I've not posted anything for a really long time, been busy working on various projects. I'm very happy that the first Alhama Kitchen: bread, cakes and biscuits cookbook is available as both a PDF download and from Amazon Kindle books. The book is priced at 2,99 euros (other currencies vary) and a guaranteed 1€ per copy sold will be donated to the wonderful Build Your Future Today Centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Once I've paid all taxes, fees and bank charges I hope to be able to give a larger donation. You can read about their wonderful work at: www.center-bft.org.

These almond and cranberry biscuits are delicious and you can find the recipe in Alhama Kitchen. If you'd like to purchase a copy as a PDF file please go to http://www.asurayoga.com/pdfdownloads.html and follow the instructions.

Workaway

I'd like to say a big thank you to Herdis and Kristjan who came to Cortijo de la Vina for several days as Workaway volunteers. 

They helped a great deal on our start to get the cortijo ready for the September retreat and it was a pleasure to meet them. 

Unfortunately myself and Nick were unable to be at the cortijo full time with them which meant that they had to deal with Ed at his most stressed; something which is not easy. I hope they haven't been put off volunteer work!

I wish both of them much success in their future studies and would be very happy to welcome them to a yoga retreat at La Vina in the future.

Sami

Yoga Retreat Schedule 2012

Our retreat schedule for 2012 is now in place and we'll be running the following yoga breaks:

15th - 21st April
13th - 19th May
10th - 16th June
9th - 15th September
7th - 13th October

The retreats include two yoga classes per full day, all food, herbal tea and spring water and access to all the retreat facilities. We have on-site massage, meditation circle, outdoor games pitch with badminton/volleyball, a petanque area, 2 swimming pools, internet access, TV lounge, library and lots of terraces and patios to sit, read and soak up the sun. Prices start at 499€ see www.asurayoga.com for full details. We can offer extra nights either end of the holiday for 60€ per night.

Cortijo de la Vina

We're really pleased to announce that from spring 2012 we'll be using the wonderful Cortijo de la Vina as our retreat centre.
This venue is a renovated 250yr old farmhouse set in the natural park of Sierra Alhama, Tejeda and Almijara. There are 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, 2 swimming pools, a large lounge, massage room, library, solarium, meditation area and amazing Moorish style inner courtyard. 
Very soon we'll have more photos of the venue but to see the current retreat schedule and training course list visit: www.asurayoga.com

Cortijo de la Vina is located off an unpaved track and only 9km from the historic town of Alhama de Granada. We're about 1 hour 15 minutes from Malaga airport and can arrange airport pick-ups for our guests. If you'd like to make your own way to the cortijo we'll send driving directions with your information pack. Please note: the track to the cortijo is drive-able without needing a 4x4 but it isn't suitable for a vehicle with a low ride height.

We offer fully catered breaks. All meals are based on a healthy, tasty vegetarian diet and we try to source our ingredients locally. We can cater for people with lactose or wheat intolerance but as the cortijo is sometimes used by other groups we cannot guarantee a peanut free environment.

Rani's Potato Dosai, Split Pigeon Pea Dal & Coconut Chutney

This version of a well known Indian dish is thanks to my good friends Rani and Steve. Rani shared her wonderful recipe with me, and Steve took the fabulous photos. Don't be put off by the list of ingredients, this is a deceptively easy to make meal guaranteed to be a hit with everyone who tastes it. The recipe is enough for 8-10 people.

 

Ingredients - Split Pigeon Pea Dal - make this the day before

300-350g oily split pigeon peas (toordal)

25g fresh peeled ginger

2 whole fresh green chillies

4 medium to large cloves garlic

3 tbsp pasata

1 medium onion - finely chopped

1tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

juice of one lime

8-15 curry leaves (to taste)

3 tsp mustard seeds

4 dried birds eye chillies

1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)

2 tsp garam masala

150ml sunflower oil

2-3 litres hot water

There is no need to soak this type of dal. Rinse the uncooked toordal 4 times in lukewarm water then put the dal in a large saucepan with 2 litres of water. Bring this to the boil and let it boil for 2-3 minutes before turning the heat down to a medium heat.

Finely chop the ginger, chillies, garlic and onions, add to the dal along with the pasata. Part cover the saucepan and let everything cook for 1 hour.

While the dal is cooking, gather together your other spices. Heat the sunflower oil to a medium heat and add the red birds eye chillies. Once they sizzle in the oil, add the curry leaves then the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to 'pop' add the asafoetida, gently shake the pan. 

