What to drink for Diwali

If you’re planning a meal to celebrate Diwali this weekend here are two traditional drinks to accompany the feast.

Alcohol is not traditional for the festival, Ramesh Ganega former head chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Quilon in London told me. Indians would be more likely to drink lassi or jal jeera (cumin-flavoured water) and finish the meal with chai (spiced tea)

Here are his two recipes

Jal Jeera
Serves 6
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp mint leaves + extra for decoration
1 tsp fresh coriander leaves
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp black salt or ordinary salt
5 cups (2 pints/1.2 litres) chilled water
A pinch of sugar

Grind the cumin seeds to make fine powder.
Roast the powder.
Grind the mint and coriander to make a paste.
Mix roasted cumin powder, mint paste, coriander paste, lemon juice and black salt.
Now add water and mix well.
Season to taste with sugar
Pour cold water into glasses
Adorn with mint leaves.

Sweet Lassi
Serves 6
500 ml plain yoghurt
250 ml water
4 tbsp sugar
Crushed ice

Put the first three ingredients in a blender.
Add ice and blend the mixture until froth appears.
The sweet lassi is ready to serve.
(You can make flavoured lassi by adding fruits such as mango and strawberry or rose, pistachio, cardamom and almonds)

If you'd like to make your own ghughra pastries for Diwali try this recipe from cookery writer Sejal Sukhadwala.

Quilon is at 41 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AF
Tel: 020 7821 1899

Image by StockImageFactory.com at shutterstock.com

Six top tips for creating a vegan and gluten-free barbecue

Just because you're gluten or dairy-intolerant doesn't mean you have to miss out on the barbecue fun as food writer Monica Shaw demonstrates.

"Barbecues are often considered the domain of meat lovers, perched around the bbq over a slab of spare ribs or a stack of beefy burgers. But there’s no reason that cooking with fire need be restricted to meat.

Plant-based food is equally viable BBQ fare, and is indeed often best when prepared over the coals. There’s no need to be mystified when it comes to vegan / gluten free grilling. Here’s a few options to get you started.

• Veggie burgers are ubiquitous but the kind you buy in packages are often disappointing. Try making your own, for example, The Really Hungry Burger from Anna Jones works great on the grill
• Grilled vegetables are always an option and can be amped up with spice rubs and marinades. My favourite BBQ veg include: courgettes, onions, aubergine, mushrooms, sweetcorn, peppers, and tomatoes. Just coat with oil, and season with salt, pepper, and (optionally) a tasty spice blend such as jerk spices or ras el hanout. For a killer kebab, try the Tofu Kebabs with Muhamarra from 101 Cookbooks.
• Tempeh is my all time favourite “meaty” option for the BBQ. Try the Maple, Lime and Chipotle Tempeh Tacos from Demuths Cookery School, which are gluten-free, too, when served with corn tortillas.
• Gluten Free BBQ options are easier than you might think. Corn tortillas are just one idea, or try farinata / socca (made with chickpea flour) as an alternative to flatbread. And don’t forget carb-happy BBQ side dishes. Favourites include Heston Blumenthal’s Crushed Jersey Royals and Riverford’s Griddled Leeks with Wild Rice and Quinoa.
• Don’t forget dips. All manners of BBQ things are better when paired with a tasty dip or savoury drizzle. My favourites are baba ganoush and salsa macha, but even straight up tahini or olive oil will do. And they all go well with both meaty dishes and vegan dishes, so everyone can enjoy a grand bbq together, whatever your dietary preferences!
• In terms of drinks the only drink that can potentially cause problems for the gluten-intolerant according to Coeliac UK is beer though there are now quite a few gluten free brews. Cider is a delicious gluten-free alternative for a barbecue. Wine is not a problem from the point of view of gluten but some products used in fining such as casein (milk protein) and egg white make them off-limits for vegans. Most supermarket own label wines indicate their suitability for vegans on the back label as do wines sold by organic specialists such as Vintage Roots.

Images taken at Demuths, Bath ©Rob Wicks of Eat Pictures

A Bastille Day Lunch

July 14th - le quatorze juillet - is an important public holiday in France. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the beginning of the French Revolution. Despite its bloodthirsty connotations, it’s now seen as a family day, an opportunity for a picnic or an out-of-doors lunch and provides a good excuse - as if we needed one - for Francophiles to celebrate.

