Author: Chef M

This is a dish my mother used to make, and I pass it on here without any modifications. It is a traditional dish and was prepared especially during fasting. It can be consumed as one complete meal either in the morning or evening. During fasting the dish must not contain fresh vegetables. It should have only roots and tubers.

This vibrant pink topping makes your burger look irresistible. Pickled onions add a sassy sweet-and-sour finish that’s a perfect counterpoint for savory and spicy burgers. Omit the syrup or sugar if you are on a sugar-free diet, but that wee bit of sweetening makes the pickle extra delicious.

This is the perfect weekend breakfast, especially during the summer months when ripe berries are plentiful. I like to use strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, but you can top your omelette with any fruit that you like. In Poland, fruit omelettes are also sometimes served as dessert, as well as breakfast. Although omelettes may not seem very Polish, they were introduced by King John III Sobieski and his French-born Queen, who was said to have adored light omelettes. She became known as Maria Kazimiera, or ‘Marysien´ka’.

I’ve just served this to my two girls. My eldest is a bit of a foodie and she gave me the highest compliment I could wish for: “It’s better than M&S.” Result.

It takes just six ingredients to pull together this complete vegetarian meal featuring all of the food groups. (If you have reflux, you may need to leave out the garlic-infused oil.) You can use any type of low-FODMAP pasta you like with pesto, but spaghetti or tagliatelle are the traditional choices. If you have a low tolerance for fat, this may not be the best choice for you because the quantity of oil may trigger your symptoms.

For a “green” smoothie, this fruit and kale breakfast drink has a brilliant blue color from the blueberries, and added flavor from strawberries and raspberries. The dates add a touch of sweetness and blend right in.

Vetkoek, pronounced ‘fet cook’, is an Afrikaans word, meaning ‘fat cake’. I once knew a guy called Andre, a South African taxidermist, who lived in a tiny caravan. He made me four things: a badger tooth necklace, boiled rabbit, coffee so strong you could chew it… and vetkoek. The vetkoek were excellent.

‘Eat it once, love it for ever’: that would be dhokla’s slogan of choice. You might not expect to find an object of desire tucked away in a fluffy steamed chickpea bread, but what started out as a humble Gujarati snack is now one of India’s national treasures (and 1 billion Indians voting with their stomachs can’t be wrong). It’s not difficult to make this snack, but it involves steaming, which I will guide you through. The other special ingredient you’ll need is Eno fruit salt. It is completely safe to eat and available from the pharmacy aisle of supermarkets…