WITH CAUTION: add the oil/spice mix to the saucepan of dal. As you are adding hot oil to hot water stand back a little as you add it, the mix will be quite lively! Stir well then add the lime juice and salt. Continue cooking for between 30 minutes and 1 hour until the dal is translucent but not breaking apart. The cooking time cannot be given accurately as much depends on the pan you use, the heat, the brand of dal etc... but it usually takes 2 hours to cook.

Leave the mix in the pan to cool and set aside overnight. The next day you need to taste the dal and possibly add more lime and salt. It may also need a little more water, usually around 250ml.

Ingredients - Masala Potatoes

1 1/2 kg (peeled weight) floury potatoes

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

150 ml sunflower oil

1 tbsp coriander seeds

2 small finely chopped onions

1 large pinch turmeric

Cut the potatoes into large chunks and cook in boiling salted water until they are nearly cooked. Test them with a sharp knife, you don't want the knife to go through too easily. The outside of the potatoes should be fluffy but inside still firm and not watery or over-cooked.

Heat the sunflower oil and lightly fry the cumin seeds, make sure you don't burn them.

In a dry pan, roast the coriander seeds until they are just golden in colour, grind the coriander to a medium coarse powder.

Crush the cooked potatoes (you don't want a fine mash) then mix in the oil/cumin seed mix, coriander, turmeric and raw onions. Set aside until you've cooked your dosai 'pancakes'. This lovely potato mix is the filling for the dosai. If the potatoes have cooled too much by the time you cook your dosai just reheat them.

Coconut Chutney: Ingredients 

65g fresh, medium fine grated coconut

2 x 125g natural yoghurt (Rani prefers one pot natural yoghurt to one pot Greek yoghurt)

1 heaped tsp fresh mint

This chutney can be made the day before but usually would be made on the day you eat it. Mix all the ingredients together and put in a bowl then keep it refrigerated until you want to use it.

Rani tells me this brand of dosai mix is the best one, but of course you can use whichever mix is available to you. Also, for best results she has found that adding more water and leaving to stand for longer than it says on the pack gives better results. For this recipe she used one whole pack of mix to 1 litre of cold water and left the batter for 30 minutes before using it.

To cook: use a lightly oiled pan and to the cold pan add half a ladle full of batter to the centre of the pan and with the back of a spoon spread the batter into a large circle. Put the pan on the heat and cook until the batter stops steaming and cracks a little, don't overcook or they'll be difficult to fill.

Between dosai cool the pan with a wet cloth or use 2 pans and alternate them allowing one pan to cool while you use the other.

Fill each dosai as soon as it's cooked. Either fill and fold in half or do as Rani does and roll the dosai around the filling (as photo).

Serve with hot dal and a coconut chutney.

One or two filled dosai is usually enough for a portion per person with the dal and chutney.

If you have any fresh coriander you can add some chopped to the hot dal before serving. If there is any dal left-over it is delicious served with rice. The dal also freezes well.

Personally I wouldn't freeze the potato mix as I find potatoes in general do not freeze well.

Chocolate and Amaretto Fruit Cake

This is an easy to make, moist chocolate cake. As usual I've reduced the amount of sugar added which I believe doesn't impact on the flavour of the cake as most cakes are far too sweet. However, if you prefer a sweeter cake add an additional 20g of caster sugar.
Marinade the dried fruit in Amaretto for 24hrs before making the cake. You can use any combination of unsweetened dried fruit and if you want more 'bite' to the cake add 50g chopped walnuts when you add the fruit to the cake mix.
Put the mix into a lined, round 16cm springform cake tin and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-45mins at 180C.

Ingredients
95g unsweetened dates
55g unsweetened dried cranberries
2 tblsp Amaretto 
170g unsalted butter (room temperature)
50g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
140g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
60g best quality unsweetened cocoa powder
3 medium eggs (beaten)


Method
Marinate the dried fruit in Amaretto for 24hrs.

Put the butter and both types of sugar in a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Little by little add the beaten eggs, make sure you incorporate all the egg into the butter/sugar mix before adding more. Make sure every bit of egg is well mixed in, don't leave any visible egg in the mix. Using a metal spoon, sift and fold in the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, cocoa powder.

Add the dried fruits and fold in. Put the mix into your pre-prepared cake tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 35-45 minutes. After 35 minutes test the cake with a skewer, if the cake is cooked the skewer can be inserted into the cake and then will come out clean. If there's cake mix on it you need to continue baking for up to 10 minutes more. The final time depends on your oven. 

