Kale Pakora

A crispy side-dish for every occasion.

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 1 zl (around 0.20 GBP)

Ingredients:

- Kale (leaves only, no stalks)
- 1 mild red chilli pepper finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of gram (chickpea) flour
- 1 tablespoon of rice flour
- 1 tsp curry powder
- pinch of salt
- oil for frying

Let's rock!

1. Prep the kale and wash

2. Prep the ingredients for the batter. If you don't have chickpea flour, you can use plain white flour. Rice flour could be substituted for potato flour.

3. Add water to form a batter - not too thick or too thin.

4. Add enough kale to the batter so that all the leaves are nicely coated

5. Heat up some vegetable oil in a pan for deep frying. Get the oil nice and hot. Turn up the gas to max. Do the bread cube test - drop in a piece of old bread and if it starts bubbling immediately then the oil is hot enough.

6. Fry the kale until starting to turn golden and crispy

7. Drain on kitchen paper

Enjoy!

Cost:

- kale: 2 zl
- the rest: 2 zl

Total: 4 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 1 zl

Spicy salmon with spinach and a puree of potatoes and jerusalem artichokes

It's hard to do salmon at 5 zl a head and I did need to double the budget for this dish. But, hey - let's live a little!

The salmon is coated with tandoori masala powder and then pan-fried. Salmon has a strong flavour and can take a good dose of robust spice. The spinach is steamed and then stir fried with spices and lemon juice to cut through the oiliness of the fish. The potato is boiled with jerusalem artichokes, drained and then mashed up with butter and a dash of cream. 

Serves: 2
Cost per person: 10 zl (1.80 GBP, 2.30 Euros, 2.68 Dollars)

You'll need:

- around 300g of salmon fillet (make sure there are no bones)
- 250g of spinach
- 1 large potato
- around 5 jerusalem artichokes 
- 1 shallot
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt
- butter
- cream
- tandoori masala
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp black cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder

Let's go!

1. Wash the spinach and steam any way you can for around 15 minutes - this is a good method which cooks the spinach without excess water.

2. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and jerusalem artichokes and immediately put into water to avoid discolouring. Add 1 tsp salt and boil for around 15 minutes or until soft (a knife goes through easily)

3. Cover the bottom of a plate or bowl with tandoori masala powder. Cut the salmon into portions and add flesh side down to coat.

4. Prep the shallots, garlic and spices for the spinach.

5. Oil in a pan. Medium heat. Salmon in skin side down.

6. Get some oil in a wok (I used mustard oil). Spices in

7. Shallots and garlic in

8. Meanwhile, roughly cut up the spinach

8. Spinach in. Stir fry for around 3-4 minutes. Season to taste. Squeeze in the juice of 1/4 of a lemon.

9. Meanwhile, the salmon should be ready to turn (when the flesh has turned white 2/3 up)

10. Drain and mash the potatoes and jerusalem artichokes when they're soft. Mash with a dash of butter and cream. Check the seasoning. Oops! I forgot to take a photo of this stage!

11. Plate up!

Cost:

- Salmon: 15 zl
- Spinach: 4 zl
- the rest: 1 zl

Total: 20 zl
Serves: 2
Per person: 10 zl

Ultimate Sourdough Bread

I've experimented with various techniques and combinations and this is the best one so far. You'll need a sourdough starter for this. Best to get one off a friend. However, if you have to make your own, do this:

- a few teaspoons of flour in a jar and add water to form a fluid of medium viscosity and close the jar
- wait a few days till you see bubbles forming
- add a few more teaspoons and enough water to keep it at a paste-like consistency
- wait for more bubbles and repeat the process
- build it up like this for a 2 week period et voila, a sourdough starter!

Cost: 5 zl

You'll need:

- around 450g of plain white flour
- a 250g mix of various other flours and seeds of your choice. I used a mix of 3 flours plus some wholemeal, a dash of oatmeal, 1 tablespoon each of flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds
- 3 tablespoons of sourdough starter
- 400 ml of luke warm water
- 3 chef's pinches (3 fingers) of salt

Let's go:

1. I've got my flour mix ready. Feel free to play around with various quantities and combinations of seeds and flours.

2. Mix in the sourdough starter (3 nice big tablespoons) in with the luke warm water (400 ml) and whisk.

3. Mix the liquid into the flour

4. Get your hands in and knead for a few minutes. The dough should be firm, not sticky.

5. Butter up a bread tin and press the dough into it

6. Cover with a plastic bag, leaving room for expansion (that's why a bag is better than cling film). Leave for 8-12 hours to rise (I prefer overnight). The dough should rise above the rim of the tin.

7. Heat the oven up to around 200 c. Add a glass of water onto the tray and put the bread in. This will add a steaming element to the baking process, resulting in a better crust.

8. Bake for 25 minutes and rest on a rack (so that the base can breathe). Leave for one hour before cutting into it. 

Enjoy!

The total cost of the loaf is around 5 zl.

Pistou Soup

A French-Italian classic. Make it with whatever vegetables happen to be in the shop/ your fridge. 

