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

Onion Bhaji

Somtimes I get real cravings for onion bhaji, they're a such a treat in my book. I don't eat a lot of deep fried foods but you have to make some exceptions for things like these. The chickpea flour is really important for getting the right flavour, but if you can't get any you can substitute other flours. If you can though, try and use chickpea flour or they just won't be the same.

Onion Bhaji

Ingredients
6 tbsp chickpea flour
6 tbsp self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1-2 tbsp peanut oil*
2/3 cup ice water
2 onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Peanut oil*, for frying 

*If you have allergies, substitute vegetable oil

To Make
1. Combine the flours, salt and spices in a bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the oil and then gradually add the iced water, whisking constantly. 
2. Add the sliced onions and crushed garlic and fold through until the onion is completely coated in the batter. Let it all rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Heat plenty of oil in a saucepan or wok. Test the heat of the oil by dropping in a tiny amount of batter. If it floats to the surface the oil is hot enough, if it sinks to the bottom of the oil then it's not there yet.
4. When the oil is hot, add large tablespoons of batter to the oil and deep fry until just golden. This should take 4-5 minutes and  you'll need to flip them over after the first two minutes. Once cooked, remove and drain on a wire rack or on crumpled paper towel to drain as much oil off as possible. 
5. Fry the fritters in batches until you have used up all the batter. Eat hot! 

NOTE- These are best freshly cooked straight from the pan but can also be made in advance and kept warm (or even reheated) in the oven. 

Makes approximately 20 onion bhaji (this will vary depending on how big your spoonfuls are).

Creole Salsa

Home made salsa is worth every one of the few minute you spend chopping it. The fresh, tangy and vibrant colours and flavours of this great salsa are so far superior to the mushy pulp that comes out of a jar. This creole salsa is delicious with corn chips, on a salad, on a burger or a wrap, toss it through a pasta salad, pile it on a pizza or on toasted bread as bruschetta. You don't need me to tell you what to do with salsa -  you know how many wonderful and delicious opportunities it has. In Guadeloupe it is served on fresh grilled fish and seafood.

Creole salsa is similar to other types of salsa, but with a few added kicks of flavour. If you can't find a vegan Worcestershire sauce, you can leave it out or look online to see if you can make your own vegan version.

Ingredients
3 ripe tomatoes
1/2 Spanish onion
1 fresh jalapeño chilli
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp hot chilli sauce (such as Tabasco, Sririacha etc.)
Juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Cracked pepper, to taste

To Make
1. Chop all the ingredients very finely and place in a bowl together. Add the sauces, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.
2. Mix well and refrigerate for an hour or two to let the flavours really meld.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Guadeloupe!

Check out my other Guadeloupean recipe posts:

Mango Chilli Appetiser

Salsa Piquant

Choko Gratin

Guadeloupean Salsa Piquant

You might take a glance at the ingredients of this salsa and think that "piquant" might be an understatement given the number of ingredients which pack a punch of flavour. In cooking terms, piquant means to have an pleasant and agreeable sharp flavour, and this salsa really lives up to it's name. Yes, it's mostly onion combined with chilli, garlic and vinegar, which might sound like a bit much. But, I can assure it actually really works. Make it a little in advance and let the flavours really meld in the fridge for a while before you serve it. It's great in smallish quantities just like you would use any other salsa. On a salad, on grilled tofu or mushrooms or just on any dish to give it a bit of pep. I particularly recommend it on burgers - it will make your ordinary veggie burger sing like never before!

Salsa Piquant

Ingredients
2 onions, peeled and very finely diced
3-4 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 fresh jalapeño or green chilli, thinly sliced (I left the seeds in, but you can de seed it if you prefer)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
Cracked pepper, to taste

To Make
1. Combine all the ingredients together and mix well. Keep in the fridge for at least an hour, you can even leave it over night. That's it!

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Guadeloupe!

