Burmese Mango Salad with Peanut and Lime

I've loved all of Meera Sodha's books but her new one, East, which includes vegetarian and vegan recipes from the Indian sub-continent to the far east may be the best yet. And I love the zingy fresh flavours of this mango salad.

Meera writes: This is inspired by a dish I ate at one of my favourite restaurants in Mumbai called Burma Burma. So it is that I offer up my memory of its mighty and mouth-watering mango, peanut and lime salad.

note / When freshly made, this salad is great by itself or with seasoned and fried tofu, but if left a day it will release delicious juices and is wonderful with rice noodles. You can hand-cut the long strips, but a julienne peeler will make quick work of it. Make sure you buy the hardest, greenest, most unripe mangoes you can find, because ripe mangoes will juice when you cut them.

NB contains nuts

Serves 4

2cm fresh ginger, peeled and julienned

1 bird’s-eye chilli, finely chopped

5 tbsp lime juice (from 3 limes)

1 tsp salt

rapeseed oil

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1½ tbsp chickpea flour

2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

½ a sweetheart cabbage, finely shredded

2 unripe mangoes (500g)

2 medium carrots (200g), peeled and julienned

a handful of fresh mint leaves

a handful of fresh coriander leaves

a large handful (60g) of crushed salted peanuts

Put the ginger and chilli into a bowl, add the lime juice and salt, and leave to steep.

Put a plate by the stove and cover it with a piece of kitchen paper. Heat 5 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium flame and, when smoking hot, add the onion. Separate the slices using a wooden spoon and fry, stirring once or twice, until brown and crisp. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and put on the prepared plate. Fry the garlic in the same pan for 2 minutes, until golden brown (be watchful: it cooks quickly), then transfer to the plate.

Stir the chickpea flour into the remaining hot oil in the pan over a very low heat to create a paste. Stir constantly for a minute, then add the peanut butter, stir for another minute and take off the heat.

Put the cabbage into a large bowl. Peel the mangoes and shave with a julienne peeler until you hit the stone; or, if cutting by hand, cut the cheeks from the stone on all four sides and julienne. Add the mango and carrots to the cabbage. Reserve a handful of the fried onion to garnish, then add the rest, together with the fried garlic, to the cabbage. Toss, then pour over the chickpea and peanut paste and the ginger, chilli and lime mixture, and toss again. Taste, and adjust the lime and salt if need be.

To serve, finely chop and add the herbs, toss one final time, and top with the crushed peanuts and remaining fried onion.

What to drink: I'd go for a riesling with this, preferably from the Clare or Eden Valley or a passionfruit or mango cider

See also The best wine pairings for mango and mango desserts

From East by Meera Sodha, published by Penguin Figtree at £20. Photo © David Loftus

Curried cauliflower cheese filo pie

Nothing is as exciting as a new Ottolenghi cookbook but I particularly love the approach of Shelf Love on which he’s collaborated with Noor Murad and the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen team. It's the first in a series of OTK books which are designed to be easy and versatile (they recommend alternative ingredients if you don't have the ones in the recipe)

I’ve already had the chance to taste a couple of recipes friends have made but this cauliflower cheese filo pie has my name all over it. Yours too, hopefully!

Curried cauliflower cheese filo pie

Cauliflower cheese, but make it pie. This dish was once described as ‘molten-hot-cheese-lava’ and we think that’s pretty fitting for the ultimate comfort of comfort foods.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Serves 4, generously

1 large cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-size florets (700g)

2 tsp mild curry powder

3 tbsp olive oil

100g unsalted butter, 50g cut into roughly 3cm cubes and 50g melted

75g plain flour

675ml whole milk

2 garlic cloves, crushed

11/2 tbsp English mustard

150g mature cheddar, roughly grated

6 sheets of good-quality filo pastry (we use feuilles de filo)

salt and black pepper

1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley, to serve

11/2 tsp lemon zest, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line the bottom and sides of a 23cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Put the cauliflower on a large, parchment-lined baking tray and toss with the curry powder, half the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, until cooked through and lightly coloured. Set aside, and turn the oven temperature down to 170°C fan.

3. Meanwhile, make the béchamel. Put the cubed butter into a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat and, once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1–2 minutes – it should start to smell nutty (like popcorn). Turn the heat down to medium and slowly add the milk a little at a time, whisking continuously to prevent any lumps, until incorporated and the sauce is smooth. Cook, whisking often, for about 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Off the heat, stir in the garlic, mustard, cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of salt until the cheese has melted.

4. Keep your filo sheets under a damp tea towel to prevent them from drying out. In a bowl, combine the melted butter and the remaining 11/2 tablespoons of oil and keep to one side.

5. Working one sheet at a time, brush the exposed side of the filo with the butter mixture and drape it into your prepared tin (buttered side up), pushing it down gently to fit. Continue in this way with the next filo sheet, brushing it with butter and then laying it over the bottom sheet, rotating it slightly so the overhang drapes over the sides at a different angle. Do this with all six sheets. (There's a really good step by step series of pictures illustrating this in the book)

6. Spoon half the béchamel into the base and top with the roasted cauliflower florets. Spoon over the remaining béchamel, then crimp up the overhang so that it creates a messy ‘scrunched-up’ border around the edges, leaving the centre of the pie exposed.

7. Brush the top of the filo border with the remaining butter mixture, then transfer the tin to a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes.

8. Using a tea towel to help you, carefully release the outer circle of the springform tin and return the pie to the oven for another 20–25 minutes, or until the sides are nicely coloured and everything is golden and bubbling. Leave to settle for 15 minutes.