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 3.13 zl (57 UK pence, 0.73 Euros)

There are 3 elements to this recipe:

1. A simple pesto
2. A vegetable broth
3. Croutons

You'll need (for this version):

- a bowl of basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons of grates parmesan cheese
- olive oil
- black pepper
- salt
- 1 onion cut into 1 cm pieces
- 1 small carrot cut into 0.5 cm pieces
- 1 bulb of fennel trimmed and cut into 1 cm pieces
- 1 leek cut into 1 cm pieces
- 1/2 red pepper cut into 1 cm pieces
- 1 large (mild) red chilli pepper sliced
- boiled water
- 1 baguette


First off, the pesto sauce:

1. Pluck a bowl of basil leaves. Peel and slice 2 cloves of garlic. Grate around a tablespoon of parmesan cheese.

2. Whizz up in a coffee grinder or whatever with a good glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt. 

Ok. Pesto done - you can use this with other recipes too. Now for the vegetable broth.

1. Prep the veg

2. Olive oil in a pan on medium. Veg in.

3. Sweat down for around 5 minutes. Season. Grind in some black pepper.

4. Add some boiling water to cover the veg. Turn up the heat and cook aggressively for 4 minutes.

5. Add the pesto.

6. Simmer down on low for another minute. Turn off the heat.

Ok, the soup's done. Now for the croutons.

1. Slice a baguette fairly thin. Dip one side in olive oil. Lay on a baking tray. 

2. Put under the grill until crisp and golden.

3. Grate some parmesan

Now make the soup: put some croutons on top and sprinkle generous amounts of parmesan over the top. Enjoy!

Cost:

- basil - 4 zl

- veg - 5 zl

- parmesan - 2 zl

- baguette - 1 zl

- olive oil - 0.50 zl

Total: 12.50 zl

Serves: 4

Per person: 3.13 zl

Ravioli ricotta e spinaci al sugo di pomodoro

I like this recipe because you can take away the different elements and make other dishes. The pasta recipe is universal. The tomato sauce works with various Italian dishes and beyond. The spinach and ricotta filling would not be out of place inside a Polish-style pancake.

So, here are 3 recipes in one, really.

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 2.63 zl (48 UK pence, 61 Euro cents, 24 Thai Baht)

First, the sauce:

You'll need:

- 1 tin of tomatoes
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
- splash of olive oil
- 1 crushed dried red chilli
- salt to taste
- 1 glass of white wine
- a handful of basil chopped

1. Pan on medium heat. Olive oil. Onion in. Sauté for around 10 minutes till translucent. Garlic in. Sauté for a further 5 minutes.

2. White wine. Reduce to burn off the alcohol. That's not because of Ramadan; it's just to avoid too much acidity and to intensify the flavour.

3. Tomatoes in.

4. Basil in

5. Chilli in

6. Cover and cook on low for another 5 minutes. Check the seasoning - salt to taste.

7. Blend and pass through a sieve. We want this sauce to be extra fine.

8. Ok. So now the sauce is ready.

Now let's make the ravioli filling. 

We'll need:

- 250g of spinach
- around 125g of ricotta
- a pinch of nutmeg
- black pepper
- a pinch of salt

1. We'll steam the spinach. Why? We want the spinach to be just cooked and as dry as possible. I don't have a steamer so I put the spinach in a colander resting in a pan with a little water boiling in the bottom and the lid on. 10 minutes should do the trick, or until the spinach is wilted.

2. Chop up the spinach

3. Mix the ricotta with a pinch of salt, a dash of grated nutmeg (be careful!) and a grind or 3 of black pepper corns.

4. Stir in the spinach - filling done!

Ok. Now for the hard bit - the pasta. I've got a pasta bike but you could just use a rolling pin.

You'll need:

- around 8 tablespoons of plain flour
- 2 large eggs
- a dash of olive oil
- a pinch of salt

1. Beat the eggs. Flour in. Splash in a little olive oil and add a pinch of salt.

2. Mix well with your hands to form a stiff dough - this should be as firm as it possibly can be without crumbling. Regulate by adding more flour if necessary. 

3. Put in the fridge to rest for an hour or so. Roll out as thin as you can. If you're using a pasta bike, work it through the numbers as thin as you can control it without ripping the pasta. Takes practice. Don't worry if you don't get it very thin first time. Make at least 2 separate sheets.

4. Lay one sheet on a floured surface. Spoon small amounts of the filling onto the sheet with at least 4 cm between them.

5. Put the second sheet on top and press around the filling so that there's no air trapped and without ripping the pasta. Again, this takes some practice so don't worry if you balls it up first time.

6. Make sure the pasta around the filling is pressed tightly. Cut out with a glass.

7. Scrunch up the edges of the ravioli.

8. Boil some water in a pan - add a chef's pinch (3 fingers) of salt. Add the Ravioli and cook for around 4 minutes. 

9. Scoop out the ravioli and serve with the tomato sauce and some grated parmesan.

10. E tutto!

Cost:

- tomatoes: 2 zl
- spinach: 2 zl
- ricotta: 2.50 zl
- eggs: 1.60 zl
- the rest: 2.40 zl

Total: 10 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 2.63 zl