Check out my other Guadeloupean recipe posts:

Mango Chilli Appetiser

Creole Salsa 

Choko Gratin

"Ancient Egyptian Peasant" Beer Onions

My schedule for posting fell apart a bit this week - I had great intentions but to be honest a few things in my personal life have fallen to pieces over the last couple of weeks and posting was the last thing on my mind. Hopefully I won't be booted off the Vegan Mofo blogroll for not posting enough!

In keeping with my Egyptian food month theme - I bring you this dish. Now, before people jump on me I'll write a disclaimer about this dish. It's not an Egyptian recipe. I don't think it ever gets cooked in Egypt. So why is it part of Egyptian food month? Well, when I was doing reading about food and ingredients in Egypt I found a piece of interesting information. Apparently anicent Egyptian peasants and labourers were paid in beer and onions. Now, I'm not naive - I'm not suggesting that they cooked these up together in a fancy schmancy dish with cumin seeds. But when I heard "beer" and "onions" my brain just went "beer onions!". It sounded too delicious not to try so I did. And it was.

So these onions are inspired by ancient Egyptian peasants, hence the name. But it's a bit of artistic license on my part including it in Egyptian food month. Never mind about that - just eat some onions! These beer onions made a lovely side dish. They would also be great in a pie or wrapped in pastry like triangles. Or in little open tarts as canapés. You could do all sorts of things with them. Try adding some veggie sausages or some seitan to make a very hearty pie.

This recipe uses whole cumin seeds from my spice rack - as part of my theme for Vegan Mofo. I've already written up some interesting bits and pieces on cumin on this post, so I won't repeat myself! Jump over and check it out - you might learn something about cumin!

"Ancient Egyptian Peasant" Beer Onions

Ingredients
6 onions
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 x 375ml bottle of beer (pick your favourite vegan friendly brand)
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh thyme, to serve (optional)

To Make
1. Peel and slice the onions.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frypan. Add the cumin seeds and toast for about 30 seconds then add the onions and sauté over a medium heat until they are softened and translucent.
3. Add the bottle of beer. Cover and cook over a medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until the onions are completely cooked and the beer has become saucy and thick.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with fresh thyme (optional).

Serves 6 as a side dish, or makes enough filling for 1 pie.

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

Check out my other Egyptian recipe posts:

Preserved Lemons

Limoonada (Egyptian Lemonade)

Mesa'a'ah (Spicy Eggplant)

Orange and Olive Salad with Cumin

Creamy Tahini Sauce

Ful Medames

Khoshaf

Egyptian Orange Olive Salad with Cumin

I love trying new salads, and with spring well and truly here now it's the perfect time to be experimenting with them. I found this beautiful salad on (shifty eyes) wikirecipes. I know, it's not the most reliable source of information. But it was listed with the Egyptian recipes and even though I really wasn't sure if it was authentic at all, I thought it sounded delicious so I decided to make it  anyway - maybe an Egyptian reader can tell me whether it is the kind of thing that Egyptians would actually eat :)

In the end though, it didn't matter if it was authentic or not because it was really, really tasty and I will definitely make this again. It is a fresh and light salad which makes a perfect accompaniment to heavier, carby-er main dishes.

This Orange & Olive Salad is flavoured with ground cumin - which is not an exotic spice but it's not something I normally put in salads in ground form (I often do use toasted cumin seeds in salads which is delicious!), so it was nice to learn a new use for this incredible spice.

Cumin
Cumin is a cooks best friend, it has amazing flavour and enhances any curries, soups, casseroles and salads you could dream to put them in. It is believed to be indingenous to the middle east and has a strong history in Egypt.  Cumin seeds have been found in the pyramids of the pharoahs, they were used by Egyptians in their mummifying process. There is also references in the Old and New Testaments of the bible to cumin. In ancient Rome, cumin was a symbol of greed and the miserly emperor Marcus Aurelius was nicknamed "Cuminus".

