The Hackney Butchers Association

This is a bloody good soup!  With a bit of bread, or some toasted pitta, it is a filling meal and a bit of a treat. Sweet & subtly spiced. Serves 4 (Left-overs can be frozen) Preperation time 10mins Cooking time 40mins Ingredients: 2tbsp Olive Oil / Rapeseed Oil 1 large Onion, peeled & chopped 1-2 bay leaves 1 carrot, peeled & chopped 1 small celery stick, chopped 3 garlic cloves 4cm ginger, peeled & grated 2 red chillies, chopped (de-seed if wanted less spicy) 1 tbsp curry powder 1 tsp ground cumin 180g red lentils 1 litre vegetable stock Juice of 1/2 lemon Sea salt & fresh ground pepper 1 small handful coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped Spiced Yogurt: 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 pinch of caraway seeds 1 pinch of cayenne seeds 4 tbsp plain yogurt 1 tbsp olive oil On a medium flame, heat the oil in a large saucepan, then sweat (fry with the lid on) the onion & bay leaves for 10mins until soft. Add the carro...

   Wow, this is amazing.  It's very easy and fairly cheap. Unlike a lot of curries, this one cooks in around 20mins, (marinading time on top of that). I will be doing this again very soon! The flavours are warm and moreish, cumin, coriander seeds, ginger & toasted oniony rice, chilli & of course lamb! The Coriander sauce is so fresh and healthy it makes you feel like you must have just been to the gym. Well, sort of... (having not been to a gym for at least 10years I'm not an expert...) There are quite a lot of ingredients, but mostly dried spices which last for months and months. The only fresh ingredients I needed to get were fresh coriander (cilantro), mint, & green chillies. You could do this without the fresh coriander sauce but you'd be missing out big time. Make the sauce...make the sauce... I used some suckling lamb chops from a local market. £5 for 2 big chops, not bad I thought... for something quite special and amazingly...

Asafoetida is a pungent spice that comes from the sap of Ferula roots.   In it's raw gum form it has a foul smell hence the name Devil's Dung! Once fried for 30secs in oil though, it gives a lovely onion/leek/garlic flavour.  Phew.  It is used widely in Indian, Persian & Arabic food. I found mine at a local asian store, where it was known as 'Hing' , but all the big manufacturers make it, so it will be in a lot of supermarkets.  You can buy it in bags of untreated resin, but it is very pungent & very smelly!  Far more often it comes in powder form in pots, mixed with a little rice flour to keep it dry and make the taste less harsh. Just in case, here are a few stockists.... GREENLIFE.CO.UK SPICESOFINDIA.CO.UK THEASIANCOOKSHOP.CO.UK For USA use  ISHOPINDIAN.COM For the rest of Europe use: INDIASTORE.DE Hope this helps!

Gulf baharat 1 tbsp red pepper 1 1/2 tsp cumin 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp ground loomi (dried lime) 1 tsp cloves 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp saffron threads

Za'atar is an Arabic spice blend made with toasted sesame seeds.  There are many variations using cumin, savoury, caraway seeds, fennel seeds etc. The one given here is a lovely citrus mix, thanks to the addition of sumac. You can rub it on chickens or fish prior to roasting, add a small amount to vinaigrettes,  add to olive oil as dip for toasted bread, roll meatballs in it prior to sealing, sprinkle over hummous... There are hundreds of recipes using it, it's very easy to make, and keeps for months in a sealed jar. Gotta be done really... RECIPE BELOW :

5 dried red chilies (soaked in boiling water for 10mins) 3 tbsp chopped shallots 1 tbsp chopped garlic 50g galangal 1/2 tsp shrimp paste (or salt if you can't get it) 1/2 tsp chopped kaffir lime peel 1 tsp coriander root/stem 1 tsp tumeric root You can grind it in a pestle & mortar but it makes a right mess, so i whizz it in a blender. Works fine... phew. This doesn't go deep red (add more tumeric root if you like), but it tastes great... It lasts for up to 4 months in a sealed glass jar in the fridge. For my red curries, I like it spicy. I lightly fry up at least 4 heaped teaspoons of paste in a little oil then add 1 can of coconut milk. If you don't like the heat, use half this amount.