Recipes

Spiced lentil soup

Ingredients
oil
a small piece ginger peeled and grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch chilli flakes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots , peeled and grated
150g dhal
1l vegetable stock
1lime, juiced to taste
a small bunch coriander leaves

Method

Heat one tbsp oil in a large pan and fry the ginger and spices for a couple of minutes. Add the vegetables and cook for five minutes more then add the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the lentils are tender. Blend until smooth or leave chunky. Stir through a squeeze of lime juice and serve sprinkled with coriander.

Chocolate brownie cake

Ingredients
175g butter , plus extra for greasing
225g dark chocolate ,
broken into pieces
200g sugar
3 medium eggs separated
65g plain flour
50g chopped cashew nuts

Method

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter a 20-25cm cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Place 175g of the chocolate, plus the butter and sugar in a heavy-based pan and heat gently until melted, stirring occasionally.

Leave to cool. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture, then add the flour, nuts and the remaining chocolate. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then gently, but thoroughly, fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for about 35-40 minutes until crusty on top. Leave to cool, then run a knife around the sides and remove from the tin. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with custard or ice cream or cold with cream.