Last week I took some time off and went up to Natal to visit my mum.  The day I arrived I had the good fortune of being invited to a traditional Hindu wedding with over 800 guests!  I was really excited about the food.  You may or may not know that the largest Indian community outside of India reside in South Africa and a large percentage of South African Indians live in Natal.  As a vegetarian I was really excited about the food.  Hindu weddings are usually vegetarian and the food is often cooked over an open flame which really adds to the flavour.  After the ceremony which was filled with so much inspiring wisdom we were served Vegetable Biryani – a simple and humble dish which when cooked right is full of yummy flavour.  Portia has served an excellent Vegetable Biryani in the restaurant in past years.  Try out this recipe for yourselves:

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice

1 cup Mixed Vegetables (cauliflower, potato, carrot, french beans)

150 gms Green Peas

3 Finely Sliced Onions

2 Finely Sliced Green Chillies

Salt to taste

1 tsp Red Chilli Powder

2 tsp Cinnamon(dalchini) and Caraway Seeds(zeera)

4 Cloves (laung)

1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder

4 Tomatoes

1/2 cup Yogurt (curd)

4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

3 tbsp Dry Fruits (cashew nuts, raisin)

Method :

Wash the basmati rice well before cooking.  Take rice with 3-3/4 cup water and a little salt added to it and 2 tbsp of dry fruits.  Cook it in a pot on the stove.

Cut all the vegetables into small thin pieces and fry in oil. Fry the green peas also.

Take 1 tblsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, green chilli, cinnamon and caraway seeds powder, cloves, black pepper powder and stir for about half minute. Then add onions and saute them for a minute ot till they get pink in color.

Add salt and red chilli powder and stir.

Add fine chopped tomatoes and fry till they are properly cooked.

Take the yogurt and make it fine by putting in a blender for just 2 rotations. Add this fine yogurt and stir well.Heat it for about 10 seconds.

Add all the fried vegetables.

Add the cooked rice and mix well with very light hands so that the rice grain doesn’t break. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Take this vegetable biryani out in a rice serving dish.

Garnish with dry fruits and green coriander leaves.

Serve the vegetable (veg ) biryani hot with raita and pickle.

Recently I spoke a little about our dynamic night manager Luthando.  Here is a picture of him:

Luthando Matsolo

Recently we realised that Thenji needed some assistance at the front desk – and some much needed time off! – and so you may now find Cynthia with a warm greeting when you arrive:

Cynthia

Richard Mkandawire who hails from Malawi has been with The Africa Cafe for many years and knows all of the systems inside and out.  He, together with Nandipha, who has been introduced before, is assisting Luthando as a supervisor so look out for his gentle face when next you have a question or request in the restaurant.

Richard

At Africa Cafe we always strive to make our home feel like your home and our staff like your family.

Happy New Year.  Yes it is late I know.  I tend to fall into a festive season slump.  That is probably closest to the truth.  However were I to offer justifications or excuses for the absence of any posts recently it would go something like this:

Luthando who manages the restaurant most nights took 3 weeks leave.  Those of you who have dined with us over the past 8 years may have met him and will remember him for his sweet smile and easy going attitude.  Easy going he may be but slow he is definitely not!  We are always trying to get him so slow down as he rushes up and down the stairs trying to make sure over a hundred people are getting what they want when they want it.  So without Luthando around Jason and I were sharing the nights and the late locking up.  And that’s my excuse – too many late nights left my brain feeling tired and mushy .

Here we are then in 2010 with a wonderful buzz in the restaurant as we are almost full still every night with lots of couples and families from all over the globe, many of whom are trying to escape the snow in Europe.  It definitely feels like a year of celebration.  The credit crunch will hopefully come to and end and the start of a new decade is always something worth getting a little tipsy over.  Of course everyone in South Africa is feeling excited about the World Cup Soccer later in the year.  I try to remember to celebrate something each and every day because we truly do have so much to be grateful for.  Mostly I am grateful to our beautiful planet for sustaining our existence and I hope that as we enter a new decade, we as a species learn to respect not only one another, but all life and remember to live each and every day for the highest good of all, remembering our oneness.

As we enter this new decade, may your hearts be filled with joy, love and laughter!