Celebrating Black History Month

David & Caroline's Fried Rice & African Buns

In our latest video, David and his Mum Caroline show us how to make Fried Rice with Chicken and Puff Puff Buns. Tuck in to the recipe below. 

Ingredients

Fried Rice:

• Basmati rice 500g
• Frozen mixed veg (including carrots, peas, sweetcorn)
• Onion 
• Curry powder
• Dried thyme
• Chicken stock cube 
• Whole ginger fresh 
• Chicken of your choice, we recommend chicken thighs

Puff Puff/African Buns: 

• Self raising flour 500g
• Whole nutmeg 
• Eggs
• Sunflower oil
• Sugar 

Method

Chicken & Fried Rice:

1. Peel and chop carrots and onions and chop the ginger. 
2. Cook the rice as per pack instructions with water, stock cube and curry powder until tender. Once the rice is cooked and strained, heat some oil in a large frying pan or pot, and fry the carrot, onion and ginger until softened. Stir in the rice and cook until just gently browned.
3. While the rice is cooking marinade the chicken by mixing a crumbled up stock cube, a pinch of curry powder, a good grind of pepper and some sesame seeds (black and white sesame seeds work great) add some oil just to bind the marinade together and rub into the chicken, place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 190oc till juices run clear.

African Buns:

1. Bind the flour egg and milk together, to make a dough
2. Heat the oil for frying carefully and test with a little bit of the dough, if the dough floats and begins to colour the oil is at the correct temperature. 
3. Add the dough in little balls carefully into the hot oil, around 3-4 at a time, once they are floating and golden brown on all sides they are ready, place on a tray with a bit of kitchen towel so they can drain off any excess oil.
4. Serve all with the fried rice 

Fiona's Escovitch Fish

Tuck in to Fiona's delicious recipe for Escovitch Fish. You'll find the full details below. The dish is usually made with snapper or red bream, but you can try it with sea bream or seabass if you prefer. 

Ingredients

• Fish - usually use Snapper or Red Bream but you can use either Sea Bream or Seabass
• 1 Lime or Lemon
• 1 Onion thinly sliced , 
• 2  Carrots cut into thin strips
• 1 Red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 Green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 Yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 Scotch bonnet peppers  thinly sliced
• 1 Cup of White Vinegar
• Vegetable oil 
• Salt  (optional if using all purpose seasoning)
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon of Fish or All purpose seasoning 

Please note the amount of ingredients required will depend on volume of fish being used

To prepare fish 

1. Rinse well and squeeze lemon or lime to cleanse. Season fish with fish seasoning, salt and pepper. (You can marinate overnight or season on the day). Deep fry the whole fish, over a high heat, until crispy.

To prepare Marinade

1. Place the sliced onions, peppers, carrots, scotch bonnet and white vinegar in the small pan.
2. Bring to boil and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

To serve

1. Place the fish in a dish and pour the marinated vegetables over the fish.

Dehe's Cote D'ivoire Grilled Lamb and Attieke

Tuck into Dehe's recipe for Cote D'ivoire Grilled Lamb and Attieke. Watch Dehe show chef Jon how to make this celebration dish in the video below, and take a look at the full recipe further down.

Rene's Jollof Rice

First up is Rene sharing his Jollof Rice recipe with us and chatting to Jon about growing up in Ghana. You can watch the video here, and check out the full recipe below. In the video, Rene talks about cooking from the heart, using your senses to detemine how much of certain ingredients to use. We've added some quanities in the recipe below to give you a starting point, but feel free to experiment according to your tastes.  

 

Ingredients

• Vegetable Oil
• 400g Long Grain Rice
• 1x Onion
• 2x cloves Garlic
• 400g Chopped Tomatoes
• 1x piece of root Fresh Ginger
• 1x Scotch Bonnet Chili
• approx 2-3 tablespoonsTomato Puree
• 1x stock cube (Beef)
• 150g Frozen Mixed Vegetable (optional)
• 1 litre Water
• 400g Stewing Beef (Cut into smaller pieces)
• 1-2 teaspoons Dried Garlic
• 1x teaspoons Dried Ginger 
• 1x teaspoons Paprika
• 3 bay leaves 
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Add oil to a pan and add the finely chopped onion, fry till golden brown and aromatic (this will take 5-6 minutes).
2. While the onion is cooking, add the chopped tomatoes to a bowl and add the garlic and the scotch bonnet (half if you don't want it too spicy) blend this until smooth.
3. Add the tomatoes to the oil and onion in the pan, and cook untill reduced and sticky. This can take a while, but it's worth the wait!
4. While you are cooking down the tomato puree, marinade the beef in dried garlic, paprika, dried ginger salt and pepper, heat a little oil in a pan and add the beef, cook till golden brown and allow to simmer on a low heat for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook out, add the rice, the mixed vegetables, the bay leaves, the stock cube, the cooked beef and the water, bring to the boil, cover with foil, and a lid then simmer for 30 minutes (or more).
6. When cooked, add salt and pepper if needed. Serve and enjoy.