MOUSSAKA RECIPE

This is a traditional dish claimed by both the Greeks and the Turks. Whatever its origins, it’s well worth the effort you have to put in to making it. Like our Pastitsio recipe it takes a while to prepare and then ¾ of an hour in a preheated medium oven.
If you’re not a fan of aubergines (eggplants) you can substitute them with courgettes (zucchini), and if you are a vegetarian you can use both and leave out the meat. You just need to fry the courgettes lightly so that they start to become translucent.
Because the sauce is rather like a soufflé, you need to put the whole thing in a greased oven proof dish which has a lot of room at the top (leave 3 inches to be on the safe side) as the sauce will rise like a soufflé. You can omit the eggs if you’d prefer, and just settle for a cheese sauce.

Ingredients
300 gr minced beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp oregano (dried)
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp flour
oil
1 large aubergine, sliced, salted, washed thoroughly and dried
4-5 tomatoes, sliced
3-4 medium sized potatoes
50 gr butter
50 gr plain flour
250 gr grated cheese (cheddar for flavour)
750 ml milk
2 eggs separated and whites whisked to stiff peaks
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.



Method
Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and garlic until the onions start to turn translucent, then add the minced beef, and fry until it is cooked. Add a tbsp flour and the tomato puree to soak up the fatty juices, stirring well. Then add the oregano and Worcestershire sauce.
Remove from the heat and put in the oven proof dish you have greased.
Now add more oil to the frying pan and fry the aubergines, for about 5-10 mins. While you are doing this, place a layer of tomato slices over the meat mixture.
When the slices of aubergine are cooked, remove from the pan and get rid of the excess oil by drying them on absorbent paper. Then layer them over the tomatoes.
Fry the potato slices for about 10 mins, 5 mins for each side, dry as you did the aubergines and put them over the aubergine layer.
You can now make the cheese sauce.
Melt the butter over a low heat, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour so that it becomes a smooth paste. Slowly pour in a little milk and stir. Now put the pan back on the low heat, and add the milk gradually, stirring all the while so that it doesn’t become lumpy. Bring to the boil, add half the grated cheese, and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the egg yolks with a wooden spoon. When they are well integrated into the sauce, add the stiff egg whites and fold into the sauce using a metal spoon. Add the salt and pepper. When the whites are well mixed into the sauce, pour it over the potatoes. Top with the rest of the grated cheese, and place it in the oven which has been preheated to a medium heat. Leave for 45 mins.
Remove from the oven and serve hot with a salad.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

ANISE OR ANISEED HISTORY AND USES, TISANE OF ANISE

ANISE OR ANISEED
Everyone has probably tasted an aniseed flavoured sweet, so you know that anise tastes like liquorice Julius Caesar took anise balls on his campaigns for his soldiers, so they were probably the first sweets as we know them.
Anise’s Latin name is Pimpinella anisum and this should not be confused with star anise, which is used so frequently in Chinese cuisine, notably as an ingredient of hoisin sauce.
Anise is native to Egypt and the southern Mediterranean area, although it is now cultivated in many other countries. In Roman times it was cultivated in Tuscany. By the Middle Ages it was being cultivated in Central Europe.
It was mentioned in the ancient Egyptian Eber papyrus, written around 1500 BC and has been grown there for 4,000 years.
Dioscorides wrote that it "warms, dries and dissolves” so used it for stomach ailments. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, used it to clear congestion of the respiratory system and to treat coughs. Pliny wrote that it was useful to rid people of ‘morning breath’ and believed that it would keep nightmares at bay if kept near the bed. In Mediaeval times, it was used as a gargle for sore throats, mixed with honey and vinegar. It was also used to protect people from the Evil Eye, or a curse.
The Romans, known for their feasting, and let’s face it, gluttony, made spiced cakes with it as an ingredient. These were called Mustacae, and were given to guests at the end of a banquet, so that indigestion and flatulence could be avoided. It has been suggested that these were the forerunners of wedding cakes.
Gerard, who wrote a Herball or Historie of Plants in 1597, thought that anise was good to stop hiccups and wrote that it should be given to children who suffered from ‘the falling sickness’ (epilepsy)
Anise has been put to many purposes throughout the course of recorded history; it was good as bait for mouse traps, and it destroys insects that bite. Mixed with spermaceti (oil from the whale) it was used for skin problems.
The stems can be used as a vegetable, and you can find it in toothpastes, chewing gum and soaps, among other products. Of course it is used in ouzo, and anisette, and it was used in the notorious absinthe too, which was much favoured, (until it was banned) by Bohemians in early 20th century Paris, James Joyce among them.
The seeds can be used raw to add a bite to green salads, in cooked vegetable dishes and in curries, tomato sauces, egg dishes and cakes, biscuits and bread. It can also be used to flavour stewed fruit, and, of course, sweets.
Below is a recipe for Anise Tea, which is good for sore throats, colds and to clear the head.