Cool on a wire rack and when cold store in an airtight cake-tin. If you can resist it, the cake will stay fresh for up to 5 days. It's delicious if served with natural, Greek style yoghurt. This cuts through the sweetness of the Amaretto and compliments the flavours very well. It would also be good with vanilla or chocolate ice cream.

Parmesan Biscuits

These delicious snacks won't last long and you'll find yourself making them time and again. They make a great gift and are good any time of day. I particularly like them with cranberry sauce. That mix of sweet and savoury is yummy.
They are easy to make but the temperature of your kitchen will make a difference to how easy it is to work the dough. In a very warm kitchen the dough can be pretty sticky, try not to add too much flour when you're rolling the mix. Use all your ingredients at room temperature. Makes around 30 biscuits.
Pre-heat the oven to 170C, bake for 10 minutes.


Ingredients
2oz/60g plain flour
2oz/60g butter
2oz/60g strong cheddar, grated
2oz/60g parmesan, grated
1/2 - 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

 Method
Rub the butter into the flour until you get a breadcrumb consistency. Add the grated cheeses and ground pepper, stir then bring together into a dough.
I like to roll out half the mix at a time, it makes it easier to work and to use a 4cm pastry cutter. With this recipe you can re-use and roll every last bit of dough. Roll the dough as thinly as you can.
Use parchment paper on a baking tray to ensure the biscuits don't stick. Bake for 10 minutes at just above the middle of the oven and the biscuits should be golden brown. If you are using a fan assist oven you can do the whole batch in one go but you may need to reduce the cooking time by a minute or two so keep an eye on them. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight tin.

You can use other cheeses than parmesan and cheddar but those two work best. Also, because the fat content of cheese varies you may need to experiment with the cooking time and quantities if you use different cheese.

These are not a low cholesterol or low calorie snack but they are worth every mouthful if you want something different for a savoury treat.

Easy Vegetarian Samosas

Homemade samosas are much tastier than the shop bought variety and are more versatile as you can change the spice mix and/or filling to suit your tastes. 

Instead of folding the pastry into a traditional triangle I use a pastry cutter and make 'pasty' shaped samosas. This recipe makes 22 samosas with a little filling left over to turn into a lovely curry! You'll also need a little sunflower oil for shallow frying.

Filling Ingredients
1 carrot finely diced
1 medium sized potato peeled and diced
2 tblsp frozen peas

1 small onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tsp aromatic salt (*sea salt, allspice, cinnamon)

1 tblsp sunflower oil
1tsp each cumin seed, coriander seed, garam masala
1 red chilli (de-seed if you don't want them as spicy)
Method
Put the oil in a heavy based frying pan and heat to a medium heat. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds, add the aromatic salt and garam masala, add to the oil and cook for a minute, add all the other ingredients and stir well, turn the heat down and leave everything to sautee until cooked through, turn off the heat, add the peas, stir and leave everything to go cold.

Pastry Ingredients225g plain flour
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tblsp sesame oil (if you don't have this use sunflower oil)
cold water to mix to a soft but not wet doughMethodput the flour and salt into a bowl, add the oil and mix with a knife, add the water and bring the mix together into a soft dough, cover with clingfilm and set aside for 1 hour.

On a lightly floured board roll out the pastry to 2 or 3mm, use a 10cm metal chef ring or pastry cutter to cut your samosas. Use a flour and water mix as 'glue' to seal the samosa. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the 'glue' mix all around the edge of the pastry circle. Add a teaspoonful of cold filling to one side of the circle then fold the pastry over and press the edges down. If your kitchen is very warm only make 4 samosas before cooking them as the pastry can become slightly sticky and more difficult to work.



Shallow fry in vegetable oil, for 2 - 3 minutes per side until golden brown, cook a few at a time.

Delicious eaten hot or cold. These samosas freeze really well too and can be re-heated from frozen in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes. Two per person make a great starter with a little salad and mango chutney or lime pickle or a yoghurt dip.

* aromatic salt: 500g coarse sea salt, 1 heaped teaspoon allspice, 1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon powder. Mix everything together and store in an airtight jar and use as stated in the recipe.



