More Amazing Salads

I have always been looking for a good salad recipe to use up left over chicken. This Thai Chicken, Coconut and Coriander Salad with Crispy Shallots is the best one I have found yet. If you don’t have any left over chicken, poach the chicken in the dressing as in the recipe., Coconut and Coriander Salad with Crispy Shallots

Thai Chicken, Coconut and Coriander Salad
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
Fresh or frozen lime leaves
2 Thai birds eye chillis, lightly bashed
Small bunch coriander
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar, or brown sugar
2 chicken breasts, trimmed
40g toasted coconut chips (try Ocado)
½ a cucumber
3 carrots, peeled
1 red pepper, cut into very thin rings
1 lime
3 shallots, peeled
Sunflower oil
Sea salt

Place the coconut milk, fish sauce, the stalks of the coriander (saving the leaves for the salad), the chillis, the sugar, a teaspoon of salt and the lime leaves in a saucepan. Add the chicken breast and bring to the boil. Gently simmer to poach the chicken for 12–15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and rest. Turn up the heat on coconut milk and reduce until a few tablespoons remain. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Strain and add the juice of the lime. Taste and adjust seasoning. It should be fragrant, spicy, sour and sweet.

Meanwhile, shave the cucumber and carrots, leaving just the cores, with a peeler. Put in a large bowl with the coconut chips, the red pepper and coriander leaves. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken.

Slice the shallots as thinly as possible. You can use a mandolin or food processor. Place in a small saucepan and just cover with oil. Over a high heat, stir the shallots frequently until they are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper. Spread out thinly and allow to cook. Lightly season with salt and fluff up so that the shallots go crispy.

Celery Salad with Dates, Almonds, and Parmesan

When you get to my age and you have been cooking as long as I have, it is really hard to find recipes that are fresh, exciting or different but this simple celery salad is really exciting. I’m not even that keen on fruit or nuts in savoury dishes but the celery, lemon and the chilli really balance out the sweetness. It made a very tasty lunch!

Celery Salad with Dates, Almonds, and Parmesan
Serves 2
½ cup/large handful raw almonds with skins8 celery stalks, thinly sliced on a diagonal, use leaves too
6 dates, pitted, coarsely chopped
Zest of one lemon plus 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chunk of Parmesan, shaved
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Very small pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Toss almonds, celery, celery leaves, lemon zest and dates in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil together well. Add a small pinch of chilli flakes and mix through the salad. Serve with shavings of parmesan.Add the chicken to the bowl with the vegetables and then dress with the dressing (you may not need all of it.) Pile onto plates and top with the crispy shallots.

Warm Salad of Avocado, Baby Spinach and Bacon, Poached Egg

Salad Tiede was all the rage about 10 years ago. Literally translated as “warm salad” it is one of those culinary terms which just sound so much more exciting in French than it does in English. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to taste exciting. Super quick and simple it relies on really great ingredients to transform it into something really special, so use the best bacon, avocados and eggs that you can find.

Warm Salad of Avocado, Baby Spinach and Bacon, Poached Egg
Serves 2
8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons
2 organic, free-range eggs
Large handful or two of baby spinach leaves
2 ripe avocadoes, cut into large chunks
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Splash white wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Put a small pan of water onto boil. Fry the bacon in a little olive oil until really golden and crispy in a heavy bottomed frying pan. Remove the pan from the heat from the heat. Put the spinach leaves into a large bowl with the avocado chunks. Add the red wine vinegar to the pan with the bacon and allow to bubble away. Add a dash of white wine vinegar to the pan of boiling water, turn down the heat and carefully crack in the eggs. Poach until the whites have totally cooked but the yolks are still runny. Remove with a slotted spoon onto some kitchen paper to drain. Stir the mustard into the pan with the bacon. I should have cooled a bit by now. You want the mustard to amalgamate with the bacon fat and the vinegar, not cook. Season and pour the bacon and dressing over the spinach and avocado. Toss well and tip into bowls. Top with the eggs and a good grind of black pepper. Serve straight away.

