I’m slowly going through the dishes I had decided to make while on holiday last month and after our visit to the Nepalese restaurant, I have wanted to do this particular dish as it was incredibly tasty and packed with flavour, so I wanted to get it right and also spice it up a bit too, hence the green chili. But if you want quite a mild dish then I would leave out the green chili and pop in 1 tsp of chili powder instead.

I had a bit of a kitchen malfunction yesterday as well, I don’t know what it is but I manage to break tin openers like they were made from tin foil! Seriously, I have had the metal tin openers and then fancy tin openers that lift the lid for you, all of them broken, my latest one came apart in my hand while I was trying to open the can of bamboo shoots which was a real pain, I had to get Martin to break out the man tools and hammer into the tin for me. I’m glad I just wrote this as it’s reminded me I need to get a tin opener when I’m out later.

So I’ve done the Veggie Bistro Haggis, Cherry Pie, the Nepalese Alu Tama, tonight I might go for the Spanish Tapas… we’ll see after I’ve done the food shop.

Extra Spicy Alu Tama

MyInspiration Feel The Difference Range

Serves 2, ready in under 45 minutes

1 cup bamboo shoots (I used a small can of bamboo shoots)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 green chili (hot)

1 tsp red chili flakes

1 heaped teaspoon cumin powder

2 garlic cloves minced

1 inch piece of ginger finely sliced

1/2 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup vegan stock

Method

1. Peel and dice potatoes into large chunks and pop in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes, drain and set aside.

2. In the meantime, heat 2 tbsp water in a deep pan and add the onion, garlic, ginger and green chili and cook for 3 minutes before adding in all the remaining spices, stirring to coat everything.

3. To the onion mix add in the black eyed peas and stir through, then add the potatoes, bamboo shoots and cup of vegan stock and stir everything together, reduce the heat to low and leave to cook for 20 minutes, stirring every now again to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pot.

4. Remove from heat and serve with your accompaniments – I served min with a side of spiced broccoli and red peppers – see recipe below.

Spiced Stir-Fried Broccoli & Red Pepper

1 small head of broccoli

2 red peppers

1 tsp red chili flakes

Pinch of saffron

1/2 tsp cumin powder

Method

1. Separate the broccoli into florets and chop the red peppers into large chunks



2. Heat 1/4 cup of water in a large saute pan before adding the broccoli and peppers, cook for 4 minutes before adding in the chili flakes, saffron and cumin and stir everything to coat with spices.

3. Add a further 1/4 cup of boiling water and cook the vegetables for a further 6 minutes (the broccoli will still have a lovely crunch to it)