Granny's Tuna Curry

Ok - so this is not very gourmet. I've discussed Gran's cooking here. Saying that however, this is one of the favourite dishes in this house, particularly with the kids. Even Mary has been known to say she likes this one, although she might just be showing respect to elders, because this resembles no curry that Mary has ever cooked. It also breaks the rule for all those old wives out there who believe that consuming fish and milk can cause vitiligo (but this is totally unproven). This recipe was designed to include entirely canned and frozen ingredients. Bonus. Yep, super gourmet...

Ingredients:

• 350g tinned tuna in brine (two medium tins) - drained
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup tinned baby carrots (drained)
• 2 tbsp oil (canola)
• 1 tbsp butter (I use ghee)
• 2 tsp mild curry powder (Gran recommends Clive of India brand)
• 2 tbsp flour (yes, you can use gluten free)
• 1 cup milk (I use CF diet milk, but rice milk also works)
• salt to taste

Shorisha Elish with touri & mango

This is a gorgeous curry made by Ms. Tapashe Podder, for the Grandma's Recipes competition recently at Mumtaz Mahal Restaurant. She has kindly allowed me to share the recipe on my blog. Notes below outline some of the tricky ingredients. This is a verbatim copy of Ms Tapashe's Grandmother's recipe, so any instructions that seem a little ambiguous have also been clarified below.

Ingredients:

Hilsa fish= 6 pieces ①
Mustard seed paste= 1 tbsp
Touri paste= made of 2 big touris ②
Mango boiled= 2 tsp ③
Green chilli= 5-6 pieces
Sliced onions= 6-7 medim onion
Turmeric powder= 1 tsp
Red chilli powder= 1 tsp
Cumin powder= 1 tsp
Coriander powder= 1 tsp
Salt to taste 
Oil= 1 cup

Method:

Orange jellies

We're going on a time warp here - back to a time when I used to dream about these in the weeks of lead-up to my birthday party. My mum was fairly anti white-bread, definitely anti-sugar and not much of a baker, but she used to make these sunshine smiles with plain old oranges and a packet of tartrazine-fueled jello. As far as a kid's concerned, that's probably better than my all-natural, no colour, no preservative, low sugar version below. But, this is almost as easy, and healthy enough to pop in a school lunchbox for kids who otherwise refuse to eat fruit. And it's really all about that orange-peel grin in the aftermath anyway...

Ingredients:

• 6 oranges
• 10g packet gelatin
• 2 tbsp raw sugar
• water (about 200ml, depending on oranges)

Garam Masala Muffins

I was invited to go and have a chat with some lovely people on Dubai Eye Radio today (about food blogs), and realised with an hour before leaving time that I probably shouldn't turn up empty handed. So, I grabbed a ramshackle bunch of ingredients out of the cupboard and threw them together.

The recipe is quite formulaic - I make this kind of thing for the kids all the time now. You will find it is quite similar to many of my cupcake or muffin recipes already on here. But, the garam masala adds a nice little kick. If I hadn't been making enough for the kids too, then I probably would have used a dash more black pepper to spice them up a bit.

As usual, it's gluten free, casein free and even sugar free (except if you frost it).

Honey Bundt

My kids have colds again. 

My granny knew the cure for the common cold a long, long time ago. So did her granny, and her granny's granny. Honey, citrus, and love. Now we have scientific proof - honey not only soothes a sore throat, it also aids in controlling bacteria and supports the immune system. Citrus is full of vitamin C, another immune booster, antioxidants and folate. And love? Well, I don't need a lab report to tell me that it makes you feel better (but there is one anyway)

I'm a big fan of Manuka honey - I always have some in my cupboard. That, and some organic local honey, which I have been told is good for fighting inflammation from exposure to local pollens. I also used a mix of half ghee, half grapeseed oil to boost antioxidents and linoleic acid. As usual, I have made a gluten free and dairy free option, but this could easily be made with standard ingredients.

