Recipes for people on the move from Cintia Stammers.


Ekadasi Pasties.
Rainbow Salad.
Ekadasi Savoury Bread.
Vegetable Pate.
Potatoe Scones.
No Egg Pancakes.
Castagnaccio (Italian chestnut flat bread).
Ekadasi Fairy Cakes.

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EKADASI PASTIES
Makes 4 -6 pasties

Ingredients for the pastry:
250 g (2  cups) buckwheat flour
120 g (1 cup)  potato flour (potato starch)
90 ml (6 Tbsp) sunflower seed oil
½ tsp salt
1 tsb dry thyme or mixed herbs
About 100 ml (½ cup) cold water
A little oil or butter for greasing the baking tin
  
Ingredients for the filling:
200 g (about 3 medium) potatoes
100 g (about 1 medium) carrots
100 g pakchoi or chard or another firm green vegetable

2 Tbsp olive oil
2  tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp dry oregano
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp salt
A little extra oil for brushing

To prepare the pastry:
Mix the two flours in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle, and there place the oil, herbs and salt. Using a fork or finger tips, mix all the ingredients until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
Add the water a little at a time and continue mixing and gathering together with your fingertips, until the pastry is soft and pliable.
If the pastry is still too dry, add a little more cold water.
Roll into a ball, cover and leave it aside while you prepare the filling.

To prepare the filling:
Chop the potatoes, carrots and greens as finely as possible. Mix them in a bowl, adding salt, parsley, oregano, ginger.
Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add the ginger. Let it heat for a minute, and add the oregano and parsley.
Mix in the chopped vegetables and the salt.
Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring once in a while.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a little while.
Heat the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4.
Grease a baking tin with a little oil or butter.

To make the pasties:
Divide the pastry into 4 cm (1 ½ “) balls. Roll them out and in each place 1 Tbsp filling.
Turn them over and pinch the edges with finger tips or a fork.
Place the pasties in the greased tin and bake for 15 minutes.
Brush them with a little oil.

Variations:
1.    Use other root vegetables such as parsnips, celeriac, Jerusalem artichoke or swede.
2.    Add a little chopped paneer cheese (curd) to the filling.

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RAINBOW SALAD
Serves 4

450 g (1 lb) potatoes
2 medium carrots
200 g (2 medium) beetroot
3 sticks of celery
½ tsp salt
½ Tbsp olive oil

250 ml (1 cup) plain yoghurt
½ tsp salt
½ Tbsp olive oil

Wash all the vegetables. Peel the carrots, potatoes and beetroot.
Top and tail the celery and remove the strings.
Cook the beetroot into 1 cm cubes and boil them for 20 minutes.
Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Chop the potatoes into 1.5 cm cubes.
Place them in boiling water with ½ tsp salt.
Boil for 10 minutes or until soft, but check that they don’t overcook.
Drain and drizzle with the olive oil.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Grate the carrots. Chop the celery sticks.
In a mixing bowl, mix the yoghurt, salt and olive oil.
Add all other ingredients and stir.

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EKADASI SAVORY BREAD

250 g (2  cups) buckwheat flour
100 g (¾ cup)  potato flour (potato starch)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp mixed herbs
2 Tbsp grated cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp sunflower seed oil
200 ml cold water

Heat up the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4.
Prepare abread tin or any other deep tin: brush with a little sunflower oil and dust with buckwheat flour.
Sift into a bowl the flours, salt, cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda.
Stir in the herbs and cheese.
Make a well in the middle and add the oil and ¾ of the water.
Mix with finger tips, until you have a firm dough.
Add more water if necessary, buckwheat flour tends to absorb a lot of liquid.
Place the dough in the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Check if it’s ready by inserting a cocktail stick or skewer in the middle.
If it comes out dry, the bread is ready.
When cool, slice it and fill with cheese or peanut butter or vegetable pate.

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VEGETABLE PATE

1 small aubergine
2 tomatoes
2 tsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
10 fresh basil leaves
A pinch of cayenne pepper

Wash and chop the aubergines and tomatoes.
Place them, as well as the oil, salt and pepper, in a metal tray or plate.
Using finger tips, mix it well.
Grill for 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes or so.
Check that the aubergine is soft. If not, grill a little longer, but watch that it doesn’t burn.
Let it cool for a few minutes and blend the mixture, together with the fresh basil leaves, until soft. If necessary, add a little water to help it blend.

