Parveen The Spice Queen: Loving food during lockdown

Sometimes, I am not even hungry but just eat for the sake of it and it doesn’t help that I am working from home in casual wear which consists of loose tops and elasticated trousers which frankly need to banned or come with a health warning label - “beware - risk of overeating”.

So, what’s the answer?..Well for me, this has come at the right time - the month of Ramadan. This is when Muslims here in the UK and all over the world fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. This means no food or drink from about 4:30am to approximately 8:30pm. It doesn’t sound so bad when you say it but when you physically come to do it, the fast is incredibly challenging.

The lack of water makes you extremely dehydrated, usually resulting in a headache and making you quite weak. I know what you are thinking, if it’s such a difficult task, why do it? Well, one of the main reasons is to learn to appreciate what you have. Only when you go without something can you truly appreciate what you have and not take it for granted. (Feel free to pause for deep contemplation).

No?.. OK, well allow me to elaborate - in mid March people panicked when they thought we would run out of flour or rice. Did it make us grateful? Did we have a new found appreciation for a basic humble store cupboard ingredient such as flour? And then there was the toilet paper debacle. People were stockpiling it, did I miss something and did loo roll become the new crypto currency?

I am only joking about the toilet paper but you can see where I am coming from. Only when we went without and even the thought of going without, did we appreciate something as basic as toilet roll, something no one gave a second thought to a few weeks ago.

Ramadan helps us put things into perspective and press pause on continually eating and giving your digestive system a mini- break. It is a month of fast, meditation, prayer and reflection when Muslims all around the world go without food and water from sunrise (Sehri) to sunset (Iftari). These 30 days of fasting, helps to reflect on what we have instead of what we do not have.

These have been testing times and many of us, we are missing the little things in life; going out for a coffee with a friend, getting all dressed up for a party or just giving someone a hug. We as a nation have been going without and I for one certainly have a new found appreciation for the simpler things in life which are denied to us right now.

Phew, that was heavy! On a lighter note, let me bring it back to food, which is what I usually talk about. Here is a recipe I make regularly make for my husband and son during Ramadan, they are my light and crispy onion and potato bhajis - just divine!

Stay safe and enjoy

Parveen, x

Parveen’s Onion Bhajis

There are many different recipes for onion bhajis, I think this is the simplest, easiest and of course tastiest.

Best of all they are made from chickpea flour, therefore are gluten- free as well as vegan.

Prep Time: 10 mins + 30 mins for mixture to rest

Cooking Time: 10 Mins

Makes: 28 to 30 medium-sized bhajis.

INGREDIENTS

250g gram flour (Besan)

2 medium sized onions –halved & thinly sliced

2 medium sized potatoes – thinly sliced

2 tsp coriander seed powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp of fresh coriander - chopped

Few drops of lemon juice

1 litre of oil (for frying)

WARNING

Very moorish & highly addictive!

METHOD

1. In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, salt, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin and lemon juice.

2. Add 150ml water and mix until the batter is smooth (the consistency will be similar to a cake mixture)

3. Add the chopped coriander, potatoes and onion, mix well, making sure that all the potatoes and onions are covered in the batter.

Cover and leave to stand for 30 mins.

4. In a wok or deep frying, heat 1 litre of oil untill 180°c, drop a heaped teaspoon of batter into the oil and fry. Leave space in-between each bhaji and fry 6 or 7 at a time.

5. Deep fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown, turning once to ensure they crisp up on both sides.

Take out using a slotted spoon and metal sieve, give them a good shake and drain onto kitchen roll.

Parveen’s top tip for frying

To make sure the oil is at the right temperature, drop a piece of potato into the oil, if it floats to the top within 5 seconds, it’s the right temperature, if it stays at the bottom, the oil is too cold. And when frying, fry on high heat for 1min, turn the temperature down and fry on medium for 3 mins and finish off on high heat for the last minute. This ensures that the bhajis are crispy on the outside and cooked in the middle.

FRESH GREEN MINT DIP

This fresh tasting mint and green chilli dip is the perfect accompaniment to onion bhajis. It’s quite spicy and not for the faint hearted. I am not really a big fan as it’s a little too hot for me, but my husband just loves it... probably, even morethan he loves me.

Prep Time: 5 mins

INGREDIENTS

6 tbsp of natural yoghurt

2 tbsp of chopped fresh mint leaves

1 tbsp of fresh chopped coriander

3 green chillies – chopped

½ fresh tomato

½ tsp salt

1 tsp fresh lemon Juice

METHOD

1. In a blender, add the chopped mint leaves, coriander, green chillies and tomatoes and 2 tbsp of the yoghurt.

Blend for 1 minute.

2. Empty the contents of the blender into a bowl and stir in the remainder of the yoghurt.

3. Add the salt and lemon juice

4. Season to taste, store in fridge in a covered pot until you are ready to serve.

QUICK CHEAT’S MINT DIP

You can always make a cheat’s version. Just add a level teaspoon of ordinary mint sauce and ¼ teaspoon of salt to 6 tablespoons of yoghurt and stir – easy!