you're entertaining, because you can chop up your sweet potatoes and have them coated in your jerk seasoning and ready to go nice and early. Then just spread them out on a tray and stick in the oven for just 20 minutes or so before serving. If you're making for a group though, I advise making plenty because they were so very popular when I made them.

You can play around a bit with the quantities of the seasoning mix, according to your personal preferences. Make all the teaspoon and tablespoons nice and generous though :)

Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Ingredients
2 tsp allspice  
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1/2 scotch bonnet chilli, very finely minced (substitute 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, if you like)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Combine the allspice, cinnamon, thyme leaves, brown sugar, garlic and chilli and mix well. Add the olive oil and stir into a smooth paste. 
3. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into chip shapes, keeping them all roughly the same size (otherwise they will all need different amounts of cooking time). Toss the sweet potatoes in the jerk seasoning, coating well. At this stage to can put them in the fridge, and cook later.
4. Spray a baking tray lightly with cooking spray and spread the chips out evenly. Try not to crowd them too much, you may need two trays. 
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until soft on the inside and a darkish caramelised brown on the surface (see picture). Serve hot. 

Check out my other Jamaican recipe posts:

Jamaican Rum Punch

Jerk Tofu & Pineapple Skewers

Jamaican Peanut Punch

Gizzada (Coconut & Brown Sugar Tarts)

Old-time Jamaican Lemonade

Jamaican Ginger Cake

Pineapple Salsa

Callaloo

Jamaican Patties

Lumpiang Hubad

 

 

You might have noticed a lot of lumpia on the blog this month - here is another! Lumpia are Filipino spring rolls and they come in all varieties. I've already shared fresh (lumpiang sariwa) and gorgeous fried (lumpiang prito) spring rolls, you can find links to those recipes at the bottom of this post. Lumpiang hubad is essentially the filling of the rolls and the sauce, but without wrapping them up into rolls. Same great flavours, but a 'lazy' version which doesn't involve taking the time to roll them. The peanut sauce all over it is just delicious.

 

I've chopped my veggies bigger than I did when making the lumpiang sariwa and prito, because I knew I wouldn't be rolling it up. You can also just make a double batch of lumpiang filling and use half for rolls and half with peanut sauce like this for another meal.

 

 

Lumpiang Hubad

Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
400g hard tofu cut into cubes
1 cup sweet potato cut into cubes
1 large carrot, cubed
1 cup chopped celery
2 tsp vegan fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup sliced green beans
1 cup cabbage
Shallots, for garnish

For the peanut sauce:
2 cups water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp cornstarch

To make:
1. Heat oil in a large frypan or wok and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent and then add the tofu and sweet potato. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add the carrots, celery and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Once the carrot is tender, turn off the heat and stir through the green beans and cabbage. The residual heat will cook them just enough. 
3. Set the filling aside to cool a little, it can be warm but not hot when you wrap up the rolls.
4. To make the sauce: Combine 1 1/2 cups water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Once all the sugar is dissolved add the peanuts and garlic and simmer for 3-4 minutes. In a cup, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water with the cornstarch and stir until smooth. 
5. Stirring the sauce continually, add in the cornstarch. Stir continuously over a low heat until the mixture thickens up a bit. Remove from the heat. 
7. Arrange lumping hubad in a bowl and pour the peanut sauce over the top. Garnish with chopped shallots.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Float

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Pancit Canton

 



Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Any excuse to make spring rolls is good with me! These veggie spring rolls are particularly good and the vinegar dipping sauce was sensational! I tend to always have my spring rolls with sweet chilli, sweet and sour or chilli dipping sauce, so I wasn't sure how this vinegar sauce was going to turn out. It was so delicious, I think I'll make it for all my future spring rolls and rice paper rolls!

Lumpaing Prito
Ingredients
2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced sweet potato
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups sliced celery
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 tbsp. Soy sauce (or vegan fish sauce)
1 cup sliced green beans
2 cups shredded green cabbage
20 spring roll wrappers
Lots of vegetable oil, for deep frying.

Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

To Make
1. Heat the 2 tbsp. oil in a wok and sauté the onion and garlic until just softened and translucent. Add the sweet potato, carrot and 1/4 cup water. Simmer for a few minutes and then add the celery and peanuts. Once the sweet potato and carrot are just tender (they can be just slightly undercooked), turn off the heat and add the soy sauce, green beans and shredded cabbage. The residual heat will just slightly cook them.
2. Cool the filling (while it's cooling, you can make your vinegar dipping sauce) and then roll up the spring rolls. Use about 2 heaped tbsp. per roll.
3.Once your rolls are all done, clean out the wok and then fill generously with oil. Heat the oil and then test it by throwing in a corner of spring roll wrapper - if it floats to the top and look like it's fizzing then your oil is hot enough.
4. Deep fry the spring rolls in batches until golden brown (if you prefer, you can shallow fry them and make sure you turn them while cooking to cook both sides). You will probably need to turn them over to cook both sides as they'll float on the surface. Once golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a bit of paper towel to absorb excess oil.
5. Serve hot with vinegar dipping sauce.

Vinegar Dipping Sauce:
1. Combine all ingredients and mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.

Makes 20 medium sized spring rolls.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Float

Pancit Canton

Lumpiang Sariwa

In the Philippines, spring rolls (or lumpia) come in many varieties with many fillings. Often it's ground meats, but can also be a mixture of vegetables. The rolls can be fresh, fried or even absent (I'll explain this in a later post). I love spring rolls in any form, so I took the opportunity to make several different types of Filipino Lumpia. These ones aren't so much Spring rolls as they are Summer rolls, as I've used easy rice paper rolls as a bit of a cheat. Usually Lumpiang Sariwa refers to spring rolls which are not deep fried and are made with a special kind of egg wrapper (halfway between a spring roll wrapper and a thin crepe?) . You can make your own wrappers, or you could use fresh spring roll wrappers (or indeed, frozen spring roll wrappers - just defrost and use them as they are without frying). The drawback of using spring roll wrappers is that they're usually square, and lumpiang sariwa are made with round wrappers which allow you to leave one end open so the lettuce can poke out and you get a glimpse of the yummy colourful veggie filling. If you want to try making your own wrappers, just google it. There are lots of websites with recipes and instructions. If you want to take the easy road, improvise with what you've got! Like this lovely rice paper version. 

Lumpiang Sariwa

Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup hard tofu cut into small cubes
1 cup sweet potato cut into small cubes
1 cup julienne carrots
2 tsp vegan fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup thinly sliced green beans
1 cup cabbage
5 lettuce leaves
10 rice paper rolls (or fresh spring roll wrappers)

For the peanut sauce:
2 cups water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp cornstarch

To make:
1. Heat oil in a large frypan or wok and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent and then add the tofu and sweet potato. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add the carrots and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Once the carrot is just slightly cooked, turn off the heat and stir through the green beans and cabbage. The residual heat will cook the cabbage just enough and finish cooking the carrots. 
3. Set the filling aside to cool a little, it can be warm but not hot when you wrap up the rolls.
4. Cook each rice paper roll wrapper according to the packet (usually by immersing in hot water for 30-60 seconds). Lay 1/2 lettuce leaf in the top middle of the wrapper and add about 1/10th of the filling. Wrap the bottom upwards and then roll the two sides over it nice and tightly, leaving it open at the top. Continue with the rest of the filling and wrappers.
5. To make the sauce: Combine 1 1/2 cups water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Once all the sugar is dissolved add the peanuts and garlic and simmer for 3-4 minutes. In a cup, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water with the cornstarch and stir until smooth. 
6. Stirring the sauce continually, add in the cornstarch. Stir continuously over a low heat until the mixture thickens up a bit. Remove from the heat. 
7. Arrange lumpiang sariwa on a platter and drizzle the peanut sauce over the top.

Makes 10 large rolls.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Coconut Mango Float

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Pancit Canton

Sweet Potato & Olive Filo Pastry Tunisian Briks

Here is a remnant from Tunisia month, back in January. I've been pretty busy, and generally trying to spend less time sitting and staring at my computer screen. So, as a consequence, I've succeeded in doing a lot less blogging so far this year. That meant that a few of my January Tunisian recipes didn't end up getting posted so I'll bring you a couple of late ones, starting with these briks.

Briks are a popular and common dish in Tunisian cuisine, but these ones are a far cry from the traditional ones! Traditionally they're made with a thicker pastry made with eggs and then deep fried. But I was on a bit of a health kick after Xmas indulgence so I thought I might bake them in flaky filo pastry. Traditional fillings include fish (especially tuna or anchovies), egg, capers, potatoes or cheese. I've made mine using sweet potato (because I love it so much), olives and capers.