If you're short of time you could just make the main course and buy in a ready-made fruit tart. If you’re not a big garlic fan (which you need to be for the aioli) make a salade nicoise instead.

Smoked salmon, goats cheese and dill cake
Le Grand Aioli
Apricot tart with Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise

Smoked salmon, goats cheese and dill cake
Serves 6-8
The French have a great fondness for what they call ‘cake’ - a cross between a savoury bread and a quiche. They’re incredibly useful as a nibble for starting off a meal, maybe with a few radishes, prawns and a light herby dip

2 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
200g plain flour
1 level tbsp baking powder
3 large eggs
200g creme fraiche (or 100g creme fraiche and 100ml sunflower oil)
1 tbsp lemon juice
200g goats cheese log, rind removed and roughly crumbled
50g freshly grated parmesan
110g smoked salmon or smoked trout, cut into strips
3 heaped tbsp finely chopped dill
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

You will need a medium-sized (900g) rectangular non stick loaf tin, lightly greased and floured

Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the onion gently for a couple of minutes until softened. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Sift the flour with the baking powder and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk the eggs and whisk in the creme fraiche and lemon juice. Tip the liquid into the flour and beat well. Fold in the fried onions and their oil, crumbled goats cheese, smoked salmon, parmesan and dill until evenly distributed throughout the mix then tip into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from the tin and leave on a wire rack to continue cooling. If not eating straight away wrap tightly in foil and refrigerate. Cut into cubes.

Suggested wine match: Althought this is a typically Provencal menu with which you could easily drink a ros right through to the dessert, I’d be tempted to start with a glass of sparkling wine such as a Crmant de Limoux from the Languedoc or even an Italian prosecco.

Le Grand Aioli
Serves 6
An aioli is both the name for a Provenal garlic mayonnaise and for the big communal dish which is based on raw and cooked vegetables but usually also contains salt cod and hard boiled eggs. There’s a fair bit of advance preparation - the vegetables ideally need to be cooked individually - but no last minute work. You can make the aioli itself in a food processor but, if you have a decent-sized mortar and pestle, it’s easy and satisfying to do by hand. And the texture and taste are far better. The crucial thing is to have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Choose from the following:

About 600g salt cod, cut into thick, even slices and soaked overnight (see below)
350g young carrots, peeled or scrubbed
1 large or 2 smaller bulbs of fennel
250g fine green beans, trimmed
1/2 a medium cauliflower cut into florets
500g new potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
350g baby courgettes (zucchini), trimmed and halved lengthways
6 Italian-style grilled artichoke hearts in oil
400g ripe, sweet tomatoes, cut into quarters
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved

For the aioli
4-5 large cloves of garlic*, peeled and roughly chopped
3/4 tsp flaked or coarse sea salt
2 fresh organic egg yolks, at room temperature
150ml fruity extra virgin olive oil e.g. Provencal or Spanish
150ml sunflower oil
1/2 tsp wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

Soak the salt cod in the fridge for 24 hours in cold water, changing it a couple of times. Put it in a saucepan with fresh water, bring to the boil and simmer very slowly for about 15 minutes until just cooked. Set aside and cool. Cook each of the vegetables separately until just cooked. I suggest cooking the carrots, fennel, green beans and potatoes in boiling water and steaming the cauliflower and courgettes. Set them aside in a cool place but don’t refrigerate them.

To make the aioli put the garlic in a mortar with the salt and pound until you have a smooth paste. Add the egg yolks and work them in too. Pour the two oils into a jug then gradually drip the oil, drop by drop into the egg and garlic mixture, all the while pounding rhythmically, moving the pestle in the same direction. Keep on adding oil very slowly until the mixture begins to stiffen and you hear a slapping noise as the oil goes in then increase the speed you add the oil to a steady fine stream. Add the vinegar half way through once the aioli has thickened. Once all the oil has been incorporated add 2-3 teaspoons of warm water, half a teaspoon at the time to lighten and loosen the mixture.

Arrange all the ingredients on a large platter or platters and serve with the aioli and some crusty French bread such as a baguette.

* It’s important to use garlic that hasn’t sprouted for aioli otherwise it will taste bitter. Use cloves from a bulb you’ve just bought rather than ones which might have been lying around for a while.