A lighter Lunch

    

I am a bit lazy about lunch. I often tend to skip breakfast. Yes, I know is healthy living violation number one, but I am just not a breakfast person. Two big cups of decaf coffee is all I can stomach first thing in the morning. But often I have to work through lunch as well and then just as my blood sugar hits an all time low, I usually opt for a much larger bowl than necessary of granola, packed with nuts and seeds. Unfortunately, as we all know, Granola is also packed with sugar. The second ingredient on my Simply Nut Granola by Dorset Cereals, is golden syrup. Not exactly an ingredient I would associate with health, although Tate and Lyle had other ideas. 

 Isn’t it amazing how perceptions have changed. Can you imagine a child after a daily dose of Golden Syrup particularly after the recommended bedtime snack as well, of even more golden syrup stirred into a glass of milk? The advice in this book reminds me of some of the other suggestions in vintage cookbooks, extolling the virtues of cigarettes and opium. It does make you wonder what guidance given out now, will be scoffed at in the future.

Anyway, this weeks recipe makes a really quick and easy lunch and is one of those when you manage to somehow conjure up a delicious meal from almost nowhere. All I had left in the fridge was a lettuce, some carrots and a cucumber and a left over piece of fillet steak. 

We can learn a lot from Asian recipes as they have long understood that meat and fish are costly and they know how to make expensive ingredients go along way, padded out with plenty of cheaper and healthier vegetables.  Although the list of ingredients often looks long and complicated, it really is store cupboard stuff and it really could not be quicker and easier to make and a whole lot less calories than Granola.

Vietnamese Lettuce and Beef Wraps
You can make the dipping sauce and marinade the meat the day before.

For the marinade
1 fillet steak
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 tsp caster sugar
1-1½ tsp toasted sesame oil, to taste

For the dipping sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar, to taste
1 tsp. golden caster sugar, to taste
1 tbsp. Fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 stick lemongrass
1 lime, juice only
1 fresh red chilli

For the wraps
1 carrot, cut into fine julienne strips or grated
½ cucumber
3 sprigs mint, leaves picked and chopped
½ small bunch coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
1 lettuce such as Batavia or baby gem

Lime wedges, to serve

For the marinade, put the steak into a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix until coated evenly. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight if possible.

Meanwhile make the dipping sauce. Mix the rice vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together. Finely chop the red chilli. If you like it hot then leave the seeds in, if not remove them. Remove any tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and trim the bottom. Grate using a microplaner starting at the bottom and grating until nearly three quarters of the way up. (If you do not have a microplaner, chop very finely). Add with the chilli to your dipping sauce and taste. Adjust the flavours as necessary – adding a little more sugar if it’s too sour, or more rice vinegar or lime juice if too sweet.

Next peel and grate your carrots and cut your cucumber into julienne. A mandolin is good for this. Separate and wash the salad leaves and leave to drain. Pick the leaves off the herbs.

In a large heavy-based frying pan, heat a dash of oil. Shake off any excess marinade from the steaks and cook for 2-3 minutes on either side – depending on their thickness and how rare you like your steak. Tip over the marinade and remove and rest on a plate for five minutes.

To serve, arrange the lettuce leaves on a serving plate. Fill the lettuce leaves with carrot and cucumber. Add a small handful of herbs. Slice the rested steak, and top each leaf with a slice or two of steak, tipping any resting juices over the top. Serve with the dipping sauce and lime wedges on the side.

Good Morning Vietnam

I can't seem to get enough of Vietnamese cooking at the moment.  I know I was banging on about it a couple of weeks ago when I made Pho Ga but since then I have added a couple more dishes to my repetoire. I think it is partly the Vietnamese use of mint which I am finding so appealing at the moment. Nothing says Spring to me like mint.  I don't know if it is its connection with Easter Lamb or the fact that it is one of the first sights of spring in my garden. From a completely barren wasteland it appears, year after year, from nowhere and before I know it I have a abundance of fresh green shoots with an aroma that is so utterly clean, like a new start. It is like Spring!


