We all love to pick this item up from the supermarket, but why not make it  fresh at home.  All you need are a few simple ingredients! Ingredients 200g cooked chickpeas (or a can of cooked chickpeas) half a clove of garlic 2-3 tbsp white tahini  lemon juice - 1/4 large lemon or 1/2 small lemon extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon cumin powder paprika  water salt Important Tahini is a sesame seed paste. I've bought a ready made bio version, but you can also prepare it at home by grinding sesame seeds with olive oil and salt. I  cooked raw chickpeas from scratch using my pressure cooker.  Soak raw chickpeas in water overnight (8-12 hours), covering the chickpeas by several inches. They will double in size by morning. Drain the water and rinse the chickpeas in the morning. I usually soak a large volume of chickpeas and use some for hummus and the rest for another dish. 1 cup of dry chickpeas will make approximately 3 cups of cooked chickpeas. The ch...

      I enjoy cooking aubergines (eggplant) in several different ways and curry styles, but to begin with I'd like to show you a quick and simple 1 pan  curry recipe. It can be served as a main or side dish  along with rice or bread. Ingredients 2 medium sized aubergines (eggplant) 2 tomatoes 1 onion 1/3 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons cumin seeds fresh coriander (cilantro) 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 100ml water oil - sunflower or olive oil minced green chili or red chili powder - optional - (for heat!) minced fresh ginger - optional 1. Wash the aubergines and tomatoes, and dice them. Peel and cut the onion in slices. 2.Heat oil in a frying pan and add the cumin seeds. The seeds will start to produce a fragrant aroma. Add the onions (and green chili, fresh ginger - optional) and sauté for 5 minutes.   3. Stir in the ground cumin, ground turmeric, ground coriander (+ red chili powder - optional) and...

                This works well for both breakfast and dessert!                I actually made this a while back, but luckily I took some photos!! I ngredients 400g Greek yogurt 1 mature mango (large) 1 teaspoon sugar (approx.) icing sugar honey berries of your choice - strawberries, blackberries, raspberries a few mint leaves 1. Wash the berries and dry them. Quarter the strawberries and halve the larger raspberries. 2. Peel the mango, and cut into smaller pieces. Purée the mango in a food processor with a bit of sugar (only for a few seconds) to get a nice smooth thick texture. 3. Pour the yoghurt into a bowl, add 1tbsp honey and mix well. If you prefer the yogurt to taste sweeter you can add a bit more honey. 4. Layer the mango and yogurt in serving glasses, and add the berries on top. 5. Refrigerate for a few hours, and sprinkle icing sugar (sieve using a small colander or tea strainer) and chopped ...

  A tasty and flavourful substitute for rice or potatoes, or a salad component!  This is traditionally cooked with bulgur wheat, but I like to make it with couscous!                                                                                  Ingredients 1 cup couscous 1.5 cups vegetable stock a bunch of parsley 1/2 red onion 1 tomato 1/4 cucumber turmeric powder cinnamon powder cumin powder salt, pepper lemon extra virgin olive oil Extras  a bunch of mint leaves spring onion stalks  1. Wash the tomato, cucumber (and spring onion if you are using) and peel the onion. Dice the onion, tomato and cucumber into very fine pieces. 2. Sauté the diced onions in a frying pan with olive oil until they become soft. I then grind them in a pestle & mortar along with the...

              This is my favourite Indian bread and I've found an easy way to make it at home! Ingredients 10g fresh yeast o 1/2 sachet dry yeast (see packet instructions) 300g white flour -  ideally from bakery (or you can use all purpose white flour) 60g Greek yogurt (sugared version better) 30ml milk 1 tablespoon sunflower oil a pinch of sugar 2 teaspoons salt dry garlic fresh minced coriander leaves (cilantro) 150ml lukewarm water This recipe makes 4 naans Important How to make lukewarm water - mix 150ml boiled water with 300ml cold water, and use 150ml of this volume to dissolve the yeast in. It's always better if you can use fresh yeast and flour as it will produce a softer, more tender and crunchier naan.  Preparing the dough (This is very similar to how I make my pizza dough!) 1.I always use fresh yeast. The first stage is to activate the yeast. Combine 150ml lukewarm water with 10g fresh yeast, a pinch of sugar and mix using a t...