SPAGHETTI PUTTANESCA

Serves 4

Ingredients:

30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

45ml (3 tbsp) finely chopped fresh parsley

2.5ml ( tsp) dried oreganum

3 anchovy fillets, cut into strips

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

85ml ( cup) black olives, pitted and halved

1 fresh red chilli, seeded and chopped

60ml ( cup) capers, drained

400g spaghetti

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic until softened. Add the parsley and oreganum and stir until fragrant. Add the anchovies, tomatoes, olives, chilli and capers and simmer until the sauce thickens. Cook the spaghetti until al dente and drain, reserving 2-3 tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta and reserved cooking water to the sauce, mix to coat, heat through and serve.

PERI-PERI CHICKEN

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 large chicken

Marinade:

1 x 400g can coconut milk

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 bay leaf

3-5 dried chillies

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Peri-peri basting:

3 fresh chillies (or to taste), seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

45ml (3 tbsp) butter

60ml ( cup) olive oil or peri-peri oil

Method:

To spatchcock the chicken, place it on a wooden board breast-side down. Using poultry scissors or a sharp knife, cut down one side of the backbone to open out and then cut down the other side of the backbone and remove the bone. Turn the chicken breast-side up and with the palm of your hand press down on the breast to flatten the bird. Cut slits to allow the marinade to penetrate the chicken. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a container large enough to hold the chicken. Add the chicken to the marinade and leave for at least an hour or overnight. Remove the chicken from the marinade and dry with paper towel. Combine the peri-peri basting ingredients in a small pot over low heat. Stir until fragrant and set aside to infuse. Baste the chicken generously and cook breast-side up under a preheated grill or on the braai until done, basting every 10-15 minutes.

OFFAL GOOD

Popularly known as mala-mogodu or simply mogodu, offal is one of the few traditional dishes that has made a successful transition into the urban lifestyle.

I have fond memories of my late aunt sending us to the butcher and emphasising that we must make sure to get ulusu olunesinyaka - tripe with fat (lard). The fat gives the tripe flavour and keeps it moist during cooking. These days some prefer to remove the lard from the tripe, for health reasons. Bleached tripe is a definite no-no; it has lost all the elements that make mogodu taste like mogodu . Adding a spoonful of vinegar to tripe makes it less pungent.

DIKAHARE (DIRETLO)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

500g intestines

500g tripe

500g lungs

2 beef stock cubes dissolved in 1 litre water

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

Method:

Clean offal thoroughly and rinse under cold running water, making sure it is completely free of any grit. Bring stock to the boil and cook offal gently for about 2 hours for mutton and 3 hours for beef offal. Remove meat from pot and cut into strips. Add onions and garlic to sauce, return meat to the pot and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes to make a thickish stew. Serve warm with maqebekwane.

MAQEBEKWANE

Serves 6

Ingredients:

360g (3 cups) cake flour

5ml (1 tsp) salt

30ml (2 tbsp) sugar

10g (1 sachet) instant dry yeast

250ml (1 cup) fermented mealie-meal paste (sibidiso)

1 large egg, beaten

About 500ml (2 cups) lukewarm water

Method:

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Add sugar and yeast. Make a well in the middle and add sibidiso and egg. Mix well, adding enough water to form a soft, pliable dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled in size. Knock down and place in a greased enamel bowl. Allow to rise again until doubled in size. Place the bowl in a saucepan containing enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover pot tightly and steam gently for 1 hour, adding water if necessary.

DORAH'S BUDGET TIPS

Ask your butcher for inexpensive off-cuts, which are perfect for one-pot stews and soups cooked with potatoes, rice or pasta. When cooking cheaper cuts, bring stew to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently.

Slow cooking makes the meat more tender. To stretch a stew, add legumes like lentils or barley to bulk it up. Add fresh vegetables to leftover meat to create a new dish the next day. Beans are high in protein and an excellent substitute for meat.