Reference: Hemphill, 2006

For my month of spices I'm using Spice Notes and Recipes by Ian Hemphill as my reference tool to learn about spices and for all the information above. Thanks Ian for writing such a great and informative book! 

Orange and Olive Salad with Cumin

Ingredients
8 navel oranges, sliced and with skin and pith sliced off
1/2 cup halved marinated black olives
1 small Spanish onion, peeled and sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

To Make
1. Combine the orange slices, olives and onion in a salad bowl.
2. Mix the lemon juice, cumin, olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar and shake well.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and allow to sit for 20 minutes to let the flavour meld. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 6-8 as a side salad.

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

Check out my other Egyptian recipe posts:

Preserved Lemons

Limoonada (Egyptian Lemonade)

Mesa'a'ah (Spicy Eggplant)

'Ancient Egyptian Peasant' Beer Onions

Creamy Tahini Sauce

Ful Medames

Khoshaf

Fugazza (Argentinian Caramelised Onion Focaccia)

This month I'm cooking and sharing lots of Argentinian food, and I've learn't a lot about it so far! I was surprised how often pasta, gnocchi and focaccia came up in my research and in talking with Argentinian friends. Italian in Argentina? Apparently so! There is quite a strong Italian influence in Argentina which lead to some delicious fusion and the prominence of some classic Italian dishes (you'll be seeing a couple from me this month!). 

I love focaccia so I couldn't pass up the chance to make this one. Whilst the Italian varieties tend to be topped with olives and herbs (or sometimes sundried tomatoes), the Argentinian version is generally topped with onions and dried oregano. It's called Fugazza - and it's delicious. You can either top with raw chopped onion (it'll cook up as you bake the focaccia) or you can make it even tastier by slightly caramelising the onions first. Guess which option I picked? Caramelised onions every time.

Ingredients
1 cup warm water
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 2/3 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
8 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp dried oregano

To Make
1. Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast in a bowl and set aside for 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is frothy on top.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add 5 tbsp olive oil and the yeast mixture and mix to form a dough. It should be soft and pliable, but not sticking to your fingers. If it's too wet add a bit more flour, if it's too dry to hold together add a little more water.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured benchspace and knead for 10 minutes (set your oven timer and put on some good music to sing along to).
4. Lightly oil the mixing bowl and return the ball of dough to it. Cover with cling wrap or a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes (or until doubled in size). In the meantime you can preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
5. Once risen turn the dough out and punch down into a smooth ball. Oil a round pan with 2 tbsp olive oil and place your ball of dough in the centre. Gently flatten the ball out into a disc with your fingers. You'll get to a point where you can't stretch it any further without it springing back. When you get to this stage just set is aside and let it rest for 10 minutes (while it's resting you can chop up your onions).
6. After 10 minutes the dough should have relaxed, allowing you to spread it out further. Keep doing this until the dough covers the whole pan and reaches the edges (you may have to rest it again before you can get it the full diameter).
7. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a fry pan and saute the onions until softened. Add the sugar and vinegar and cook for about 5 minutes.
8. Spread the onions over the the base and sprinkle liberally with dried oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges become golden brown. Remove from the oven, slice and serve up.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Argentina!

Check out my other Argentinian recipe posts:

Vegan Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche Tiramisu

Sweetcorn Empanadas

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Biscuits)

Pumpkin & Jalapeño Empanadas

Vegan Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Pie)

Zwiebelkuchen is not the most vegan friendly of foods! It's a single crust German pie filled with onions, cream, bacon and caraway. It's more of an egg-less quiche, I think. Despite it's very non vegan nature, I thought it looked like a dish with delicious potential, so I decided to give it a try as part of my German food month. This recipe is my own vegan version, which turned out even better than I had hoped!

