In Stevie’s do-it-yourself menu, the ready-ground spices were placed on the table to be blended with pestle and mortar.

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Chaat masala salad

Serves 4-6

Spice mix:
2 tsp amchoor*
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chilli
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
A tiny pinch of asafoetida

Vegetables
A small bunch of asparagus
A small bunch of radishes
½ cucumber
A handful of small, ripe tomatoes
¼ pineapple
2 handfuls of broad beans, podded

Dressing
Juice of 1 lemon
A drizzle of olive oil

1. Chop all the vegetables so they are all the same size and place in a large bowl. Combine the chaat spices, then sprinkle over the salad along with a little salt, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of oil. Combine with your hands.

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Potato bondas

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Makes about 20

400g potatoes, peeled
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small bunch of curry leaves
1 red chilli, seeds removed and chopped
1 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric

Batter
200g gram flour
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2  tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
Coriander leaves
water
1l vegetable oil, for frying

Sauce
Greek yoghurt, loosened with a dash of water, to serve
Tamarind water, to serve

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender and just falling apart, a bit longer than you cook them for boiled potatoes. Drain and leave to steam dry.

2. In a wide pan, heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, add the curry leaves, chilli, ground coriander and turmeric. After a minute, add the potatoes and fold them into the spice mix, breaking them up as you go so you have a lumpy mash. Season with salt to taste.

3. Transfer to a baking tray and leave to cool. Once cool, shape into golf ball-sized balls.

4. Make the batter by slowly whisking water into the other ingredients – you want it to have the texture of double cream.

5. Heat the oil for frying, ideally in a deep-fat fryer. Dip the balls into the batter then carefully drop into the hot oil. Fry for about 4 minutes until golden. Place on top of the chaat salad and spoon over yoghurt loosened with a little water and some tamarind water.

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Lamb shoulder cooked in seven spice and pomegranate molasses

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Serves 6-8

1 lamb shoulder, on or off the bone
Salt
Olive oil
3 tbsp seven spice mix
Approx. 200ml pomegranate molasses

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F. Season the lamb shoulder with salt and rub it with olive and then seven spice mix. Place in a large baking tray and add 1-2cm deep of water to the tray. Cover with tin foil and cook for approx.  3 hours until the lamb is falling apart.

2. Turn the oven up to 200C/400F. Remove the foil, then pour over the molasses (and add another splash of water if it has evaporated) and return the lamb to the oven, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes, until the lamb is slightly crisp. Keep an eye on it so the spice mix doesn’t burn. Shred with forks and serve.

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Freekeh with soft herbs

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Serves 10

1 packet of freekeh
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
A handful each of parsley, dill and mint, roughly chopped

1. Rinse the freekeh well. Cover in cold water and bring to the boil. Cook for approx. 60-90 minutes (the cooking times mysteriously seem to vary), until it is completely tender.

2. Drain, and while hot, season will salt, lemon juice (to taste) and a good glug of olive oil. Stir in the herbs and serve.
Grilled aubergine
Place the aubergine under a salamander or over a grill until completely blackened and gives away to the touch. Split them open and serve.

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Tahini sauce

Serves 6

1/2 garlic clove, crushed with a pinch of salt
2 heaped tbsp tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
8 tbsp water
3 tbsp oil
Salt, to taste

1. Combine the garlic and tahini, then squeeze in the lemon. The mix will immediately thicken. Pour in the water and oil and continue to stir, adding more water until you achieve the desired consistency.

 

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Serves 6

1l whole milk
100ml double cream
90g caster sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
1/2  vanilla pod and seeds
4 cardamom pods
A pinch of saffron threads
Salt
120g risotto rice
A splash of orange blossom water
1 egg yolk
2 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt

Cherries
Cherries, de-stalked and de- stoned

Lemon juice
Demerara sugar
Rose water

Sprinkles
Handful of cardamom pods
1 tbsp golden granulated sugar
1 tsp dried rose petals

1. Put the milk, cream, sugar, zest, cinnamon, vanilla, saffron and a pinch of salt in a large pan and bring to the boil. Wash the rice and soak it in water for 20 minutes. When the milk comes to the boil, add the rice, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 40-45 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and leave to cool slightly. Whisk the egg yolk with the yogurt and stir into the warm rice, removing the cinnamon and vanilla pod. Add a little orange blossom water to taste.

3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Place the cherries in a bowl and add a squeeze of lemon, the sugar and rosewater. Place in a baking tray and roast for 5 minutes until just cooked. Spoon over the rice.

4. In a pestle and mortar, crush the cardamom, remove the pods and crush the seeds with the sugar to make cardamom sugar. Sprinkle over the cherries and rice, along with a few dried rose petals and serve.

* North-India souring-agent prepared from powdered dried unripe mango. Sumac is a possible substitute.

Marcia says: “In the recipe for the feijoada, the meats will presented either separate from the beans or with a little bit of the beans in order to keep them moist and the beans will be in a large soup tureen. The green collards could be half and half with the oranges and the cassava flour will be in smaller bowls. The salt is added little by little as most of the meats are salted.”.

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Feijoada tradicional

Serves 15

For the beans
2 kg black beans
750 g lean jerky beef
300 g salted fatback (pork)
2 salted pig tails, 700g
2 salted pig ears, 300 g
1 kg beef muscle
1 kg beef short loin
300 g bacon (in a single piece)
300 g thick pork sausage
500 g pepperoni sausage
300 g smoked pork loin
300 g smoked pork ribs

For the seasoning
4 soup-spoonfuls vegetable oil (not olive oil)
3 large onions, chopped in small pieces
6 large garlic cloves, crushed
4 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 sweet oranges

The day before preparations begin:

1. Soak the black beans for one night covered with cold water.

2. Wash the jerky, the tails, the ears, the salted fatback. Let them soak overnight covered with cold water.

Next day:

1. Drain the beans and cook them in a large cauldron covered with fresh water. The beans will cook untill soft, but stil  holding their shape. Add hot water if needed to keep them always covered. At this point the meats will begin to be added. The beans are only salted at the end after they are soft – otherwise they will not be soft enough for the feijoada.

2. While the beans are cooking: wash the salted meats again and transfer them and the beef short loin, the beef muscle and the bacon to a large pan, cook them covered with water until very soft, this will dissolve the fat from the meats. Then add the meats to the beans. Let the bean-mixture simmer.

3. Puncture the sausages and add them to the beans. Add the smoked pork loin and the smoked ribs to the beans. Let them cook, add more hot water if needed.

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan or a casserole on a medium flame, stir-fry the onion and the garlic. Add 2 or 3 ladles of beans – more beans than water – mix them with the stir-fry while crushing the beans against the bottom of the pan – a mixer can be used but do not make a purée  because this will change the colour of the feijoada into a gray-ish black.  Season it with salt and black pepper – take care to taste the beans in the pan first because the meats have quite a large amount of salt.

5. Tip the stir-fry into the beans and cook for more 30 minutes on a very small flame – at this point add the oranges to soak the extra fat in the feijoada.

6. Present the feijoada with:
White rice (3 to 4 soup spoons per serving)
Green collards (thinly sliced fast braised in oil and crushed garlic – a little to taste – seasoned with a pinch of salt).
Manioc/cassava flour (3-4 soup-spoons per serving – 1 spoon is 10g)
1 / 2 peeled and quartered orange per serving.
Tabasco or any other chilli sauce on table