Ingredients
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed (500g or so)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp harissa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp capers
8-10 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Filo pastry sheets
Melted vegan butter/margarine 

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C. Boil the sweet potato until just tender. Drain and place in a large bowl. Mash until smooth.
2. Stir through the shallots, olive oil, harissa, cumin, capers, olives and parsley.
3. Take a sheet of filo pastry (keep all the other sheets covered with a damp teatowel while you work to prevent it drying out) and cut it into 3 rectangles. Brush each with melted butter and fold in half so that your rectangle becomes a square. Add a tablespoon of filling to each and fold over to form a triangle. Place on a baking tray and brush the tops with melted butter too. 
4. Continue until you have used up all the mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just golden brown (keep an eye on them as they will go from "cooked" to "overcooked" very easily).
5. Serve immediately.

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup (Guest Post by The Little Cookbook)

My lovely guest post for today comes from the wonderful Rachel from The Little Cookbook. What a perfect choice for the end of July when it's so cold and rainy and windy. Sweet potato and pumpkin make such warming and satisfying soup for winter! I hope you enjoy this while I'm catching the train from Bergen to Oslo - one of the most spectacular scenic railroad trips in Europe. Thanks Rachel!

Hello! My name Is Rachel and I am super excited to be blogging over here at Gormandize. I blog at The Little Cookbook and whilst my desserts are often wickedly sweet, my weeknight eats are always (okay mostly) yum and frequently vegan – best of both worlds right?

So this soup actually came about through a complete and utter soul destroying craving for tomato soup a few weeks ago, but I had nothing to thicken up my oven-roasted veg. What’s a girl to do?

I’ll tell you what a girl is to do. She will quickly pan fry some canned chickpeas and chuck that in the pot. Done.

So when deciding on my ultimate vegan recipe to help out Keely whilst she’s off travelling, (I’m so jealous!) my mind came back to the amazing tomato soup. But alas it’s winter. Tomatoes are pretty bland at this time of year.

We need to sweet potato and pumpkin the shiz out of this idea.

The chickpeas not only add a beautiful creaminess to the soup but also thicken it up, and add pops of unblitzed chickpea too. Texture is vital to a good soup.

The key to a good pumpkin soup? Half oven roasted; half sweated in delicious butter (vegan butter), if you haven’t got a vegan butter that you absolutely love, use olive oil. Don’t use coconut butter. Or do. You know, whatever.

Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

1 Small pumpkin, half diced/half quartered

2 Sweet Potatoes 1 peeled and diced, one quartered

1 Brown Onion quartered

4 sprigs of rosemary

Olive oil
3 tablespoons of vegan butter (or regular butter/olive oil – see note above)

1 can of chickpeas

1 ½ cup of vegetable stock

½ cup of almond milk

¼ teaspoon of chilli flakes

salt and pepper to season

pistachio dukkah to serve

1. Pre heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius and set the quartered veggies on a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, place the sprigs of rosemary on the tray any which way.

Roast for 40/60 minutes, until soft, golden and browned around the edges.

2. In a large fry pan melt the vegan butter on a medium heat, once melted add the diced vegetables and turn to a low heat. Cover and leave for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. When the oven roasted veg is removed and cooled slightly, remove the skin and reserve the potato skins (for wonderful potato skin times).

4. In a large soup pot drizzle some olive oil – about a tablespoon, and set on a medium heat. Drain the can of chickpeas in the time and rinse once. Pour the chickpeas (sans any liquid) into the large soup pot and toss through until the shells pop.

5. Add both the oven roasted veg and the buttered veg to this large pot (sans skins, rosemary and butter) and stir. Pour in the vegetable stock and stir. Allow to simmer for 10/15 minutes, until it feels right. You just want the flavours to really combine.

6. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then blast with a stick mixer until creamy and smooth. Stir in the almond milk and chilli flakes. Blend further with the stick mixer; don’t go tooo creamy otherwise you miss those pops of chickpea!

Serve with dukkah and potato skins.

To make the potato skins just grill on a high heat both sides for a few minutes.

Sweet Potato in Creamy Coconut Sauce

We're almost at the end of March already, where does the time go? This year will be over before I know it. But, nearing the end of March means nearing the end of Samoan food month, so I'm on a push to get all my recipes up by the end of the month!