I don't actually like mint when it has been cooked.  It can be a little too reminiscent to toothpaste, but use it fresh like they do in the Middle East and in Asia and it is a different thing all together. Both of my recipes this week are just bursting with freshness and zing and guaranteed to wake you up after a sluggish winter and drag you kicking and screaming into Spring if the freezing weather has not managed to already.


First up, my Banh mi, a fabulous Vietnamese sandwich. It is so popular now a days that there is a whole website devoted just to the Bahn Mi sandwich, how to make it and where to eat it. It actually just means bread in Vienamese but since French colonisation it refers to a particular hybrid of French bread but less crusty and more sub like.  It is then filled with amongst other things roast pork, pate, chilli, mayonnaise, pickled carrot, mint and coriander. There is even a Breakfast Bahn mi, filled with bacon and eggs.  I am not actually a huge fan of roast or grilled pork, so when I discovered a Bahn mi with meatballs, I couldn't wait to give it a try.  I left the chilli out of my meatballs so that the kids can eat them too, so it makes a fantastic family lunch or supper, especially when it is warm enough to cook the meatballs on the barbecue.


My second recipe is for a Vietnemese Beef Salad.  This is just a really lovely fresh way to serve steak with a delicious vibrant salad.  Once again, a lovely recipe for the barbecue, but maybe wait until Summer. 

Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Vietnamese Meatball Sandwich)


For the Hot Chili and Garlic Mayo:
300ml Olive oil / sunflower oil, or a blend of the two
2 large egg yolks
1tsp Mustard (Dijon is my favourite)
Juice of half a lemon
3 fat cloves garlic
1 tablespoon hot chilli sauce (such as Sriracha)

For the Meatballs:
600g minced outdoor bread pork
3 garlic cloves
Large knob of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 stick of lemon grass, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce (Nam Pla or Nuoc Cham)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the Pickled Carrot:
2 Carrots, pealed and julienned on a mandolin
1 daikon (Japanese white radish), pealed and julienned on a mandolin Optional
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

For the sandwich:
4 10-inch-long individual baguettes or four 10-inch-long pieces French-bread baguette (cut from 2 baguettes)
Sunflower oil
Lettuce (I use baby gems)
Handful of fresh mint
Handful of fresh Coriander
Fresh lime

Hot Chili Mayo:
Thoroughly mash the garlic and a little salt into a paste. I use the side of my knife or you could use a pestle and mortar. Put the egg yolks in a small bowl with the mustard and a pinch of salt. Whisk well until thoroughly blended. Add the oil very slowly, to the egg mixture, whisking well after each addition. When all the oil has been incorporated, check seasoning and add lemon juice and chilli sauce to taste.

For the pickled Carrot / Daikon
Mix all ingredients and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.

For the Meatballs:
Whiz up the garlic, ginger and lemongrass with the fish sauce with a hand blender or in a small food processor, until you have a smooth paste. In large bowl, mix the mince with the paste, the spring onions and the salt and pepper. Using moistened hands roll the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Fry gently in a little oil in a frying pan until golden brown and cooked through. Alternatively cook on the barbecue.

To assemble the sandwiches:
Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally in half. If using the barbecue, lightly char-grill. Spread with hot chili mayo. Pile in the lettuce, pickled carrot, meatballs and herbs. Add more chilli sauce if you like.