Ingredients

The Pastry Base

1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornstarch

9 tbsp vegan margarine

1 1/2 tsp canola oil

4 tbsp soy milk

The Filling

5 big onions, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup cashews, soaked on cold water for an hour or more

300g silken tofu

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp arrowroot

1 tbsp chopped oregano (or thyme)

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tbsp flour

To Make

To make the pastry: 

1. Combine the flour, salt and cornstarch in a food processor and pulse once or twice to mix. Add the margarine a couple of tablespoons at a time and process until the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs. Then add the canola oil and soy milk (1 tbsp at a time) until the mixture clumps together as you process it (you may need to add more soy milk if this consistency isn't reached). If you don't have a food processor: combine the dry ingredients and then rub the margarine through the dry ingredients with your finger tips until it reaches a breadcrumbs consistency. Add the wet ingredients and knead with your hands until  the dough sticks together in a ball, but doesn't stick to your fingers.

2. Flatten the dough out into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

4. Roll out the pastry (it is a fairly crumbly pastry so it is a little difficult to work with, but don't worry you can patch it up very easily) about 1/2 cm thick and lay it out on a greased pie or quiche dish. Patch up any gaps or holes by pressing pieces of rolled dough into it. Don't worry, it doesn't need to look pretty!

5. Prick the base with a fork and bake for 20 minutes.

NOTE: After you remove the crust from the oven increase the temperature to 180 degrees.

To make the filling:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onions until lightly golden and cooked. Place in a mixing bowl.

2. Drain the cashews (which have been soaking) and place in a food processor with the lemon juice (a small one will work best - if you have a mini one like a magic bullet then use this and then transfer to a larger processor for the rest of the filling ingredients) and process until they form a smooth paste (you will likely need to scrape the sides a lot.

3. Add the tofu, garlic and arrowroot to the filling and process until all smooth.

4. Add this mixture to the bowl with the onions in it along with the oregano, caraway seeds, flour and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

5. Pour the filling into the baked pie crust and smooth the top over as much as you can.

6. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serves 6. 

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

Check out my other German recipe posts:

German Apple Pancakes

Rohkostsalat (Cabbage and Fruit Salad)

Deconstructed Black Forest Cake Parfait

Rosenkohl in Bier (Brussels Sprouts in Beer)

Frankfurter Kranz (Bundt Cake Layered with Cherry Jam & Rum Buttercream)

German Potato Salad

Kaiserschmarrn (Torn Pancakes with Apple)

Rote (und grün) Grütze (German Fruit Jelly)

Salad-e Shirazi

It's classic of Middle Eastern feasts to have a beautiful fresh tomato and  herb salad and Iran is no exception. Iranian food is generally packed full of chopped herbs (sabzi) which make for incredible fresh and tangy salads. This recipe isn't the most unusual or remarkable salad you've ever come across, but it's one that you'll go back to and make again and again and again!

On another note - I've been nominated for the Best Australian Blogs 2012 People's Choice Award - you can vote for me by hitting up this link: http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/bloggingcomp/peopleschoice.html

Ingredients

4 tomatoes

1 small onion

2 Lebanese cucumbers

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 bunch fresh mint

1/2 bunch fresh parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Salt to taste

To Make
1. Finely dice the tomatoes and then put in a strainer to strain out some of the juice while you prepare the rest of the ingredients (seems a shame to waste I know, but if you don't your salad will be very mushy!).
2. Peel the onion and dice very finely. Dice the cucumber.
3. Finely chop all the herbs.
4. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and allow to sit for about 20 minutes in the fridge. Serve.

Serves 2 (or 4 as a side salad).

This month I'm featuring lots of amazing Iranian recipes!

Check out my other Iranian recipe posts:

Persian Carrot and Rose Jam

Artichoke and Pine Nut Dolma

Vegan Yakh Dar Behesht (Ice in Heaven)

Iranian Sugar-pickled Garlic

Sholeh Zard (Rice & Rosewater Pudding)

Naaz Khatoon (Eggplant with Pomegranate Molasses)

Torshi-havij (Pickled Baby Carrots)

Mokhalafat (Traditional Accompaniments)