As I have warned you in previous posts, Samoa month is all about the coconut! This recipe is not exception. Like some of the other ones I've posted, it looks very simple. Indeed, it is very simple. But!! I can assure you that this coconut sauce is pretty special. I served this up for my Samoan dinner party and people kept going back for ladles of the sauce to mop up with their freshly baked coconut bread rolls.

In other news, I've been nominated in the Australian Writers' Centre People's Choice Award in the Best Blogs 2013 competition! Unfortunately it is very much a contest in social media popularity - so I really need your help!

To vote hit this button to the right and then click the "vote here" button. Then scroll through the 5 pages of nominated blogs, Gormandize is on the second page. You 'll need to scroll through all the pages and then fill out your details at the end to make your vote count. Thank you for your support! 

And now for the recipe! I made mine with sweet potato, because it was most readily available, but this dish could also be made with taro, cassava, white sweet potato or even just potatoes. Whatever is available near you.

Sweet Potato in Creamy Coconut Sauce

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes

1 onion, diced finely

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 x 400ml can coconut cream

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)

To Make

1. Peel and cube the sweet potato and place in a large saucepan.

2. Add the onion, garlic, coconut cream, vegetable stock and salt and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil.

3. Once boiling, remove the lid and reduce the heat. Simmer, uncovered, until the sweet potato is cooked through. This should take about 10 minutes. Stir gently every now and then to ensure even cooking. 

Serve with green vegetables and coconut rice or fresh coconut bread. 

Serves 4

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Samoa.

Check out my other recipe posts:

Paifala (Pineapple Turnovers)

Creamy Coconut Rice (Alaisa Fa'apopo)

Coconut Bread Rolls

Koko Rice

Sapasui (Chop Suey)

Lentil and Sweet Potato Hummus

I rarely ever make the same dip twice. There are so many wonderful opportunities for delicious combinations! Making dip is easy, quick and a nice safe place to experiment if you're creative but not sure about your flavour combining abilities! It's also lovely to share communal food with friends. Bringing a home made dip when you visit a friend is cheaper than bringing bought food, more fun and shows that you thought they were worth a bit of effort (even if it was just a little bit!)

Dip can also be a great way to use up ingredients if you don't know what to do with them! Got a quarter of a cauliflower languishing in the fridge? Dip it. A ridiculously small amount of lentils left in the bottom of a packet after you made something else? Dip it. A tin of beans at the back of your cupboard? Dip it. A spice which you have no idea what to do with? Find a vegetable that fits it's flavour profile and DIP IT!

If that isn't enough - here are something else awesome about dips. You can use leftover dips to smear on your burgers, sandwiches or wraps. You can use this leftover dip to add thickness and flavour to a vegetable soup or a lentil soup. You could even mix it up with some fresh herbs and olive oil and make a salad dressing out of it. Endless possibilities!

How do you use up leftover dips when you entertain?

Lentil and Sweet Potato Hummus

Ingredients

1/2 cup red lentils

2 carrots

1 medium sweet potato

1 cup vegetable stock

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp tahini

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

Sumac, to sprinkle on top

To Make

1. Dice the carrot. Peel and roughly chop the sweet potato.

2. Place the lentils, carrot and sweet potato in a small saucepan. Add the cumin and vegetable stock and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables and lentils are all well cooked. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Combine the lentils and vegetables (including any cooking water remaining), tahini, soy sauce and lemon juice in a food processor and process until smooth consistency. 

4. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle liberally with sumac.

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Happy Australia Day! Are you celebrating anywhere this year?

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Here is a slightly unusual dessert for those of us not from the US of A. Candied sweet potatoes, also known as candied yams or candied sweets. This is a dish which represents traditional American cooking, and it often part of thanksgiving traditions.

It may seem an odd concept, but using sweet potato as a dessert is common in many countries. When I had Cambodian food month, we had a sweet potato and sago dessert which was delicious. These candied sweet potatoes are simple to prepare, make for a very affordable dessert and will surely be novel and surprising to any guests you serve them up to.

Ingredients
4 medium sweet potatoes (or 3 large)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp margarine
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Peel and slice the sweet potatoes, and arrange in a baking dish.
3. Combine all remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and place over a medium heat and heat through.
4. Pour over the sweet potatoes and cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes, taking it out and stirring occasionally.
5. Remove the foil and lower the oven heat to about 160. Bake an additional 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
6. Transfer the sweet potatoes to a serving bowl and spoon the syrupy sauce over them. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Southern USA!