I made this cake entirely by hand, as it was the 31st March, and I did so in honour of Earth Hour. It was lovely and fluffy - there is no need to use electric beaters. The kids also helped me with this one - it's super easy. It's not a super-sweet cake, but trust me, if they help you make it, they won't even notice.

Almost healthy yeast-free apple doughnuts

I've fought making doughnuts. I'm not really sure why - probably it was the idea of deep-frying. Not the fat - I don't mind a bit of that. No - it was about the fuss, the mess, the chance of slopping oil all over my clothes, or worse, scalding my hands. Or my children's hands.

So I waited until everyone was preoccupied, and I crept out to the kitchen to conquer my fear while nobody was watching. I wanted to do it quickly, so I used self-raising flour instead of a yeast-based dough. I apologise for the complete lack of measurements*. This is a recipe that is best done by feel.

Ingredients

• apple - peeled and loosely diced
• milk (I used almond milk)
• softened butter (I used dairy-free ghee)
• egg
• self raising flour (I used gluten free)
• pinch salt
• oil for frying (I used grapeseed)
• sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Crumplestiltskin Cake

Last week I threw a birthday party for my now-5-year-old son. Goldilocks is a gorgeous thing who is on a strict gluten and casein free diet, so as you can imagine, the food took quite a bit of thought and consideration. No wheat, no cream, no butter, no milk. So, I threw out my other imposed restriction - no processed sugar' and had a free-for all.

The Pièce de résistance was the cake. Goldilocks can eat eggs, and so I wanted to add his all-time favourite and now banned sweet treat, meringue. The name "Crumplestiltskin" was given by my other son, as he helped me attach the crumbled meringue around the cake. I think it's a little more like an iceberg, but Lion insisted to all the guests that the name was definitely one out of a fairytale - almost. I completely cheated and used store-bought meringues and a gluten free self raising flour mix. But, you know how it goes - when you are baking for a party, any shortcut is taken.

Teriyaki Carrot Salad

This is a no-measure salad, but for the benefit of those who like a little guidance, I've put approximates in. It's oil free, gluten free, dairy free. It serves as a great base, and can be added to easily. It is now eaten at least one day per week in one form or another.

Ingredients

• 6 carrots, grated (I used 2 purple, 4 orange)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
• 1/4 tsp grated ginger
• 1/4 tsp grated garlic
• 1tbsp sesame seeds
• 1tsp teriyaki sauce
• 1/2 tsp mirin

Instructions:

1. toast sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, flipping often so they don't burn.
2. Put all ingredients in a bowl and toss.

Corn bread without the corn meal

OK - so if you've read previous posts, I'm ditching wheat. I've said goodbye to dairy. I'm getting as much sugar as possible out of our diets. I'm also using unprocessed and non-preserved items wherever I can, to avoid a whole heap of toxic nasties. Also, when refining into meal, corn loses some of its natural goodness. Now, I'm not saying this is all good, but for my family, not only is this a better alternative to ahem, the alternative, but it ticks the other boxes (wheat, dairy, sugar), and hides a daily vegetable. And I can put them in a lunchbox.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups self raising gluten free flour*
2. 1 cup finely grated carrot (1 medium to large carrot should do it)
3. 1 cup steamed corn kernels
4. 125ml coconut milk
5. 125ml olive oil
6. 2 eggs
7. pinch of salt

Teff cookies

After a week of easing my family onto the GFCF diet, I am starting to take things a little more seriously. I have decided that the importance of reducing sugar is in fact outweighed by gluten, casein and toxic nasties, so I have spent plenty of time down at the organic health food shop this week looking for alternative grains and healthier sweeteners.

My friend Edwina put me onto teff. It's a tiny Ethiopian gluten-free grain, and she suggested to mix it with rice flour. First go - Teff cookies, and they are great! This is a super easy recipe, using only one measuring cup. Mine was 100ml (about 4 oz), but you could use anything between about 75ml (3 oz) and 150ml (6oz), maybe adding another egg yolk if you get towards doubling the size.