Suggested wine match: A dry Provencal ros such as Bandol rosé would be perfect with this

Apricot tart with Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise
My version of a brilliantly simple recipe from award-winning food writer Alastair Hendy. If you don’t have time to make a dessert though you could easily buy a ready-made apricot or strawberry tart. Or both . . .

Note the picture is from a photo library and not exactly the way the tart will turn out.

Serves 6

1 x 375g pack ready rolled puff pastry
750g ripe apricots
2 tbsp ground almonds
2 tbsp unrefined caster sugar
2 tbsp muscat de Beaumes de Venise or other southern French muscat
3 tbsp soft set apricot jam
To serve
Crme fraiche or vanilla ice cream

You will need a large shallow rectangular non-stick baking tin

Take the pastry out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to unroll it. Preheat the oven to 225 C/425 F/Gas 7. Halve and stone the apricots (you can cut the bigger ones into thirds. Unroll the pastry and lay it on the baking tin, trimming off any pastry that overhangs the edges. Prick the base with the prongs of a fork and shake over the ground almonds in an even layer. Sprinkle over 1 tbsp of the sugar. Arrange the apricot halves or thirds in rows over the surface of the tart, leaving a narrow border round the edge and propping up each row on the one behind it. Spoon over the remaining sugar. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is risen and the edges of the fruit are beginning to caramelise. Spoon the jam into a small saucepan, add the muscat and warm gently, stirring until smooth. Brush the warm glaze over the apricots and serve with crme fraiche or vanilla ice cream

Suggested wine match: Serve small, chilled glasses of Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise

Image © karlo54 at adobestock.com

3 peachy cocktails to celebrate the 4th of July

Fresh peaches are bang in season right now so use them to make these summery cocktails that I think are quite perfect for this week's Independence Day celebrations.

Peach Bellinis
The classic Venetian drink invented by Giuseppi Cipriani the founder of Harry’s Bar. The best way to make them is to juice the peaches or squeeze them by hand which gives you a clear juice. Make them just before you serve them or the peach juice will discolour (you can add lemon juice to prevent that but it detracts from the pure peach flavour).

For 6 glasses
4-6 peaches depending on size and ripeness (ripe ones will obviously yield more juice)
A well chilled bottle of good quality prosecco or champagne

Juice or purée* the peaches. Pour the juice just over a third of the way up a champagne flute and carefully top up with prosecco or champagne, tilting the glass towards the bottle as you pour. (The juice may make the wine fizz up more than usual so you may have to wait for it to settle before topping up.) Taste to check the proportions of peach juice and prosecco which will vary depending how ripe your peaches are then pour the remainder of the glasses out in the ideal proportions. (*Puréeing results in a less aesthetic but equally delicious drink)

Peach Julep
A great variation on the classic Mint Julep

For each cocktail
6-8 fresh mint leaves
2-3 tsp sugar syrup (see below)
A quarter of a ripe peach, cut into cubes + another quarter, sliced for serving
2 shots of bourbon
A couple of drops of vanilla extract
A sprig of mint and a slice of peach for garnish

Lightly crush the mint leaves with the sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker, add the cut up peach quarter, bourbon and vanilla extract and lightly muddle (crush) again. Strain the mixture into a highball (tall) glass full of crushed ice and stir well. Add the peach slices, stir, top with a little more crushed ice and garnish with a sprig of mint. Serve immediately.

(If you can’t get hold of really ripe peaches you could boost their flavour with 2-3 tsp of peach-flavoured liqueur or schnapps instead of the sugar syrup)

* To make a sugar syrup put 150g of sugar in a small saucepan with 175ml of water and place over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. (Brush any grains of sugar that stick the side of the pan into the syrup so that it doesn’t crystallise) Bring the syrup to the boil without stirring and boil for 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Any you don’t use can be kept in a sealed container and refrigerated for 2-3 weeks.

Peach Mint Crush
A fabulously refreshing hot weather drink from cookery writer Signe Johansen
Serves 2

10 mint leaves
2-3 tsp sugar or, even better, a simple sugar syrup (see above)
1-2 peaches, peeled and roughly cut up
juice of 1/2 lime
4-6 crushed ice cubes (or, if you have a blender that can crush ice, then just chuck them in)
200ml iced green tea

Muddle the mint and sugar together as if you were making a mojito, to release the mint oils, then put this in a blender with the rest of the ingredients, whizz up and serve immediately

Photo ©lilechka75 at fotolia.com