Vietnamese Beef Salad

500g sirloin steak, all fat removed
60ml sunflower oil, for frying

For the beef marinade:
2 sticks lemongrass, bashed and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp palm or caster sugar

For the dressing:
2 tbsp palm or caster sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 red chilli, de-seeded
2 garlic cloves
1/2 half tsp salt

For the salad:
100g rice vermicelli noodles
170g cos or baby gem lettuce, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
70g cucumber, cut in half, de-seeded and cut into chunky 1/2 cm half-moons
Small handful Thai basil leaves (if available)
Handful picked coriander leaves
Handful of Fresh mint leaves
100g bean sprouts
100g roasted salted peanuts, lightly crushed
3 banana shallots, very thinly sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Salt

Blitz all the marinade ingredients with a hand blender to form a paste. Rub the paste all over the beef and set aside for a couple of hours at room temperature or in the fridge over-night. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Whiz up all the ingredients with a hand blender until smooth.

Heat an couple of inches of vegetable oil in a saucepan. When hot add the thinly sliced shallots and fry until golden brown. Stir regually and do not burn. Remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt. (Alternatively you can find ready fried onions in Asian Supermarkets)

Now prepare the salad. Cook the noodles as instructed on the packet, drain and rinse under cold water. Toss the lettuce, carrot, cucumber, basil, coriander and bean sprouts in a large bowl. Add the chilli, the noodles and the dressing and mix well.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan or wok. Season the beef with salt and then sear the beef on each side for a minute or two. Then cook further until rare. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few five minutes or so. Slice thinly and scatter over the salad. Finally sprinkle over the fried shallots and the crushed peanuts.Serve at once.
                                  

Totally Turkish

Wraps are my new answer to a quick dinner.  I know that they are not exactly the cutting edge of cuisine.  A bit old hat.  All the supermarkets have churned out their own versions - Hoi Sin duck wrap, Vietnamese rice paper wrap, Mexican bean wrap - all in loads of packaging, sanitised, chilled, all flavours dumbed down to offend no-one and tasting of nothing.  But I vaguely remembered a time before the supermarket had discovered and killed this particular food trend and I knew they can be great.  So I started experimenting with Fahitas, Shawarmas, Koftes and most recently the good old Shish Kebab. Freshly made and cooked, they take minutes, are really healthy and everybody loves them.  Especially the kids, which means we can all eat together early and I do not have to cook two separate meals in the evening.

It is always fun to serve up a hands on meal, when every one can make up their own particular favourite combination.  Daniel, my son, always opts for maximum salad, lashings of hummus and as little meat as possible.  My daughter, Amelie is completely opposite, going straight for the meat and avoiding anything that resembles a vegetable.  Hugh, the other half, crams as much as humanly possible into one kebab and then drowns the whole thing in chilli sauce.  As for me, my main pleasure is as I said, - one meal, everyone happy.  If you have vegetarians in the family, you could always make some Falafal.

I discovered that The Turkish Food Center had a branch in Croydon which isn't far from me and I was really keen to give it a visit.  I am a bit embarrassed to admit that when I got out of the car in Croydon, I actually felt a little bit nervous.  I have lived in London all my life, but suddenly I felt in unfamiliar territory. No one appeared to speak English. But I reminded myself that this was exactly what my blog is supposed to be about.  Ethnic shops amongst ethnic communities. 

Once inside The Turkish Food Center, I lost myself amongst the aisles of fantastic exotic pulses, spices and nuts.  They have a butchery and a bakery with freshly baked Turkish Breads, biscuits and sweets.  There was a wonderful selection of vegetables, fruit and herbs.  I realised I completely forgotten any fears and that is exactly why it is so important to integrate ourselves. Fear comes from the unknown and that is what breeds prejudice.

On this one street in Croydon, the London Road, minutes away from where some of the worst rioting and looting took place are the most fantastic selection of Indian, Pakistani, West Indian, African, Sri Lankan, Middle Eastern and Caribbean shops, trading, working and living side by side in total harmony.

Lamb Shish Kebab
Obviously Kebabs are best on the barbecue but if you don't have one they are still really good baked in an oven, as hot as it will go for about 10 minutes.

