ltimmis80

I'm in the UK. I'm sure I could probably get it in the city or online but I live in a small town so it's not readily available here. I will try online or give millet flour a go.

I've just tried to make injera for the first time. It was a disaster. I can't source teff so tried a generic flour/cornflour mix as advised online but it didn't work. Anyone got any ideas of a teff alternative that is also gluten free?

I'm currently reading The flavour thesaurus by Niki Segnit. It's a great resource for finding inspiration and discovering new flavour combinations. Host Note: eGullet Society friendly link to the book

I threw this together yesterday for lunch and surprised myself at how nice it was, so I thought I would share: 1 onion (finely chopped) 1 tbsp of olive oil 75g lardons 75g seedless baby peppers 100g sugar drop tomatoes 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper 1 heaped teaspoon of dried basil Handful of fresh basil leaves (leave until close to the end of cooking) 400g chopped tomatoes 1 large clove of garlic I just threw it all together into the slow cooker added about 200ml of water and left it for about 2 hours. About 10 minutes before I served it up, I poured the contents of the slow cooker into the food processer and gave it a quick wizz. I didn't puree it completely as I still wanted chunky bits in the soup. I poured in back in the slow cooker, stirred in some fresh basil leaves left it for another 10 mins of so and then served it up with some nice bread. Easy peasy but delicious! x

I have been playing with cardamom. So far I have tried it with chocolate and with coffee. Both were amazing. What can I try with it next....

Thanks for the replies. I will let you know how I get on. Will probably start off with a simple paneer and then work my way up

Before I begin can I just say, I love cheese. I have yet to find a type of cheese I do not like. Therefore, I thought I would try to make my own. I am not against the idea of using rennet per se but I would like to try without it. I have read that you can use citric acid to curdle the milk but wouldn't this give the cheese a citrusy flavour? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Laura T x

The other night I decided, on a whim, to make some chocolate mousse. I had never tried to make chocolate mousse before but I was feeling adventurous so I picked up the whisk and got busy. Whilst I was melting the chocolate in the pan, I suddenly remembered reading, a while back, that cardamom and chocolate are in fact unlikely bed fellows. Well it just so happens that I was stood right next to my spice rack, so it would have been rude not to. I crushed up a couple of pods with the pestle and mortar, threw them in with mix and heated it up. I poured the mixture into little bowls, popped them in the fridge and eagerly awaiting the results. Unfortunately, the actual mousse sides of things was a bit of a disaster (I blame the quantity of cream). I left the bowls in the fridge for well over an hour and there was no sign of the little devils setting. Eventually I gave up, cut my loses and decided to just eat the gloopy slop anyway. What's the worse that could happen?! Well, ladies and gentlemen, what did happen was a taste revolution. Although the consistency was more like soup than mousse the taste was amazing! I think now I shall never eat chocolate without cardamom again. Please, please try it if you haven't already. You will not regret the experience. Enjoy Laura x x x

Thanks for this thread, it has been fascinating to see your pictures of the local food. I don't know anything about Kuwaiti food in particular but as a lover of most Indian/Middle Eastern food I bet you I would like it. Please keep posting. What is the most interesting or unexpected food you have come across? Laura x