butter chicken
I remember vividly when and how I fell in love with Butter Chicken. The month was May, the year 2011 the place a small, ramshackle restaurant in New Delhi, India. I had been in Delhi studying since early March of that year and had months to go before heading back home to Cape Town to finish off my degree. Most of the food I had been exposed to in the city until then had not been to my liking, mainly because I did not at the time have much of a palette for hot and spicy food. One day when my friend and I went out as we often did to get out of the campus, I decided to try out Butter Chicken, which I was assured was the dish with the least heat on the menu. I was immediately hooked. For me it was the creamy texture and how the spices were tempered with yoghurt and tomatoes that made this meal a winner. Fast-forward to 2021, I’ve been enjoying this meal for a decade. The recipe below is my take on this delicious meal and I hope you can use it to switch up your chicken meals once in a while.
Scones, Scones, Scones
This is my recipe for yumminess produced in under an hour. These scones are perfect for a weekend or weekday morning. All you need to do is set your alarm an hour early to make sure that you stay in your family’s good books for an entire week! My scones are light, fluffy and golden. The sugar content ensures that they are sweet enough to enjoy on their own and not too sweet that you can’t add jam and cream. I really like adding ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon for that added bit flavour. You can also add a teaspoon of nutmeg for that additional flavour pop. Go on, give this recipe a try and let me know how popular you become in your home.
uLusu or Mala Mogodu served with Creamy Samp
As part of the Megamaster #24DaysofHeritage Campaign, I had the singular joy of preparing what me and millions of South Africans consider to be a firm favourite dish in our homes – uLusu or Mala Mogodu. I’ve never been in a province in SA where this dish does not feature on the top 10 of meals to have. This is because it’s delicious, relatively cheap and needs little fanfare to be flavourful. uLusu or Mogodu is a dish made from Sheep Tripe and Intestines prepared slowly over hours which can be enjoyed at home or often as part of the morning meal ahead of a traditional ceremony where you’ll have a lot of mouths to feed. It was eaten a lot back in the day when most people lived in rural areas and did not want to waste any of the meat after slaughtering an animal. Now our lives are different, we are urban-based but we still yearn for this yumminess. So the best bet is to buy the Mogodu and make it at home. In fact, some South Africans love it so much that Mogodu Mondays have become a real thing, where Monday dinner is Mogodu bought ready-made at your local Tshisa Nyama. I hear it also has the super power of chasing the weekend bhabhalaz (hangover) away!
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In honour of Heritage Month in our beautiful country, I’ve put a couple of spins on my version of uLusu. Firstly, I am making it on my Megamaster Gas Braai as a way to bond in the sun with my family. Secondly, I am using fresh herbs, which adds a more unique flavour to my dish. The fresh herbs are not traditional for this dish because it’s usually made with very few ingredients. But I can assure you that they elevate the end result! I served it with Creamy Samp and Steamed Bread – you can check out the recipes for these elsewhere on my blog.
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