800g leg of lamb
2 peppers, red, yellow, green or orange, cut into chunks
2 red onions, cut into chunks
For the marinade
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli such as cayenne
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp Zahtar

Chop the lamb into chunky cubes, removing any excess fat.

For the marinade: in a large bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl with some salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the meat cubes and toss to coat thoroughly in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 36 hours.

When ready to cook, preheat a char-grill or barbecue to hot.

Remove the meat from the marinade and thread the cubes onto long or round metal skewers, alternating with chunks of onion, cherry tomatoes and pepper.

Cook the kebabs on the hot char-grill or barbecue for 4-6 minutes on each side. But you can just fry them in a fryingpan.

Serve the kebabs with flatbread and a range of mezze - such as hummus, moutabal, Tabbouleh or Fattoush Salad as accompaniments.

Turkish Kofte Kebabs with Minted Yoghurt

500g minced lamb
1 onion, finely grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (less if for kids)
2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Coriander
Juice of one lemon
1 small bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Oil for brushing
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the minted yoghurt
200g/7oz Greek natural yoghurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Preheat a charcoal barbecue 40 minutes ahead of cooking or a gas barbecue 10 minutes ahead of cooking. If using a cast-iron griddle pan, heat it over a high heat, then lower the heat slightly before cooking.  Cover eight bamboo skewers with cold water and leave them to soak.

Put the minced lamb into a bowl with all of the ingrediants, some salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Mix together with your hands until bound together.

Divide the mixture into eight and mould it into long sausage shapes around the drained bamboo skewers. 

 For the minted yoghurt, mix the yoghurt with the mint, half a teaspoon of salt and some pepper and set aside.

Brush the kofte generously with oil and lightly oil the bars of the barbecue or griddle. Cook for five minutes, turning occasionally, until browned all over and cooked through.

Domates Salatasi

4 medium really red tomatoes, firm and cut in chunks
2 cucumbers, preferably the small variety, cut in half, de-seeded and chopped 
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 handfull fresh dill, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix everything together.  Spoon over your kebab.

Turkish Food Centers 14 Branches all over London - see directory

Iraqi Quest

It's the school holidays.  Every morning begins at 7.30 with "What are we doing today, Mum?"  And it's non-stop from there.  Constant demands and questions and squabbling.  I hardly have the time to think.

Today its the long promised trip to the swimming slides at Guildford Spectrum.  I can hardly wait!  And first I have got to get something for dinner.  Asda or Tesco on the A3?  I don't think I could bare it.  Suddenly I remember Soor Market.  Just off the A3, amongst the suburban sprawl on the outskirts of Kingston is the most fantastically stocked Iraqi supermarket.  It is so unpromising looking from the outside, yet as soon as I am inside, my spirits lift. The wonderful array of sophisticated and exotic flavours, transports me back to a golden age, an ancient civilisation, rich with culture and diversity.



Whilst the children amuse themselves choosing dates and pistachio nuts, I wonder amongst the isles. From the fantastic selection of fruit and vegetables, beautiful baby aubergines, pomegranates and chillies to the massive fresh bunches of dill, mint and coriander, everything is superb.  Aisle after isle of nuts and spices, rice, lentils, dried pulses, flower waters, breads and dried fruits.  There were about ten different types of Bulgur wheat alone and a huge selection of dried limes. 

I am not going to lie to you and tell you how welcoming the staff are.  Instead, I have to admit that they actually look somewhat surly and eyed me suspiciously as I wondered around their shop. But I was very keen to make sure that the rice dish that I was planning to cook was authentically Iraqi, so I questioned the man on the checkout in some depth.  Usually talking about food really opens people up.  Suddenly, someone you have never met is sharing intimate family recipes with you, in great detail.  This chap however, did not warm to my interrogation.  He was a man of few words, yet I could tell by his adamant nodding and shaking of his head to my questions, that he was as passionate about his food as anyone.  "Should there be any fresh herbs" - absolutely not, "Nuts and raisins?" - a definite yes, "Saffron?"- absolutely.  Finally, he warmed to me sufficiently, to suggest without me even asking, a different brand of saffron to the one I had chosen.  There was a choice of at least eight different varieties. 

