British Commonwealth Society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Sweet and Sour Sauce with Vegetables

 

You need

 

 - 2 tbsp vegetable oil

 - 3 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped

 - 1 large onion, peeled and cut into largish pieces

     (i.e. in half, each half into six)

 - 1 green pepper, also cut into the same size

 - 2 carrots, peeled, chunked and parboiled

 - 3 tbsp ketchup

 - 3 tbsp vinegar

 - 3 tbsp brown sugar

 - 1 can pineapple slices or chunks

 - 1 cup of juice from the can of pineapple

 - 1 heaped tbsp cornflour. Maybe a bit more.

 - Water to mix

 

We like to add (if you like it spicy)

   - Rocoto or any hot pepper (to taste)

 

Method

 

   Heat the oil in the wok, but not so hot that it smokes, then throw in the garlic and onion. After 30 seconds to release the flavour, put in the carrots and pepper (optional: add in the hot pepper if you like it spicy), and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until softish, but still crisp. Don’t brown, because the garlic goes bitter if you do that. Set aside.

 

    Mix the cornflour with some water to make a watery paste. Cut up two pineapple rings to make chunks. If they’re not in chunks already, that is. Put the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and pineapple juice from the can into the wok, and blend in the watery cornflour. Heat up the mixture, stirring continuously until it thickens. When it has thickened, throw in the stirfried vegetables and the pineapple chunks, mix thoroughly, and it’s ready for use.

 

    The “Sweet and Sour sauce with Vegetables” can be had with grilled chicken and rice or otherwise cut up the chicken into small pieces and add to the wok at the beginning, after cooking the onion and garlic.

 

 

 2) Country Captain

 

A curry with a different taste, not too hot, one of our favourites. It’s an Anglo-Indian recipe, but nobody really knows where the name came from.

 

For the paste

 - 3” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

 - 5 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped

 - 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped

 

You also need:

 - 3 tbsp vegetable oil

 - 1 medium to large red onion, finely sliced

 - One 2½ lb chicken, skinned and cut into 2” pieces

 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper

 - 1-1½ tsp salt

 - ¼ tsp sugar

 - 1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar

 - 2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped into 1” pieces

 - 5-6 hot green chillies

 - 2 green peppers, cored, seeded and sliced finely.

 

Method

 

First make the paste. Put the garlic, ginger and onion into a blender. Add ½ cup water. Blend to a fine paste. You may need to push the mixture down with a spatula (please turn the blender off before you do this) to achieve a good paste. Set aside.

 

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large wok or non-stick pan. When hot, add half the sliced onion, stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add the chicken bits. Stir and fry for 8-10 minutes until browned. Reduce the heat to medium and add the paste from the blender, plus the cayenne pepper, salt, sugar and vinegar to taste. Stir and fry for a further 10-15 minutes until the chicken is tender. The spicy sauce should be thick enough to coat the chicken pieces. Add the tomatoes, remaining onion, chillies and peppers.

 

Stir fry for another 3-4 minutes, so the flavours blend but the peppers remain green and crisp.

         

 

Enjoy!!!

 

[Contributed by: The BCS Webpage Editors]