Cook and Culture team enjoys a time of celebration with first birthday

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Of late, it has been a time of celebration for the Cook and Culture team.

This is the local blog and column that appears in the Boksburg Advertiser and Benoni City Times publications in print and online, which shares recipes, tips and tricks with the community bi-weekly.

The special programme on Caxton’s online station featured a number of guests, such as Dalene Walter from Bobs & Beehives, talking on the latest trends and hair and how to get your hair ready for your celebration.

Also in studio was David Branch (owner of Plato’s Beard), sharing tips on men’s grooming for the party, while Michelle Wilken, events coordinator at Emperors Palace, and chef Remi Anderson were also on hand to share tips to plan the perfect party and canapé choices respectively.

Winners

As part of the celebrations, the winners of the Cook and Culture competition were also announced.

The competition called for talented home cooks to enter a photo of them holding their cooked meal, along with a copy of their delicious and unique recipe.

Winners were chosen based on the number of votes obtained on the Boksburg Advertiser Instagram and Facebook pages.

George’s Bread & Co donated R500 to the Boksburg and Benoni winner, while the Pick n Pay Towers and PnP Farramere also sponsored R500 for the winners of the two towns.

The winners were Rita Munsamy from Boksburg and Lizanne Fivaz from Benoni.

Here is Rita’s winning recipe – a Lamb biryani.

Ingredients:

• 2kg lamb cut into pieces
• Six large potatoes cut into wedges
• 750ml rice
• 375 ml of brown lentils
• 125ml sunflower oil
• 250g butter
• Marinade spices
• Two tablespoons turmeric
• Six tablespoons mix masala
• Three tablespoons salt
• Liquid egg yellow food colouring
• Six onions, finely chopped and fried until golden brown (½ to be used for marinade and reserve half for garnish)

Ingredients for marinade:

• 125ml plain yoghurt
• 125ml chopped coriander
• 125ml chopped mint
• 60ml thyme
• Two sprigs curry leaves
• 6-8 green chillies (optional heat)
• 30ml crushed ginger and garlic

The following whole spices to be toasted in a dry pan for three minutes and ground into powder (to be added to meat): 6 Star anise; 1 tablespoons cumin seeds; 1 tablespoon fennel; 12 cardamom pods; one tablespoon coriander seeds; four cinnamon sticks; one tablespoon whole black peppercorns and six bay leaves

Method:

• Combine lamb and marinade with spices and leave to stand in fridge for 12 to 24 hours
• Boil rice with three tablespoons of salt, one tablespoon turmeric, one cinnamon stick, until firm and drain.
• Boil lentils with three tablespoons of salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric, one cinnamon stick, until firm and drain.
• Colour potato wedges with egg yellow food colouring and add one teaspoon fine salt. Mix well and deep fry for five minutes.
• Heat 125g butter and oil in a large pot, add meat and cook on medium heat for 1.5 hours
• Add lentils and half cooked potatoes over meat and stir to combine. Cook further 30 minutes then add rice, sprinkle some egg yellow food colour over the rice, stir rice with fork to combine colour.
• Garnish with fried onion and add 125ml cubed butter over rice and cook for another 30 minutes on low heat.

Cooking tips:

• Use butter ghee instead of butter
• Steam biryani in oven for one hour instead of stove top after putting rice in.
• Serve with Sambals. For the Sambals, use the following ingredients: four finely chopped tomatoes, one onion, finely chopped, one green chilli, chopped, 30ml of chopped coriander, ½ teaspoon fine salt, 75ml white vinegar.