Check out my other recipe posts:

Mint Julep

Peach and Bourbon Cobbler

Vegan Chili Pone (Chili Cornbread Casserole)

Succotash

Pecan & Molasses Pie with Spiced Pumpkin Whipped Cream

Mushroom and Bean Jambalaya

Vegan "Fried Chicken" and Waffles

Home Made Smoky BBQ Sauce

Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Tahini Sushi Rolls

I've been getting back into sushi lately. I tend to have a big huge sushi making glut and then not make it again for months, well that glut is now! I love experimenting with new and interesting fillings for my nori rolls, like my Wasabi Fried Eggplant and Avocado Nori Rolls. These are my new absolute favourite, tahini in sushi rolls may be a bit of an unusual fusion, but trust me on this one it is fantastic! Plus, the Japanese love their sesame seeds, so I'm sure they'd love this! As an aside, I gave some of these to a 3 year old to try and she absolutely loved them, so don't be afraid of giving sushi to your kids!

Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Tahini Sushi Rolls

Ingredients:

1 quantity sushi rice

6 sheets nori seaweed

1 small sweet potato (about 300g)

1 tsp sesame oil

 12 spears asparagus, woody ends removed

Tahini

You will also need:

A sushi rolling mat

Plastic wrap

A bowl of water with a splash of rice vinegar

To Assemble:

1. Peel the sweet potato and cut into strips, about the size of hot potato chips. Toss in the sesame oil and lay out on a baking tray, bake for 1 minutes, or until tender. Blanche the asparagus spears and set aside.

2.  Lay a sheet of nori seaweed on your sushi rolling mat. Wet your hands in the bowl of water (this stops the rice sticking all over your hands) and grab a handful of rice (about 2/3 cup worth, but you don’t need to measure it out). Spread it over the nori sheet evenly, making sure you spread it out to all the edges as well but leaving about an inch or so at one end.

3. Smear a line of tahini over the rice and then add a line of sweet potato and 2 pieces of asparagus.

4. Pick up the edge of the mat and roll it gently over the ingredients, pressing gently on the filling with your fingers as you go to keep them in the centre. Press gently on the roll to mould it together. Be careful not to let the mat get rolled up in the sushi.

6. Once the sushi is rolled into a neat log press gently around it with the matt to make it firm.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 until all the ingredients are used up (approx. 6 thick rolls).

8. Use a very sharp knife to cut each log into eight equal pieces. Serve immediately with soy sauce and wasabi to taste. Tip: dip the knife in the bowl of water between cuts to prevent the rice from sticking to the knife.

Makes 6 thick sushi rolls. 

Sweet Potato and Coriander Bolani (Afghan flatbread)

Another delicious Afghan offering for you! This is one of my personal favourites, although thinking back on all the others that I have posted, they're soft of all my favourites this month. I think that Afghanistan has been  one of my all time favourite countries that I've featured thus far! Mostly I've been going a bit crazy with the sweets, so it's time to balance it out with some savoury. 

This is bolani, a delicious filled flat bread which is pleasantly naturally vegan! It can be filled with a number of fillings, such as potato, spinach, lentils, leek or pumpkin. The filling almost always also contains shallots (scallions). These ones are lightly pan fried, however they can also be baked. 

I absolutely loved these! Now that I have the base recipe I will be making them again and putting anything that I can think of into them! I can imagine all sorts of delicious vegetable fillings for these bolani. In fact, I might even try adapting it to some sweet fillings!

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups plain white flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
500g sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup sliced shallots (scallions)
1/3 cup chopped coriander
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
Extra olive oil, for frying.

To Make
1. Combine the flour, salt and cardamom in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and gradually add the water and the teaspoon of oil and mix to form a dough. Knead into a ball. If the dough is too dry to form a smooth ball add a little more water.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured benchspace and knead for 10 minutes. Yeah, a little tedious I know. Set yourself a timer so that you don't cut the time down.
3. Put the ball of dough back in the bowl and cover with a cloth. Let it rest for about an hour.
4. Put the sweet potato in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the sweet potato is cooked, about 15 minutes (will vary depending on how big you chopped it). Drain.
5. Put the cooked sweet potato in a bowl and mash it up a bit, it doesn't have to be smooth. Add the shallots, coriander, lemon juice and soy sauce. Mix well.
6. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls . Take one and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured bench (don't make it too floury, otherwise the edges of your bolani won't press back together). Roll it out into a thin tortilla, about 25-30cm diameter. The thinner your roll it out the better.