TISANE OF ANISE
Ingredients
2 tsps bruised seeds
500 ml of boiling water


Method
Pour the boiling water over the seeds and leave for 15 minutes. Strain and drink. It is recommended that you take 2 or 3 cups a day to get rid of a sore throat or cold. This is also reputedly good for stopping hiccups.
This has Taste and is a Treat(ment).

ASAFOETIDA, DEVIL' S DUNG, HENG (URDU) PAKISTANI TOMATO SALSA RECIPE

ASAFOETIDA, DEVIL’S DUNG, HENG (URDU)

Asafoetida doesn’t have a very pleasant nick name, Devil’s Dung, but it’s quite appropriate as it has a noxious odour, which breaks down when heated in either water or oil. The name comes from Farsi, aza meaning resin and Latin foetida meaning foetid or stinking. It is a tall perennial herb which can grow to around 7 feet tall, and its leaves can be used in cooking as well as the gummy substance from the roots. We normally buy asafoetida in powder form, but you can also buy it in the form of a solid resin, especially in north Africa and the Middle East, and in this form it resembles a piece of dung. The plant, Ferula asafoetida, in the Umbelliferaceae family is related to fennel and the carrot.

It has carrot-like roots and the gum is extracted from these. One plant can give about a kilo of resinous gum. It has mainly resisted attempts to cultivate it, and grown in eastern Iran and Afghanistan where it is used in medicine but not in cookery. When taken from the soil and exposed to the air, it solidifies.

It’s popular among Jains and some Hindus who do not eat onion and garlic, as it tastes a little like leeks when added to vegetable dishes. It’s most often used with chickpeas, lentils and dried beans as it eliminates flatulence, and aids digestion. It was introduced to Europe by the Romans, who had at first used a herb called Cyrene silphium, which only grew in Libya. However, this became extinct in 1 AD. Luckily for the Romans, Alexander the Great had already found asafoetida when he marched through the Persian Empire, in the third century BC. When silphium became extinct, the Romans substituted asafoetida in their recipes.

In mediaeval Europe it was used to tenderize and preserve meat.

Because of its foul smell, it’s a natural pesticide but Dioscorides used it as a cure-all in 1 AD. He used it to cure baldness, toothache and liver diseases among other things. In the 11th century Ibn Sina, the famous Arab physician used it as an aid for digestion, and it is still used in this way. In Ayurvedic medicine, it’s used to stimulate the appetite, and aid digestion. Recent studies have shown that asafoetida roots have anti viral properties which could be effective in the treatment of swine flu. It can also help lower blood pressure levels.
It might seem expensive, but you only use a pinch at a time, so it lasts for quite a while, and there’s no substitute for it. So if you want the authentic taste of Indian and Pakistani dishes, you should invest in some. Use it with lentils, beans and chickpeas, it gives them a taste boost.