9. Top the pie with the parsley and lemon zest and serve warm.

What to drink: I’d go for a crisp Italian white wine like a Falanghina with this though a not-too-fruity dry Alsace, Austrian or German riesling would work well too.

Extracted from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25) All photography by Elena Heatherwick

Five-spice smoked tofu nuggets

Tofu has never been my favourite ingredient to be honest but these brilliant smoked tofu 'nuggets' from my friend Elly Curshen's book Let's Eat are positively addictive.

Elly writes: These things are ridiculously delicious and I can't recommend them enough. They're great on the end of skewers and dipped into the satay sauce as party food. But if you don't want to serve this as a canapé the cubes of tofu are delicious on a bed of brown rice with some pok choy and the sauce drizzled over the top. (I actually served it with a crunchy vegetable salad based on the noodle salad in Elly's book. I'm not giving the recipe for that so you have to buy it!)

The tofu you choose is important. You want to look for one that comes as a big, solid, wet cube and nearly always in a cardboard box. The recipe requires this soft, wet kind to create the steam inside the crust that makes it puff up.

Make the dressing first so the nuggets stay nice and crisp.

Note: this recipe contains peanuts

Five-spice smoked tofu nuggets

Vegetarian, vegan.

Makes 8 (although I cut them slightly smaller to make 16. That might serve 4 at a pinch though don't bank on it)

1 x 225g box of smoked tofu
2 tbsp cornflour
¼ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
a large pinch of smoked paprika
300ml vegetable oil
2–4 tbsp Satay Dressing (see below)
flaked sea salt

Lay the block of tofu on a few sheets of kitchen paper. Fold another sheet of kitchen paper and use to press down gently on the top to absorb the moisture.

Cut the tofu up into 8 (or 16) equal-sized cubes. Put the cornflour in a shallow bowl, add the five-spice powder and paprika and mix well. Toss the tofu cubes in the spiced cornflour until they are dusted on all sides.

Pour the vegetable oil into a wok and place over a high heat. Once hot, shake off any excess flour then very carefully lower each nugget into the hot oil using a slotted spoon or tongs. Deep-fry, turning regularly (and very carefully), for 4–5 minutes until all sides are golden brown and crisp. Remove the tofu from the pan using a slotted spoon or tongs and drain on kitchen paper.

Sprinkle the cubes with flaked sea salt while they are still hot – this helps to keep them crispy. Put them on to skewers and serve with the dressing for dipping.

Satay dressing

Makes 6 portions

1 tsp light soft brown sugar
2 tsp lime juice
4 tbsp peanut butter (smooth or chunky is fine, and I actually find the cheaper, bog-standard versions work best)
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1¼ tbsp vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed oil
1¼ tbsp Sriracha (or more to taste)
2 tbsp sesame oil

Dissolve the sugar in the lime juice, then put it into a blender with all the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust as you see fit. That’s it. Once made, it will keep fine in the fridge in a jar for ages.

What to drink

The sauce is more important than the nuggets when it comes to finding a pairing. Winewise I'm thinking an off-dry riesling or young semillon. A medium-dry cider would also be good.

Elly Pear's Let's Eat is published by Harper Collins at £20.You might also like to try Elly's Smoked Salmon and Radish Salad from her first book, Fast Days and Feast Days.

Prawn, lime, peanut and herb rice noodles

If you've always thought cooking for yourself is a bit dispiriting buy Signe Johansen's book Solo which is full of delicious and inspiring recipes like this zingy pad thai-ish dish of prawn noodles.

Signe writes: This is a super dish to rustle up when you’re tired and hungry - it takes just minutes to prepare and can be eaten either hot or at room temperature. An ice-cold beer alongside wouldn’t go amiss, but a glass of green or jasmine tea also makes an excellent accompaniment.

WARNING: this recipe includes peanuts

Serves 1 (generously. It would easily stretch to two FB)

100g thick or thin rice noodles

vegetable or sunflower oil, for frying

150g raw shelled prawns (or defrosted frozen ones)

1–2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

small bunch of mint and/or coriander, roughly chopped

1 small carrot, coarsely grated or cut into ribbons with a vegetable peeler

small handful of salted peanuts, roughly crushed

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

lime wedge, to serve (optional)

For the sauce

grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed limes

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp soft light brown sugar or palm sugar

1 red chilli, finely diced

1 garlic clove, finely grated

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl.

Cook the rice noodles according to the packet instructions until al dente, drain,

toss them in the sauce and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a skillet or frying pan over a medium heat, add the prawns and fry for a few minutes until golden-pink and opaque – remove them from the pan as soon as they’re done so they don’t become tough. Add the garlic, chilli and spring onion to the same pan once you’ve removed the prawns and fry gently for a couple of minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and return the prawns to the pan so all the flavours blend.

Serve the noodles in a shallow pasta bowl or on a dinner plate and scatter over the prawns, herbs, carrot and crushed peanuts. Season to taste and add a lime wedge, if you wish.

Variation: Feel free to add other vegetables such as chopped pepper, broccoli or beansprouts (raw or cooked). I sometimes like to add edamame beans, broad beans and grated courgette, too.

What to drink: I had a bottle of Japanese koshu wine open which went perfectly but a dry riesling or grüner veltliner would also be delicious

Extracted from Solo by Signe Johansen published by Bluebird Books at £16.99. Photograph © Patricia Niven.