Sumac Crusted Crispy Skin Salmon Recipe

Sumac crusted salmon

Sumac is a spice common to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It has a slight lemony tangy flavor, hence it goes well with fish and other dishes that are complimentary to lemon.

Sumac crusted salmon is a very simple but flavourful and healthy dish. Its easy to prepare. I served it with coriander onion mashed potato.

Ingredients

Salmon Fillets

Sumac

Oil

Salt

Method

1.      Score the skin of the salmon fillets and season both sides generously with sumac. Chill for at least an hour (optional but recommended)

2.      Place a non stick frying pan over medium heat and add about a table of oil

3.      Season the salmon with salt on both sides and place skin side down in the frying pan

4.      Cook until the salmon is 75% cooked and the skin is crispy. The side of the salmon will start to change color. Once about 75% of one side has changed color flip and salmon and cook on the other side until the salmon is cooked to your preference. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes otherwise the salmon will be overcooked

Sumac crusted salmon

Semolina Coconut Apple Cake Recipe

Semolina Coconut Apple Cake

Semolina adds a fantastic soft grainy texture to cakes. I’ve made many different variations of semolina cake and it never disappoints.  The cake is also super moist.

I chopped the apples into centimeter cubes. As a result the apples maintained a slight crunch. If you prefer the apples to have a softer texture, cut into smaller cubes, or grate them.

Semolina Coconut Apple Cake

Ingredients

1 cup semolina

¾ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup chopped apples (or 1 cup if you prefer lots of apples)

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1¼ cups yogurt

½ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

For syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Juice from ½ lemon

Method

1.      Soak coconut in yogurt for ½ hour (optional)

2.      Beat eggs and sugar until sugar has dissolved

3.      Add yogurt, coconut, apples and oil and mix well.

4.      In a separate bowl mix together all the rest of the ingredients. Add to the liquid mixture and mix to combine. The batter will be quite 'wet'

5.      Line a 8×8 pan with baking paper and pour batter in it.

6.      Bake at 175°C/350°F until golden brown and delicious, about 25-30 minutes.

7.      To make the syrup: Boil water and sugar for 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and boil for further 3 minutes. Let it cool completely

8.      Pour the cold syrup over the warm cake. Let it cool completely, or chill, before serving.

Semolina Coconut Apple Cake

Lamb Vindail Recipe

Lamb Vindail

The dish is really called vindail, it is not a typo. Vindail is slightly different from vindaloo. Unlike vindaloo, vindail does not contain potatoes, and the spice mix is slightly different.

Vindail is really delicious. The sauce is rich, spicy and tangy. Its a comforting dish to have on a cold day. On first sight the list of ingredients looks long but its not too bad. I skipped some of the spices that I didn't have them and the dish still turned out really delicious.

Prior to recently coming across this recipe, I had never heard of vindail, nor seen it on any menu. There are a number of vindail recipes on the internet, and they all are attributed to Rick Stein. But I don’t think Rick Stein invented it.

The original recipe is for chicken. So if you are not a fan of lamb, you can substitute with chicken. It may work with just about any other kind of meat.

Adopted from With a Glass

Lamb Vindail

Ingredients

1 kg lamb (or chicken thighs)

500 g tomatoes, chopped

10 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cm piece of cinnamon stick

1 whole clove

1 whole star anise

2 medium onions, chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons chilli powder (or more)

1/2 toasted and ground fenugreek seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt+ more to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon oil

Method

1.      Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan on medium heat.

2.      Add cinnamon, clove and star anise and cook for one minute .

3.      Add onions and cook, stirring constantly, until they are browned, about 15 minutes.

4.      Add garlic and cumin powder and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5.      Add chilli, fenugreek, turmeric and salt and cook for 30 seconds.

6.      Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.

7.      Add lamb and about 200 ml water. Simmer, covered, until the lamb is soft. Add more water during cooking if it gets too dry. Just before serving, add vinegar and sugar. If the sauce is too watery, remove lid and reduce the sauce until it reaches the desired consistency.

Hot, Sweet and Sour Black Pudding Recipe

Hot, Sweet and Sour Black Pudding

At university one of my favourite Chinese dishes was sweet and sour pork. I’ve never made a sweet and sour dish so I thought why not start with hot sweet and sour black pudding. The black pudding I used was made from pigs blood, so it is sort of sweet and sour pork!

The hot, sweet and sour sauce worked really well with black pudding. If you want a quicker alternative, try black pudding with thai sweet chilli sauce. If you don’t like black pudding, this recipe will work well with pork or chicken.

Hot, Sweet and Sour Black Pudding

Adopted from Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen

Ingredients

½ kilogram of black pudding, cubed

1 (20 oz., 566 grams) can pineapple chunks in heavy syrup or juice, undrained

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 cup regular distilled or rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Chili powder to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 oz. sugar snap pea pods

8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained

16-20 sweet whole spears baby corn on the cob packed in water, rinsed and drained well

Method

1.      Heat oil in large deep frying pan and sauté black pudding until done. Set aside in a bowl. Drain and wipe the frying pan

2.      Mix cornstarch, chili powder and brown sugar. Stir in pineapple with syrup or juice, and vinegar and soy sauce.  Heat frying pan to medium heat and add cornstarch mixture

3.      Bring to boil and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Reduce heat.

4.      Add the vegetables, cover and simmer over low heat until cooked, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5.      Add black pudding and serve.