TOMATO SALSA, PAKISTANI-STYLE
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
¾ tsp black mustard seeds
½ tsp Nigella sativa or black seed
3 curry leaves, slightly torn
pinch asafoetida powder
4 green chillies split from top to bottom and seeds removed
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 inch ginger root, pounded to a pulp
5 medium sized ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
2 tsp sugar
salt to taste
fresh coriander leaves, shredded to garnish

Method
Heat the oil and fry the seeds, leaves and asafoetida until the seeds start to sputter. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 2 mins. Now add the tomatoes and cook over a low heat for 10 to 15 mins, until the tomatoes are mushy.
Add turmeric, chilli powder and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Remove from the heat and add the salt, stir well and serve hot. If there’s any left, it will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container. You can eat it hot or cold.
Serve as a side dish garnished with the fresh coriander leaves.
Use as a dip with naan, chapattis or other breads. You can also serve it hot to accompany any meat dishes.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

KALVANJI / KALONJI ARE NOT BLACK CUMIN SEEDS

KALVANJI (URDU) KALONJI (HINDI), NIGELLA SATIVA.BLACK SEED
There’s a lot of confusion in Internet land about Black seed or Kalvanji, Kalonji etc and once again it took two of us, (and a spice seller to convince me), that the little black seeds I take when I have a muzzy feeling in my head-like an hour ago, are not, in fact black cumin seeds. They are quite different. Likewise, the little garden plant, Love-in –The-Mist, which has flowered in English gardens since Elizabethan times, is not the same plant but a relative. The Latin name for the British, self-propagating plant is Nigella Damascena. So please don’t be tempted to try the seeds from this plant instead of the real deal, Nigella Sativa.
So; Black Seeds have a long history, and are known as yet another cure all. The oil of these seeds was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen to assist him in the afterlife, it is supposed. It grows wild in the Mediterranean region and was known as Greek Coriander by the Romans, and Roman coriander by the Greeks. Dioscorides used it to treat headaches, nasal congestion, toothache and intestinal worms. Hippocrates recommended it for treatment of digestive and liver disorders, and in his ‘Canon of Medicine’ Ibn Sina (980-1037) said that it ‘stimulates the body’s energy and helps recovery from fatigue or dispiritedness’.
Recent research has shown that it can boost our immune system if taken over a period of time, and it has been claimed that it is especially effective when taken with garlic. It has been used in traditional medicine on the subcontinent to treat asthma and bronchial problems, and it is generally believed that the oil is good for eczema and to get rid of boils. It was also supposed to help if you were bitten by a rabid dog.
The Arabs call it habbatul barakah, or ‘seed of healing’. It’s an ingredient of Bangladeshi panch phoran or five spice powder, which is made from black seed, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds and fennel seeds in equal amounts and this can also contain thyme and black pepper. This mixture needs to be fried in mustard oil for authenticity. It’s used as a condiment in India, as well as in cooking.
If you take half a teaspoon of the seeds every day you should escape colds, flu, back pain, sore throats and in general helps the immune system. There’s a story of a man going to a holy man to seek advice because his son had a stomach complaint. The holy man told him to give his son half a teaspoon of the black seeds, mixed with a spoon of honey. The man went back the next day and said that his son was still not well. The holy man told him to do the same as the day before. When the man returned on the third day, the holy man told him that his son was lying, so confident was he that the remedy was effective.




BLACK SEEDS WITH POTATOES
Ingredients
300 gr boiled and cubed potatoes
1 tbsp black seeds
1 tsp red chilli powder
mint leaves, shredded
2 tbsps fresh coriander leaves
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsps oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oils in a pan and add the seeds and chilli powder. Fry for a minute over a low heat, stirring not to let them burn. Add the potatoes in the pan with the spices for 5 mins or more, until they are coated with the spices, and turning colour, but not crispy.
Add the fresh leaves and fry for 1 min, stirring so that they release their aroma.
Remove from the heat and serve with any meat and a salad.
This has Taste and is a Treat.