7. Spread about an eighth of the sweet potato filling over half of the circle, leaving about 2cm around the edge.

8. Fold the other half over and press the edges down together. If you have put a bit too much flour on it then it won't stick properly, if this is the case you can brush it with a bit of water to help it stick, but it shouldn't need this. 

9. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have 8 bolani ready to go.

10. Heat a non stick frypan over a medium heat with a small amount of olive oil. Add two bolani to the pan and fry until browned slightly on both sides, about 5 minutes on each side. Keep your eyes on them so that they don't char. Drain on a paper towel as you remove them. Cook the rest in batches.

*TIPS* 

~ As you assemble your bolani and set them aside, don't lay them touching one another as the dough it quite sticky and you may never be able to separate them again! This disaster is what happened to my first attempt at these

~ If you don't have a non stick pan, use a bit more oil and keep your spatula close at hand to make sure they don't stick 

This month I'm featuring lots of amazing recipes from Afghanistan!

Check out my other Afghan recipe posts:

Mashawa (Afghan Spicy Beans)

Halwa e Zardak (Rose, Cardamom and Carrot Pudding)

Awb e Dundawn (Incredible Pistachio Biscuits)

Brides Fingers with Orange Blossom Syrup

Spiced Tofu Palau (Afghanistan's National Dish)

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Sago Parfait (Cambodian Borbo Skor La-Pov)

As with most Asian countries, Cambodia has a list of typical desserts which Westerners may deem "exotic". They pair things based on sweetness rather than classification. Whereas in the West we understand that basically vegetables and legumes go in savoury dishes and typically fruit is for sweet dishes. There are some obvious exceptions, such as carrot cake, pumpkin pie and duck al'orange, however, this rule is generally held true. In Asian cultures, however, these barriers don't exist. Fruit is freely added to savoury dishes and curries throughout Thailand, Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka. Whilst desserts use anything that has a sweet taste, including carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, corn, cassava, taro, red beans (also called adzuki beans) and mung beans. 

Mostly, as I've observed before, the main crossovers are orange vegetables. This is because orange vegetables are generally often sweet (carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato) whilst orange fruits are often naturally tart and sour (oranges, mandarines, tangerines etc). However, in Cambodia (as in other Asian countries) beans such as mung beans are also classified as sweets and used in desserts.

My Cambodian inspired dessert for you today is based on a recipe which involves mixing pumpkin, sweet potato, cassava and taro into sago. I've changed it up a bit by simplifying it and serving it parfait style - in layers! It's a very easy dessert and quite healthy (except for the sugar) and makes a nice change from the same old desserts we're used to serving up to guests.

Ingredients

Orange Layer

400g pumpkin (I used Jap), peeled and cubed

400g sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional - not traditionally used)

Sago Layer

1 can coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sago (tapioca pearls)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, sliced open - remove before serving if using)

Chopped peanuts, to garnish.

To Make:
1. Cover the pumpkin and sweet potato with water and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered for about 30-40 minutes, or until very soft.
2. Bring the coconut milk, water, (vanilla bean), and sugar to a simmer in a different saucepan. Add the sago and simmer over a very low heat, partly covered for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it isn't sticking to the bottom too much (it probably will a little bit anyway). After 30 minutes remove from heat, stir through the vanilla extract and allow to cool.
3. Strain the pumpkin and sweet potato, reserving the water. Add back 1-2 tbsp of the reserved water and then either mash or puree in a food processor until smooth (I was able to just mash mine pretty smooth because they were quite over cooked, which is what you want!).
4. Pass the purée through a sieve to make it extra smooth and smash out any remaining lumps (this is optional, it just makes sure that your purée is nice and smooth and even consistency). Stir the vanilla extract and cinnamon through and allow to cool completely.
5. Start with a layer of the purée in the bottom of your parfait glasses (using about half the purée across six parfait glasses). Follow with a layer of the sago (once again, using about half the sago) and then the remaining purée and sago in layers. Top with chopped peanuts and serve.

Serves 6.

This month I'm featuring lots of amazing recipes from Cambodia!

Check out my other Cambodian recipe posts:

Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup

Kho Manor Nung To Hu (Pineapple and Tofu)

Cambodian Spiced Eggplant

Num Chet Chien (Banana Nuggets!)

