Month: Jul 2026

Lamb dhansak

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A labour of love, and such a lovely delicious, nourishing, well-spiced and comforting curry. Feeds 4.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 cm piece ginger, minced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 8 curry leaves
  • 2 dried chillis
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 30 g tamarind paste
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 30 g fresh coriander, chopped
  • 20 g fresh mint, chopped
  • 3 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 big green chillis, chopped
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds / ½ tsp ground fenugreek
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • Grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • 400 g lamb neck fillet, trimmed and cut into pieces
  • 200 g butternut squash, diced into 1 cm pieces
  • 100 g mixed lentils
  1. Wash the lentils well, then leave in fresh water to soak while you prep and cook
  2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep pan over medium heat
  3. Fry the mustard seeds and curry leaves until they crackle
  4. Add the star anise, cinnamon, dried chillis, garlic and ginger and cook briefly until the garlic is softened
  5. Tip in the onion and saute, stirring frequently, until soft
  6. Add the tamarind, turmeric, fresh coriander, mint, tomatoes, green chillis, sugar and lime
  7. Stir well and cook until the tomatoes have started to break down
  8. Add salt, fenugreek, ground coriander, cumin, black pepper, nutmeg and chilli powder, stir together
  9. Add the lamb and butternut squash, mix to coat with the spiced tomato paste
  10. Pour over 450 ml boiling water, add the wet lentils and stir together
  11. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally (and adding more boiling water if needed) for 30 mins 
  12. The lentils should be fully cooked, the lamb tender and the squash squishy

Serve on spinach rice with aubergine pickle and a blob of thick yoghurt. In a bowl, on the sofa, feeling quietly grateful that the house is momentarily peaceful

Spinach pilau

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Delicately green and fragrant. Just 1 step fancier than normal rice – like when you invite a friend over for dinner during the week and you want to show off a bit but not go overboard. Feeds 4

  • 250 g basmati rice
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • ½ tsp salt
    • 1 green chilli, sliced
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
    • 100 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed in a sieve over the sink
    • Juice of ½ lemon
  1. Wash rice well
  2. Heat veg oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the mustard seeds, cumin, fenugreek and bay leaf
  3. Cook until they crackle, then add onion, chilli and salt
  4. Saute for 5 mins until softened, then add garlic and ginger
  5. Cook for 2 mins more then add the wet rice, stir together
  6. Add 450 ml boiling water and thawed spinach
  7. Stir once and turn the heat up to bring to the boil. Stick a lid on and turn down to the lowest simmer
  8. Cook for 10 mins then turn the heat off and leave without touching for a further 5 mins
  9. Add the lemon juice and fluff the rice up before serving

Schnitzel

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A long-standing family birthday tradition, this is a labour of love, especially made for large numbers. Known as snitchel by the children, and řízky by my dad. Always made of pork in my family and always cooked in massive excess so there are leftovers for sandwiches and snacking. No amount sorry, this is strictly a case of ‘measure with your heart’.

  • As much pork fillet as you think you can eat – probably a touch more
  • Dried breadcrumbs (or matzo meal)
  • Egg
  • Flour mixed with a bit of garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper
  • Butter
  • Veg oil
  1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and, if you’ve got a lot of pork, cut a few additional pieces so you can layer them up
  2. Cut the pork fillet into 3 cm rounds, then butterfly each one (cut it almost completely in half lengthways and open it out like a book), and bash it out with a big wooden hammer until it’s about ½ to 1 cm thick
  3. Set up your seasoned flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in separate wide bowls or lipped plates
  4. Dip each schnitzel into flour on both sides, shake it off, then dip into egg on both sides. Gently lift it out, let it drip for a moment, then lay it in the breadcrumbs. Flip it so both sides are covered and then put to one side on the lined tray. Once the tray is covered with a single layer of pork (with minimal overlapping), put a piece of baking paper on top and keep going with single layers of pork and paper until you’ve done it all
  5. Turn the oven on to 75C and get out a wire rack or two
  6. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high and add ~1 tbsp butter and roughly the same amount of oil. Swirl around to mix and coat the pan
  7. Once it’s sizzling, add a couple of pieces of the breadcrumbed pork (don’t crowd the pan). Cook on one side until golden brown, then flip and cook the other side. It’s quick because the pork is so thin, so don’t leave it alone – this is a job which requires your attention. As you go, put the cooked schnitzel onto a wire rack in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. Add more butter and oil as you go along, and periodically wipe the pan out so you avoid burnt crumbs.

Serve with boiled, buttery new potatoes, a wedge of lemon (and anchovy fillets if you’re my mum – ew) and plenty of cucumber salad aka okurkový salát

Sunday morning pancacakes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Our Sunday morning tradition, called pancacakes for at least 9 years due to a pre-school spelling mistake. Medium-healthy, high in protein, so simple there’s no measuring except a spoon. And therefore less washing up. It’s the ideal Sunday morning blurry start while you stand over a pan feeling like you’re doing decent parenting, drinking tea and trying to remember what on earth you’ve committed yourself to today. Makes 5-6 pancakes, enough for 1 hungry teenager or 2 as part of a bigger breakfast.

  • 2 big heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 1 big heaped tbsp ground almonds
  • Pinch of salt
  • ~1 tsp baking powder (the tip of the big spoon)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 heaped tbsp greek yoghurt
  • A smidge of vanilla extract
  • A splosh of milk
  1. Mix the flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder in one small-ish bowl
  2. Mix the egg, yoghurt, vanilla and milk in another small bowl. No whisk, just spoon
  3. Scrape the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir together – again, just the spoon
  4. The consistency should be thick and spoonable. Adjust if you’re bothered with a bit more flour or a bit more milk, but it’s very forgiving if you have Sunday morning fuzz and you can’t be bothered
  5. Heat a frying pan with a little oil over a high heat (use a wad of 2 kitchen towels to spread it and then keep it to re-oil the pan in between rounds)
  6. Turn the heat down to medium-low and dollop 1 heaped spoonful of mixture per pancake into the pan. My pan fits 3 pancakes at a time
  7. Cook until brown underneath (you can tell from the edges) and then flip and repeat on the other side. If they’re still oozy inside, turn the heat down. If it’s taking forever, turn it up a bit.

Serve them as you make them. Apparently no fruit allowed, only syrup. But you can do what you like. I like a diagonal slice of banana in the pan with mixture added over the top so it becomes embedded in the surface of the pancake. You can also do this with thinly sliced streaky bacon. 5 stars, highly recommend.

Any leftovers (or intentional leftovers if you double the recipe) can go in a tupperware in the fridge and they re-heat excellently in the toaster for weekday morning breakfast when you just can’t face cereal again.