Food and Drinks

Fried Rice

  Ingredients

•Rice –

•Vegetable Oil

•Chicken (whole chicken or chicken drumsticks)

•Cow Liver

•Plain Yellow Curry Powder – no chilli (1 tablespoon)

•Green Beans (a handful)

•5 medium sized carrots

•Salt (to taste)

•Onions – 3 medium sized bulbs

•Seasoning & Thyme (1 teaspoon)

Method

Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking fried rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve so all the water drains out.

Pour the chicken stock into a sieve to remove all traces of onions, thyme etc used in cooking the chicken. Pour the stock into a pot and set to boil. Once the water boils, add the parboiled rice. Also, add 1 tablespoon of plain yellow curry powder, then add salt to taste. The plain yellow curry powder is merely for colouring so should not contain chilli.

The water level should be slightly less than the level of the rice; at most it should be at the same level as the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked. Stir the contents; cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.

Once the water has dried up, check that the rice is cooked. Perfect fried rice is one that the grains are separated from one another, resistant to the bite but not hard.

Now, transfer the rice to a casserole dish or another pot to help cool it down quickly. This is essential to keep the grains from sticking to each other. If left in the original hot pot, the rice will continue to cook and eventually stick together.

At this point, it is advisable to divide the vegetables into say 4, 5 or even 6 equal parts. The rice will be fried in batches so this number depends on the quantity of rice you can comfortably fry in the pan or pot. Also, divide the cooked rice and the diced cow liver into the same number of equal parts.

Now pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a frying pan. This quantity of oil should be such that it would be absorbed by 1 part of the cooked rice and 1 part each of the vegetables. When the oil is hot, add 1 part of diced onions and stir for 10 seconds, followed by 1 part of diced cow liver, one part each of the diced vegetables, then 1 part of cooked rice.

Add more salt if necessary. Stir till all the ingredients have mixed well and transfer to a dry pot. Repeat this for the remaining batches of the ingredients.

Peppered Gizzards

Ingredients 

Chicken gizzards

Pepper (or to your taste)

Onions

Seasoning

Salt (to taste)

Vegetable oil

Toothpicks for serving

Method

Ensure that the inside skins of the gizzards are peeled off, then wash and place them in a pot Cut the onions into big chunks Pound or blitz the pepper (no water) Marinate the gizzards with the seasonings if you want Add the seasoning and big chunk of onions into the gizzards. If you marinated them, just add the onions Pour water to just under the level of the gizzards and start cooking at medium heat. This quantity of water will dry up by the time the gizzard is well cooked When the gizzard is well cooked, remove the big chunks of onions Increase the heat to high and stir constantly till all the remaining liquid in the pot is absorbed. Add salt to taste and stir very well Lay the gizzards flat in a baking bowl Grill in an oven at 170°C or 338°F till the top side is dry and brown Turn them and grill the underside too till dry and brown. If you don’t have an oven, just deep-fry them  Heat the vegetable oil in another pot  Add the pepper and the grilled/deep-fried gizzards Stir very well till the pepper is evenly distributed on the gizzards. The vegetable oil ensures that this happens and gives the grilled gizzards a nice glow Insert toothpicks and serve.

Chicken Nuggets

Chicken thighs, cut into two pieces each

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 to 5 flakes garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Salt, to taste

Coating

1/4 cup maida, seasoned with little salt

Egg, beaten with little water

1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Place chicken pieces in a bowl Marinate with lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper for six to eight hours Beat egg in a bowl Coat each chicken piece well with maida (press well in maida) dip in egg and press in breadcrumbs. (Refrigerate until frying time). Heat oil on medium heat, deep fry on low heat for three to four minutes, two to three at a time, until golden brown and chicken is cooked Drain on absorbent paper.

 

Pawpaw

Juice

Ingredients

Ripe pawpaw

Lemon juice and sugar

Method

Peel the pawpaw Cut and remove the seeds Pulp it and allow it to pass through the sieve Mix the pulp with hot water and lemon juice with sugar to taste Allow to chill before you serve.