I remember the first time I had coronation chicken. It was in sixth form and I was told--despite chicken being in its name--it was vegetarian. It was drowned in creamy sauce so I didn't think anything of it and had some. Silly me, I know. But chicken seasoning has no chicken in it, so I figured maybe coronation chicken had some of that no-chicken seasoning in it.

Don't blame me, I grew up in Asia.

(Okay so maybe I was being a little bit oblivious. But if you know me, I tend not to notice things until it's too late.)

(So maybe I should rethink a career as a doctor?)

While vegetarianism had come a long way since then (how on earth someone though coronation chicken was vegetarian, I do not know), I have never tried to recreate the dish. And for something with a hell of a lot of mango chutney and raisins in it, I don't know why. I love mango chutney. And raisins.

(Side note: I can finish an entire 500g bag of sultanas in a day. Yes, the packs meant for baking, not the snack packs. Snack packs are for suckers)

So if you are looking for some good sandwich ideas, or you are tired of all the vegan sandwiches / vegetarian sandwiches out there, this one's for you! Now, I love falafel as much as the next guy, but there comes a point where you cannot physically eat ANOTHER falafel sandwich, even though it's the only thing you can find. Why are falafel sandwiches constantly the only vegan option in meal deals? WHY?

One of my goals this year is to learn how to make sourdough. Proper sourdough. And this loaf is the third one I have made from my brand new sourdough starter, Shirley. I have had starters, so many starters, in the past, but they have all flopped (and for one, quite literally). But I think I have figured out why...

I didn't name them! If a starter has a name it feels loved and it grows. It bubbles away and is generally a happy chappy. Unnamed starters feel sad and, frankly, a bit unloved. So please, name your starter. We all need a 'lil lovin'.

Disclaimer - So this is technically not true, and as a scientist, I feel like I should tell you that your starter WILL grow even without a name. My previous starter didn't work out because I accidentally pushed the jar it was in off the windowsill. THe ones before because I used tap water or left them out in the cold. With or without a name, your starter will form a medium for wild yeast in the flour and air to grow and thrive. But as a starter IS a living thing, and since you're going to be stuck feeding it every day, or once a week, you really should name it. It helps to foster a relationship, and suddenly feeding it seems like less of a chore. Shirley is my surrogate pet since puppies are not allowed in uni accommodation.

Sometimes, I talk to her. 

I had such a lovely (and almost white!) Christmas this year. Here are some pictures of what we cooked, ate (duh), and did.

I made a very boozy, slightly chocolatey Christmas cake. The 'very boozy' part was in no way a criticism, but if you are already planning on having a very boozy xmas, take it easy on this cake. I did not (although perhaps it wasn't the cake's fault), twisted my ankle, and am now hobbling around wards at 7.30 a.m. in the mornings.

I kinda miss Christmas a lot already.



p.s. How beautiful is this table setting?


A butternut squash quiche, the ingredients and recipe for this was again from the vegan apron box. I decided to jazz it up a little (and make my life a lot more stressful in classic Sasha fashion) with the little leaves. Which, by the way, we used a Christmas tree cookie cutter to make. Talk about festive.




These beetroot tartlets were from the box as well. The cream cheese was all kinds of delicious, and I have since vowed to never buy vegan cream cheese from a store ever again. Because this version is garlicy and good. I like garlic. But the little juicy chunks of roast beetroot help sweeten and mellow out the garlic a lot. So what you end up with is just a lot of yum. I like a lot of yum.



 A vegan cheese feast!




I know this isn't a recipe post, but I just wanted to share some of the shots I took and gloat a little about all the eating I have been doing, and will continue to do (helloooo leftovers). Diets in January are overrated anyway. Scratch that, diets are overrated period.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you there is one thing I can never cook without, and it is spice. My spice dabba—heavy, round and metallic—is my prized possession in the kitchen, coming before the vitamix or the kitchenaid stand mixer (although, I must admit it's a pretty close call).


Mira Manek is a woman after my own heart. Her book, Saffron Soul, is a story of how she came to love and appreciate Indian cooking, healthy Indian cooking. It is a tale laced with sugar, with spice (oh the spices!), and with beautiful photos and recipes of all her inventive dishes. In fact, her story is not too different from my own. But instead of bringing fenugreek seeds back home after being charmed by its cholesterol-fighting properties, I brought back psyllium husk.



But, I digress, that is a story for another day!


The dishes in Saffron Soul have all sorts of personalities, from the feisty and seductive beetroot thoran, to the mild-mannered and comforting cleansing mung soup. The former is perfect fuel for a glamorous evening out, while the latter is the perfect dish to have when you're back—nursing it from a large bowl after tucking yourself under layers (and layers!) of blankets.

What I love about Saffron Soul, other than Mira's lyrical and colourful narration, is the creativity behind it all. The subtitle of Saffron Soul promises you healthy vegetarian heritage recipes from India. But in addition to that, you get all of Mira's creative and innovative spins on her grandmother's home cooking. From millet roti and brown rice kheer, to quinoa and coconut upma. Saffron Soul is quite unlike any Indian vegetarian cookbook before it.