Perfect Fruit Cake

It's easy to make a perfect, moist fruit cake. This cake can be made with or without alcohol and you can choose the types of dried fruit you prefer. I like to use a semi dried fruit rather than something that has been too dessicated. It makes for a much tastier, moist cake. Also, I always use butter not artificial spreads and use less flour and sugar than most recipies would tell you to use.
For this cake (pictured) I marinated the dried fruit in whisky for 2 weeks before using.

Ingredients
170g butter
140g brown sugar
75g chopped walnuts
440g mixed dried cherries and dates
50g sultanas
1tsp baking powder
200-225g plain flour
3 large eggs - beaten
whisky to personal taste

Method

Preheat your oven to 170C, do not use fan assist for cake baking. Line a 16cm springform cake tin and set aside.

If you have one, use an electric whisk to cream your butter and sugar together, if not put effort into creaming them together as the more you beat them the lighter your finished cake. Slowly add the beaten eggs to the butter/sugar mix and incorporate well. Don't worry too much if the mix seems to curdle, you can add a spoonful of flour and mix that in. 

Now add the walnuts and all the dried fruits and mix them well into the butter, sugar, egg mix.

Add the tsp of baking powder and using a metal spoon, fold in the plain flour. Keep folding until all the flour is fully mixed into the wet mix.

Put the mix into your cake tin and bake for one hour without opening the oven. Check the cake with a metal skewer, if the skewer comes out clean the cake is done (depending on your oven, it may be cooked or may need between 5 and 20 minutes more).  After the first hour keep checking the cake every 5 minutes if it seems nearly cooked or after 15 minutes if the skewer is still quite covered in mix. Many recipies give a cook time of 2 hours or more, this is usually far too long and creates a dry cake.

Once the cake is cooked, leave it for a few minutes in the tin then turn out onto a cooling rack and if you are using alcohol, pour 2 tblsp of whisky over your cake while it is hot. Once it's completely cold wrap it in foil and set aside (if you can bear to not eat it!) for 2 or more weeks.

Enjoy

Focaccia

This is my simple, pretty much foolproof recipe for a perfect focaccia. It's a very easy to create different flavours of focaccia so you can easily use more garlic, or no garlic, sun-dried tomatoes or thyme instead of rosemary.. the choices are endless. You can use wholemeal flour instead of plain white but the texture will be different.
For this recipe I've used the garlic, rosemary and rock salt purely as toppings and not included them in the dough. If you want, increase the amount of garlic and rosemary, chop them finely and add to the dry ingredients before adding your water to make the dough.

Recipe
225g plain white flour (no need to use strong white flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 sachet dried yeast
150ml warm water
1 tbsp good olive oil
Topping
5 or 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
several sprigs of rosemary
large grain sea salt
good extra virgin olive oil

Method
Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl then add the tablespoon of olive oil, add the water and bring together into a rough dough. If you want to add garlic, rosemary and black olives to the dough do that before you add the water, then mix together. Make sure any additions are well chopped and not in too large pieces.

Once you have brought the ingredients together your dough should look something like this.
Using only a small amount of flour on a board or work surface knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it looks smooth and shiny.

Put the kneaded dough into a clean and lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a hot damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. The time you need to rise the dough will depend on the temperature of the place you leave the dough. It will double in size and look slightly spongy when it's ready for a second light knead.

Once the dough has gone through the first rise, take it out of the bowl and on a lightly floured surface knead for a minute or two only. Roll out the dough to roughly 1cm thick. I like to bake my breads on an oven tray covered in parchment (baking) paper. That way I find you don't need to oil anything and the bread never sticks.
Traditionally focaccia is tear drop shaped but that's just a matter of aesthetics. Whatever shape yours ends up won't affect the taste!

I like to make my indentations (use knuckles) on the dough now, it's traditional to do it after the second rise and before you add any toppings. Cover the dough with lightly oiled clingfilm and allow it to rise a second time. At this stage I slice my garlic and wash the rosemary and pre-heat the oven to 200C, 400F or gas mark 6. By the time the oven is heated the bread will be ready for topping.

In the indentations (make them now if you didn't do them before) place the garlic slices, the sprigs of rosemary and a good sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil.
Bake in a heated oven for 25-28 minutes until golden brown. The bread is done when if you tap the underneath and it sounds hollow.
Put the bread on a cooling rack, pour some more olive oil over it and sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt over the focaccia.

Focaccia is best eaten straight away and is yummy with all kinds of dishes.

You can replace the garlic and rosemary with an equal amount of sun-dried tomatoes and thyme.