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Indian Independence Day cuisine, done with a fair dinkum Aussie twist

ostofus

M• already have : 0 tLr favouri te • • dishes to whip : up fo r friends : and famil)' for Independence Day : But what about dishes for o ur Aussie friends? Here are some recipe ideas to share w ith them to get them into the mood (o r for us if we're feeling a little bit creative).

Although it's hard to pin-point exactly what Australian cuisine is (no -one really seems sure about this one), it's even harder to think about what yo u cou ld combine to make an Aussie-Indian fusion meal. There could be some real disasters waiting to happen - like adding vegemite to hi1ya11i (eww) or tandoori chicken to lamington s : (ok - that's taking it a bit coo far!) .

But the diversity of flavours in Indian cooking mean s that tl1ey can jazz up lots of Aussie favourites. Before you start reading die recipes, go and get some chapatis and spread with butter and Vegemite to get yo u in tl1e mood. Here are fun options:

•

. : Independence Day pie

: This recipe could eas ily be

• swapped witli most curry options.

• Serves 8

• : Pie ftlli11g

: 1 crushed garlic glove

: l 1 curry l eaves

: 1 long, hot, finel y chopped chilli

: (or more if you prefer)

• 6cm of ginger, finel y chooped

1 Lps hot engli sh mustard

1 small onion, finely d1opped

: 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

: 200g goat (or other meat)

Freedom dessert

There are many clifferent options for this one. Bue che ide::i is to take a traditional Indian recipe for something sweet (like barft s11khd1; chheflt1poda, l11dd11, shiro, pakhctla, rosgulla, etc.) and combine with crushed pieces of pavlova (either store bought or home made) or larnington (either store bought or home made), and serve wicli icecream with an Indian and Australian flag scuck in it.

: fenugreek and curr y leaves and cook for a few minutes. Combine witli remaining ingredients

: 1 tsp olive oil

1 00g cauliflowe r, cut inco small : pi eces

• 300g chickpeas

2 tomatoes, finel y diced

Pas!iy

250g chilled butter

1 egg, beaten

500g plai n flour

: Preheat oven to 200 C. In a Er ypan

: add oil, garlic, chilli and ginger and

: fry tm til co loured. Add mustard,

Pastry : sift tlie flour with a pinch of sal t. Rub in butter with fingertips until pastry comes rogether witl1 tl1e water. Dust Aour over a clean work bendi rolling pin and roU clie pastry our to 3 mm in thickness, after dividing into 2 sections. Butter a pie pan and place pastry (wor ked to a round shape) co bottom of pan. Cut off any excess pastry on tl1e edges with a knife

Place filling into pie pan. Place section piece of pastry over the top and brush the top of the pastry w itl1 a little beaten egg. Press the edges d o,vn w itb your fingertips o r a fork.

Bake for around 30-35 minutes until golden.

Senre with a mint and 1oghurt side.

: Nutella naans

: Serves 8

: This is a 5j1nple o ne, bu t a good

•

• one.

: 8 naans (ei ther store bought or

: made at home)

: 1 jar of Nutella (or si.111.ilar)

: 200g icing sugar

I punnet of strawberries/ or 2 bananas

Sim pl)' thickly spread nutella onto 11aa11 bread. Slice strawberries/ bananas o n top and dust with icing sugar.