For someone whose diet consists of various forms of dal and chutneys, I've never really owned an Indian cookbook before. I have read some, for sure, and borrowed some. But I have always thought that when it comes to Indian cooking, there is nothing that a book could teach me that my own grandmother could not. And, perhaps, a lot of this thinking was down to me being too proud to admit that there was so much more to the rich history of India's cooking that I had yet to learn. Mira's book has taught me so much, and Saffron Soul has armed me with a whole other set of tips and tricks for the next time I fry a roti, or a temper. Like how to mix my fenugreek and mustard seeds together in the dabba, how much time (and heartache!) I could save by just making a ginger, garlic and chili paste. And, of course, there that there is nothing that can't be elevated with a generous sprinkle of Mira's maple chillied seeds.

It was hard for me to choose what to cook first. Whenever I get a new cookbook, I go for the one with the longest list of spices. Because I trust that any dish with enough cumin and coriander will probably be my favourite recipe anyway. But with Saffron Soul, every page was marked with a little paper sticky tab. I want to make this, and this, and this. And this!

So, after much debate, and after promising myself I would get round to making it all eventually, I decided on three things to whip up first. The masala aubergine, which according to Mira is one of the most popular in the book, the masala chana chaat (a spicy chickpea salad/snack) and some thepla (mixed flour roti).

But! I got hungry. And I didn't have any aubergine, or dill, or chickpease for that matter (what kind of vegan AM I?!?). So, I made dinner with a few recipes from the book before trying out the three I had chosen. Yes. I couldn't wait! I whipped up Mira's Gujarati dal and her cauliflower and pea curry.

Now, as I mentioned, I eat a lot of dal. But Mira's dal is so different from anything I have had before. The Gujarati take on dal is much lighter, sweeter and not as thick as the dals I am used to. It was still 10/10 delicious, and I finished something that was meant to serve 4 all by myself. The cauliflower and pea curry was equally scrumptious, and it was perfectly paired (as per Mira's suggestion) with the dal, as this curry was dry and fried in a whisper of hot oil and spices.

The next day, I popped over to Tesco to get the ingredients for my Saffron Soul FEAST. And what a feast! Of course, being a student means I didn't have the luxury of having all the ingredients on hand. Perhaps this has less to do with me being a student and more to do with my inability to have tahini in the pantry without eating it all on a spoon. The same goes for cashews. So, with a little bit of adaptation (some tamarind in place of dried mangosteen, and some more buckwheat flour in place of the quinoa flour), we whipped up our dinner. I mention our substitutions as this is a testament to how much you can experiment with the recipes in Saffron Soul. Mira herself says that the recipes can be played around with, according to what you like, and what you have on hand.



I am partial to a good slice of burfi, and Mira's coco fugde reminded me of just that. Albeit with less temple-aching sweetness and a lovely roasted note. While these little fudge squares were a gift Mira sent to me along with the book, there is a recipe for them in Saffron Soul. As soon as I get round to buying some medjool dates (which I never have on hand because I end up eating them all on the walk back from tesco).

All in all, this is a book that has no place on some bookshelf. There simply is no point popping it back on the shelf when all I want to do is flip through it daily, cook something delightfully spicy and beautifully aromatic... this book belongs on my kitchen counter.

Baklava is all that is right in the world. Layers of flaky, whisper-thin filo pastry all drowned in syrup and spice. Studded with gorgeous flecks of crushed pistachios, green and nutty. It's irresistible. Absolutely irresistible.


But, this is not a post about baklava. For several reasons
(a) I need more breakfast foods to encourage me to eat breakfast
(b) Actual baklava is not an acceptable breakfast food (yet)
(c) I don't need a sugar crash along with the inevitable caffeine crash that happens at about 11am every day.

So, enter baklava granola! You get all those delicious middle-eastern flavors without the aching sweetness. It's not quite the same, of course, as nothing can ever truly replace the little diamond-shaped pastries. But it's the perfect thing in the morning if you're a baklava monster (guilty!).


Baklava Granola
Makes enough for 4-5 breakfasts

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups porridge oats
1 cup buckwheat groats
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange blossom water (or rose water)
3 tablespoons tahini
6 tablespoons agave
1/4 cup chopped Medjool dates
1/2 cup chopped apricots

Preheat the oven to 175C. In a large bowl, add the oats, buckwheat, nuts, seeds, and cinnamon. Stir this well, then drizzle in the orange blossom water, tahini and agave. Stir to coat everything well with the syrup and tahini. Line a baking tray with parchment and pour out the granola mix onto it. Use a spatula to flatten it out and distribute it well. Bake this for 15 minutes, stirring the granola halfway. When it is done, and out of the oven, it should be golden and very fragrant. Stir in the chopped dried fruit, and let it cool completely before storing it in a glass jar. Serve this in a bowl with a large dollop of coconut yogurt, and some fresh fruit. Pomegranate or figs work really well here--if they happen to be in season, that is.

(b) Fluffy