I have been craving Biryani and Dal for a few days now.  I think the hint of autumn coming and a slight chill in the air has left me yearning for warming spices and filling carbohydrates.  I found a lovely sounding Iraqi lentil soup recipe.  I know lentil soup does not sound that exciting but honestly, with the blend of earthy and aromatic spices, it really hits the spot.   Next I found a really great recipe in a book called the "Iraqi Family Cookbook",  for Saffron Rice with Meat Dressing.  I give you that it doesn't sound that great.  It does however sound better in Iraqi "Timman Z'affaran".  It is in fact a beautiful rice dish perfumed with cardamom, saffron and rosewater. .  Anyway, I made a few adjustments to the recipe and served it with an Arabic Salad.  It was absolutely delicious. 

Now, what are we doing tomorrow?



I bought a spice blend called "Seven Spices Plus" which was really lovely in both recipes. It is a combination of Allspice, Nutmeg, Cumin, Coriander, Cinnamon, Cardamon, Pepper, Ginger and Clove. If you cannot find it you could make your own or try Baharat Spice Blend

Iraqi Lentil Soup

I found this recipe on the most fantastic blog "It's sooo good!™ Moti's Iraqi cuisine. He'll tell you what you can do. And you'll like it! " And I did. Don't forget the lemon. It really lifts this soup.

400 g (14 oz) red lentils
10 cups of water
1 whole onion (peeled and finely chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (peeled and finely chopped)
2 carrots (peeled and finely chopped)
6 sticks celery (chopped)
1 potato (peeled and roughly chopped)
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander (optional)
2 teaspoons Seven Spices or Baharat Spice Blend or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt to taste

First fry the onion, carrot and celery in a some oil until soft and just beginning to caramelise. Add the garlic and spices. Fry for a minute more. Add the lentils and the water. Stir well and add the potato. Boil gently over a low heat, uncovered for about 30 - 40 minutes until the lentils and potato is cooked. Using a hand blender, purée the ingredients together with the lemon juice and coriander.Taste the soup and add any necessary salt or more spice if necessary. Serve with a garnish of coriander, yogurt, or just on its own.

Timman Z'affaran

2 cups basmati long grain rice
4 cups water
½ tsp salt
a pinch of saffron threads
4 cardamom pods, seeds removed and ground
¼ cup ghee
1/3 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts

Rinse the rice until clear and soak for 30 minutes. Drain. Pour the ghee in a pot and sauté rice for one minute. Add salt, saffron and cardamom and pour in the water. Bring it to boil. Cover and cook at a slow boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Toast the almonds or pinenuts in the oven until golden brown. Be careful not to burn.

For the lamb
1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Seven Spices or Baharat Spice Blend
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2tbs rose water
1/3 cup currants

Saute meat in a little ghee in a non stick pan. Remove and drain. In the same pan add the onions with a little more ghee. Keep sautéing until the onions are golden brown. Add the garlic, salt and spices. Fry for a few minutes more. Add the currants and the rosewater and remove from the heat. Add a little water if very dry. On a large plate, dish up the rice, spoon over the meat mixture and finally sprinkle over the toasted almonds. Serve with Arabic salad.

Arabic Salad

4 small cucumbers or 2 large, cut lengthways, de-seeded, cut legthways again and chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped into bite size chunks
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 small finely diced red onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium lemon, juice of
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pomegranate seeds (optional)
Pinch of Sumac (optional)

Place diced cucumber and tomatoes in bowl. Add parsley and onion. Just before serving, add the salt, lemon and olive oil and combine all ingredients. Serve in small bowls to accompany rice dishes.