Khmer Lemongrass Vegetable Curry

Nem To-hu Sap (Vegetarian Summer Rolls)

Tirk Salouk Swai (Mango Chilli Salsa)

Cucumber & Vermicelli Salad

Vegan Party Menus Part 1: Sweet Potato and Sunflower Seed Dip

Out there in the world there seems to exist this myth that Vegans are very difficult to cater for and inviting them to your party is just a pain - but seriously those guys from Mythbusters should get onto this one because truly Vegans are not hard to feed in fact you will find it to be cheaper than feeding your meatlover friends. The other awesome thing about Vegan party food is that everybody can enjoy it and it is so tasty that everybody loves it - that means you don't have to have separate designated food for each of your guests depending on their eating preferences. This recipe is also made Gluten Free by substituting tamari for soy sauce, which means all your guests can be eating the same thing! (Unless they have some sort of weird sweet potato allergy).

So, next time you are having friends over, Vegan or otherwise, check out this series of recipes (that I will be adding gradually) all of which I served at my most recent birthday party to very enthusiastic guests!

Sweet Potato and Sunflower Seed Dip

Ingredients:

1 medium-large sweet potato (choose the size depending on how many people you are feeding)

1 onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Olive oil, for frying

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp tamari (or substitute soy sauce)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Cracked pepper to taste

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to a moderate temperature (about 150-180 degrees Celsius). Spread the sunflower seeds out evenly on a tray and toast in the oven for about 3 minutes or until they go brown and smell intoxicating. Watch them the whole time though or you'll burn them. Seriously do it.
2. Peel the sweet potato and chop into chunks. Boil them in water until they are nice and soft and then strain and put aside.
3. While your sweet potatoes are boiling you can heat some olive oil in a saucepan and add the onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are completely cooked and then add the spices. Fry for a further 1-2 minutes until the spices are fragrant. Turn off the heat.
4. The next step you can do one of 3 ways 1) in the saucepan you used to cook the ingredients (this is what I did), 2) in a mortar and pestle because you ROCK and mortar and pestles are awesome or 3) in your food processor (but then you have to wash the damn thing up afterwards booooo). So... pick your vessel and combine the onion and the sweet potato and mash/pestle/process until smooth. Add the tamari and cracked pepper to taste and mash a bit more.
5. Stir in the sunflower seeds (not in your food processor because then they will get all ground up), leaving some aside to sprinkle on top so it looks pretty.
6. Set aside and serve either warm or at room temperature (preferably not chilled, so if you made it the night before (which is a very smart thing to do) make sure you get it out of the fridge a couple of hours before you are going to serve it so it can become room temp).

It's dip so serve it with carrot & celery sticks, crackers and/or corn chips.

Vegan Baked Lentils with Sweet Potato and Cauliflower

There is something so hearty about baked lentils in winter and I'm always a fan of meals that you just throw together and leave in the oven for a while!

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced finely

1/2 fennel bulb, diced finely

500g button mushrooms, stems trimmed

1.5 cups puy lentils (also called bule lentils or French lentils by differernt companies)

5 cups of vegetable stock

500g sweet potato, peeled and diced

250g cauliflower (or however much you have in the fridge that you want to use up), chopped small (makes about 3 cups)

1 bay leaf

8 or so cherry tomatos

a small handful of pine nuts

To Make:

1. Preheat your oven to about 180 (you know your oven better than I do... or do you?).

2. You can start this dish by putting your casserole/baking dish straight on the stove to make this a one pot dish. Heat some olive oil in your baking dish and saute the onion and fennel until soft.

3. Set aside 8-10 of the mushrooms and slice the rest in thick bits. Add the mushroom to the cooking pot and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the lentils and the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

4. Add the sweet potato and cauliflower and remove from the heat. Cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes, removing the lid for the last 10 minutes.

5. While it is baking you can wash and trim the mushies you set aside. Put them on a baking tray and drizzle with some olive oil.

6. When your 30 minutes is up take the casserole dish out of the oven and put it aside to rest. Put the tray of mushrooms in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes throw in a the whole cherry tomatos and the pine nuts and cook for a further 2-3 minute - keep your eye on it so they don't burn.

To serve, place some lentils in a bowl and top with the baked vegies and pine nuts. Serves 4, or two with leftovers.