Spaghetti Siracusani

This recipe is from "The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook", very simple and tasty dish. We have made small alterations to it but it's still basically the same.

olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves (crushed)

1 pepper (cut into strips)

1-2 courgettes (cut into strips)

2 tins good-quality tomatoes

1 tblsp capers

3 tblsp good calamata olives

salt

pepper

fresh basil

parmesan

spaghetti or other pasta

- Fry the garlic on a low heat for a minute, then add courgette and pepper and cook on a medium heat with the lid on, stillirg occasionally, until cooked but still firm to the bite.

- Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Boil your pasta.

- Season to taste and garnish with fresh basil and parmesan.

Mung Dal & Aloo Gobi

These are my boyfriends versions of the famous curries. The coconut milk adds softness to the cauliflower and potato curry and makes it moister. Daal shouldn't be too dry either. Daal is flexible with spices so you can change them to taste. We try to use different spices in all the curries served at once so each of them has an unique taste. We had the curries with homemade naan bread and raita.

Mung Daal:

3-4 dl Mung lentils (or other lentils), soaked for 1/2 hour

oil/ghee

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

small bit of star anis

1/2 tsp cumin seed

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

(cardamon pods)

(caraway seeds)

(kalonji)

(cloves)

water

salt (to taste)

oil/ghee

1 medium onion

1-2 fresh chillies

an inch ginger

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

lemon juice

fresh coriander

- Fry the seeds in hot oil adding the bigger seeds at first, smaller seeds next and finally the mustard seeds and bay leaves.

- When the bay leaves are browned add the lentils and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

- Cover with water and add the salt.

- Put the lid on and and simmer until soft, adding small amount of water if necessary.

- Fry onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a separate pan for a couple of minutes, then cover with a lid and simmer until soft. When the onion mix is soft, add the ground spices and fry for a further minute, and then add to the lentils.

- Cook for another two minutes, then season to taste with salt and lemon juice, and garnish with fresh coriander.

Aloo Gobi:

4-5 medium potatoes (chopped)

a small cauliflower (florets)

a tin coconut milk

oil/ghee

4-5 green cardamom pods

fresh coriander

for the curry paste:

a medium onion

3 cloves garlic

inch of ginger

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground fennel

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1-2 fresh chillies (to taste)

1/2 tsp salt

lemon juice

fresh coriander

- Blend the curry paste.

- Heat the oil, fry the cardamom pods for a couple of minutes. Add the curry paste and fry for a few minutes on a high heat, then keep cooking the paste on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

- Add the coconut milk, potatoes and cauliflower and simmer in the sauce until soft.

- Season to taste with salt and lemon juice, and garnish with fresh coriander.