
We’ve arrived at “K” in our Vegetarian Alphabet for fun gig. So Koftas seemed like fun. This is a totally made up recipe, but all recipes were made up by somebody at one time or another.
Ingredients:-
100g of Mung Beans
100g of Brown Lentils
Gram Flour
Dried Parsley
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
Ground Coriander
Cumin
Chilli powder
Garam Masala
2 cloves of Garlic, grated
Dried Ginger
Salt & Pepper
Oil to grill
1 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
Method:-
(1) Soak the Mung Beans and Lentils overnight
(2) Drain and rinse and boil with the Bicarbonate of Soda for 20 minutes.
(3) Drain again and set aside to cool.
(4) Mix the Gram Flour, Parsley, Onion, Coriander, Cumin, Chilli powder, Garam Masala, Garlic, Dried Ginger and Salt & Pepper in a large bowl.
(5) When the Beans and Lentils have drained and cooled pulse them a couple of times in a blender. You are looking for something slightly lumpy. Not a mush!
(6) Mix everything together and add Gram Flour if required so that you have a consistency which you can form around a skewer.
(7) Form around skewers to make your Koftas about an inch (2.5cm) think.
(8) Grill or Griddle turning regularly until your Koftas browned on all sides and heated through.
We served ours on a bed of boiled Rice with a Yogurt, Mint and Cucumber dip, Plum and Ginger Chutney, plus Coleslaw.

We’re great advocates for making everything we possible can from scratch. But Pizza bases have been out of reach since Lock-Down and we couldn’t get fold of Gluten free Bread Flour. Yesterday I made my usual discount isle forage in the local supermarket and the cleaning team had some of the fittings out to clean behind. Hanging off the back of the fitting was a 1kg bag of gold! I skipped home like a child who had found a £20 note. So armed with ½ a roast Chicken from the previous evening and a pack of Chorizo sliced Sue and I set about Pizza and Garlic Bread.
The full recipe from Phil Vickery’s “ Essential Gluten Free “ is below:-
Ingredients:-
250g Gluten free Bread Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
7g Fast action Yeast (We got a 250g pack from the local Polish Deli a while ago)
200ml warm Water
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Oil plus extra for brushing
Method:-
(1) Line a round baking tray with parchment.
(2) In a bowl mix the Flour, Salt, Sugar and Yeast.
(3) Add the warm Water, Vinegar and Oil.
(4) Whisk well for 3 minutes to form a smooth and elastic dough.
(5) Turn out onto your lined baking tray and using the back of a spoon spread. Push a little extra Dough towards the edges to form a raised circle.
(6) Brush the outer edge with Oil. This will for your crust.
(7) Set aside for 15 minutes while the oven comes up to 200c.
(8) Bake for 15 minutes until it is cooked but still pale.
(9) Allow to cool.
(10) Spread with Sauce, Toppings of your choice and grated Mozzarella.
(11) Place back in the oven and bake until the toppings are fully heated and the Cheese has melted.
The toppings are entirely up to you. Provided you don’t add Pineapple rings!!!!

We even made an extra pie for the local fox, they are omnivorous after all!
Ingredients:-
Leeks thickly sliced
Onions, sliced
Lentils
1 Carrot, chopped
2 Potatoes, cubed
Tomato Paste
Mixed Herbs
Vegetable Stock
Salt & Pepper
Gluten free Puff Pastry
Margarine & Oil
Method:-
(1) Soak your Lentils overnight and drain.
(2) Sauté the vegetables in the Margarine & Oil.
(3) add the mixed Herbs and season to taste.
(4) Stir in the Tomato Paste.
(5) Add the Vegetable Stock and allow to simmer.
(6) Add the Lentils and simmer for 20 minutes. Add more Stock it the filling becomes too think.
(7) Cover with Puff Pastry and cook in the oven at 180c until golden brown.

This recipe was in a book my mum kindly gave us. It called for Lamb Shanks, which is beyond our budget – So we improvised with a Turkey Drummer!
Ingredients:-
1 Turkey Drummer
Potatoes
Onions
Swede
Carrot
Tomato Puree
Dried Rosemary
Turkey Stock
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Soy Sauce (Gluten free in our case)
Salt & Pepper
Gluten free Puff Pastry
Method:-
(1) Foil the Drummer and pop it in the oven at 180c for 45 minutes.
(2) The pie filling is entirely up to you but Sue made the filling from the Potatoes, Onions, Swede, Carrot, Tomato Puree, Dried Rosemary, Turkey Stock, Garlic Salt, Onion Salt, Soy Sauce, Salt & Pepper.
(3) In a casserole add your pie filling. Take the Drummer from the oven and stand it in the filling.
(4) Punch a hole it the pastry to (Hopefully) support the Drummer and place back in the oven at 180c for 25 to 30 minutes.
We had to take this beast of a pie apart so the we could eat it, but it really was good.

We had a wander up to the Continental Shop a few days ago. We’d had the idea of Stuffed Jalapeños floating about for a while. When we spotted these monsters it had to be done. Hot – hot – hot!
Ingredients:-
Jalapeños
Cream Cheese with Garlic & Herbs
Grated Mozzarella
Flour (Gluten free in our case)
Eggs & Milk (For an Egg wash)
Breadcrumbs (Gluten free in our case)
Oregano
Chilli Flakes
Oil
Salt & Pepper
Method:-
(1) Blanch the Jalapeños, slit and de-seed. Set aside.
(2) Mix an Egg wash with Eggs and Milk and set aside.
(3) Combine the Cream Cheese, Mozzarella, Oregano, Chilli Flake, Salt and pepper – To make the stuffing.
(4) Stuffed the Jalapeños.
(5) Dunk each one in the Egg wash, then dredge in flour.
(6) Dunk again in Egg wash and then roll in the Breadcrumbs.
(7) Shallow fry turning occasionally until the coating is crispy.
We served ours on a bed of salad with Potato wedges and a home made Marie Rose sauce.
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