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POTATOE SCONES

These cakes may not travel very well, unless you wrap them firmly in foil. Use them as a last resort, when you haven’t had time to prepare anything the day before. Even then, they’ll take about 30 minutes to prepare.

450 g (1 lb) potatoes
1 tsp salt
50g butter
About 100 g (½ cup) buckwheat flour
2 Tbsp sunflower seed oil for greasing

Peel and wash the potatoes and cut them into chunks.
Boil them in water and salt for 15-20 minutes or until soft.
Drain them, add butter and mash very finely.
Add the flour a little at a time, mixing with a fork, to make a stiff dough.
Roll out 5 cm (2”) balls and flatten them to about 1 cm (½”) thick.
Cook on a heated, greased griddle or heavy-based frying pan, 3 or 4 at a time.
Allow about 4-5 minutes and turn over. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Serve it with salad.

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NO EGG PANCAKES

Ingredients for 4-6 pancakes
100 g buckwheat flour
2 Tbsp potato flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp cream of tartar
200 ml water
2 Tbsp sunflower seed oil
1 tsp salt
1 Tsp sunflower seed oil for coat the frying pan

Whisk all the ingredients together. The batter should be fairly runny.
Heat a medium non-stick frying pan over medium heat and coat it with a little oil.
Spoon the batter into the heated pan – about 3 Tbsp will be enough. If possible, use a ladle, as you can pour the batter into one go.  As soon as the batter hits the hot frying pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated.
Cook for about a minute or until fairly dry.
Carefully lift the pancake with a palette knife and flip it over.
The other side will need only half the time to cook.
Slide the pancake out of the frying pan onto a plate.

Quick fillings:
1.    Spread with a little butter and roll it.
2.    Spread it with peanut or any other nut butter and roll it.
3.    Place 1-2 Tbsp cottage cheese in the middle of each pancake and roll it firmly.

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CASTAGNACCIO (Italian chestnut flat bread)

Ingredients:
300 g (2 cups) chestnut flour
250 ml (1 cup) cold water
50 ml (3 Tbsp) olive oil
A few sprigs of rosemary
1 handful pine nuts or chopped almonds
1 handful raisins
1 tsp olive oil for greasing the tin

Heat up the oven to 170°C (Gas Mark 3)
Grease a 25-cm spring-clip tin with olive oil.
Soak the raisins in a little hot water to soften them, while you prepare the castagnaccio.
In a mixing bowl, sift the chestnut flour and salt.
Add the water, a little at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk to avoid lumps.
Turn the mixture into the prepared tin to a height of about 2 cm.
Sprinkle with the pine nuts or almonds, drained raisins and rosemary.
Spoon the olive oil on top.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
The Castagnaccio can be served cold or warm.

N.B. Chestnut flour can be found in some super markets, health food shops or Italian grocers’.
Sometimes you can find Singoda Flour in Indian shops, but it makes a very hard, dry bread.

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EKADASI FAIRY CAKES

Ingredients for 24 small fairy cakes or 10 muffins:
200 g (1½ cups) buckwheat flour
50 g (½ cup) potato flour
50 ml (¼ cup) sunflower seed  oil
150 g (¾ cup) caster sugar
the rind of one medium orange, finely grated
½ tsp sodium bicarbonate
1 tsp cream of tartar
The  juice and rind of one orange
The  juice of 1 lemon
200 ml (¾ cup) milk or apple juice
1 tsp ground ginger

Heat the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4. Prepare 24 fairy cake cases or 10 muffin cases in a tin.
Sift the potato and buckwheat flours, ginger, cream of tartar and bicarbonate.
Mix in the sugar.
In a different bowl, mix together the milk and the lemon juice.
Add the oil, orange rind and juice.
Combine the two mixtures and stir for one minute.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Check if the centre is dry before removing from the oven.
Alternative serving: to make them a bit sweeter and moister, when cool, cut them in half and spread with jam.

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