Spicy Chai Latte

This is sure to put the fire in your belly!
We love to have this and drink in all it's exotic spiciness...very nice and one of my favourite drinks ( besides a good strong coffee...! )


4 tsp loose leaf black (or green) tea
2 C water
thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
6 green cardamom pods
6 black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 star anise
½ C milk
honey or sugar to taste


Place ginger, cardamom pods, peppercorns, cloves and star anise into the mortar and pestle and give them a little crush, just enough to split and crack everything. This will make the flavours infuse better.
Place spices into a little pot with the black tea leaves and the 2 cups of water, bring to the boil on a medium-high heat.
Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until highly aromatic.
Remove from heat.
Now at this stage, I will froth the milk using my coffee machines steam nozzle...but you don't have to froth the milk, still tastes just as good! Add milk to tea infusion.
Strain into two moroccan style tea cups and add sugar or honey to taste.

My finely tuned Vegetarian Samosa recipe

I thought the first recipe I would post is my Vegetarian Samosa recipe...it really has taken me about 2 years to fine tune this recipe - slightly adapting it each time I made it, until now..I think I may have perfected it finally!

My inspiration for this particular samosa, came from one lazy Sunday afternoon of sauntering around the Fremantle Markets in Fremantle, Western Australia http://www.fremantlemarkets.com.au/ (an old haunt of mine, from back in the day when I used to live there)..there is a little takeaway stall there out the back in the fruit market section and they sell similar samosas there. I bought one and I have never tasted such a delicious samosa.

So ever since then, I have been experimenting with spice quantities to create the perfect balance.

The other unique thing about my recipe, is that it has pumpkin in it, as well as the usual potato/pea combination..I have seen a LOT of samosa recipes and I do not recall seeing any with pumpkin in them - but I must say, it works really well with all the spices and flavours.


Samosa Filling:

• 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled


• 2 C pumpkin, peeled and chopped


• 1 C of peas (frozen is fine)


• 2 TB ghee


• 2TB olive oil


• 1 brown onion, finely chopped


• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped


• half tsp ground ginger


• 1 and a half tsp salt


• 1 tsp ground coriander


• 1 tsp turmeric


• 1 tsp garam masala


• 1 tsp ground cumin


• half tsp of dried chilli flakes

1. Place prepared potatoes, pumpkin and peas in a steamer and steam until soft.


2. Divide steamed vegetables, mash half and mix in the reserved half - so you have a mix of mashed vegetables and chunky veg - this is a textural thing.


3. In a frypan, heat ghee and olive oil on medium high heat, add onions and saute for 10 minutes until sticky and golden - stir now and then, making sure they do not stick.


4. Once onions are sticky and golden, add garlic, ginger, salt, coriander, turmeric, masala, cumin and chilli flakes and keep stirring them until they are toasted (they will become very fragrant and aromatic)


5. Add a splash of water to this spice mix to 'loosen' it up a little bit and then mix it into the vegetable filling, thoroughly combining all the ingredients and set aside to cool.

Samosa Pastry:

• 2 C Plain flour


• half tsp of salt


• 4 TB olive oil or ghee


• 12 TB water

1. Rub the oil or ghee into the flour until it resembles a crumbly crumby mix, add half a teaspoon of salt.


2. Add the 12 Tablespoons of water and mix with your hands until it is a a dough (please note that you may need more water or more flour depending on the individual consistency of your dough - so little by little, just add the needed amount to make it workable)


3. Flour a work surface, and knead dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until required.

OK, so now you have everything prepared..now here comes the bit where you assemble them.

1. Cut dough into 4 pieces. With one piece, roll it out until it is about 3-5mm thin.


2. Use a round plate or pot lid as your template (approx. 15cm in diameter) cut dough with sharp knife around template.


3. In the middle of your samosa dough circle, place a couple of Tablespoons of the spicy vegetable filling, wet your finger with some water and run it along the edge of the dough.


4. Fold dough over the filling, forming a crescent, semi-circle shape and use a fork around the outer edge to press it down.


5. Continue this process, until all the dough and filling has been used - however many you make depends on the size of the template you use.


6. I use my deep fryer to cook these..at a temperature of 190c for about 3-4 minutes or until they are crisp and golden brown, remove from oil and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.