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Pakoras -warning addictive!

These are absurdly easy to make and unfeasibly delicious so be warned, this is your last chance to turn back...

OK, you are basically going to make a batter but using gram (chickpea) flour. Grab a bowl and add about a cup of flour for four people as a starter or enough for two people having a pig out.

Season with salt, pepper, chilli powder to taste and a goodly amount of fresh chopped coriander. Now for the secret ingredient: bicarbonate of soda. A half teaspoon of this stuff will make your pakoras heavenly light and fluffy.

Mix the dry ingredients and add warm water slowly, mixing all the time until you have a slightly sloppy mixture similar to that you would use for pancakes.

Now add at most half a finely chopped onion or a similar amount of any other yummy you want to try such as mushrooms and give it a final mix.

Heat oil in a pan. It needs to be about a centimetre deep and a low sided pan like a frying pan will help you get the mixture in and out.

When the oil is nice and hot, slowly and carefully spoon about a desert spoon of mix in to the oil for each pakora. They'll fry quickly in a minute or so, turn over with a slotted spoon, remove and place on kitchen towel. Eat as soon as they are cool enough or just before if you can't wait. Serve with a dash of ketchup or chilli sauce.

Tip of the hat to Farah for this wonderful recipe.

Baked Barley with Shiitake Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions

From one of my good friends in the new life in Pittsburgh. Great as a main course or side dish.  For you barleyphobes (UK school dinner fear) - face it and think of the shiitake. Very, very good winter comfort food. Thanks to Cheryl.

Paula from Pitt.

Ingredients

• 2tbsp butter, 3 medium onions chopped, 1 tspn sugar
• 9oz sliced button or chestnut mushrooms & 8oz sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1.5cups uncooked pearl barley (UK people a cup is 8floz so use 12floz in your measuring jug)
• 1tbsp soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste, pinch dried (or chopped sprig fresh) thyme
• 4cups (32floz) vegetable broth (stock)
• fresh thyme sprigs if you like

How to: Melt butter in a heavy bottomed casserole dish over medium heat, add onion & sugar, cover and cook for 25 mins or til golden brown, stirring frequently.

Add mushrooms, cook for 10 mins or until browned, stirring frequently.

Add barley, cook 2 mins, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat, stir in soy sauce, salt, pepper & thyme. Preheat oven to 350F (175C, Gas 4)

Bring broth to the boil, pour over mushroom & barley. Cover & put in oven for 1 hour-ish until barley is tender. Let stand 10 mins out of oven. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Ghanaian Food

My earliest recollections of food were always a turbulent affair. I just didn't like eating very much. One of the problems I had with Ghanaian food in particular was that it was too spicy -- I was forever drinking glasses of water immediately after sampling a taste of my mum's cooking.

Plátano Fufu

This makes a great side dish with steak, rice and beans. Something of a mystery, it was prepared for me in the Colombian town of Armenia by a journalist from Bogotá who claimed it to be Cuban. When I later asked around in Cuba no one had heard of it, but anyway, it's a tasty dish.

Roast Potatoes

The secret of golden roasted potatoes which are crunchy on the outside and melt in the mouth on the inside is the 3 Bs (boil 'em, bash 'em & bake'em!)

Dirty lowdown cheats' potatoes

On Rhodri's insistence, this is how you make chunky potatoes somewhere between roasties and chips. I invented this recipe when I could not be arsed to make roasties just for myself one evening after work....

Moro Saffron Rice

The business!