This is a village-style dish from Sri Lanka’s southern coast and one of the oldest cooking techniques on the island. It’s concentrated, dry and intensely flavoured, closer to a braise than a soup. The tamarind adds a sour brightness that cuts through the dark spice. The curry leaves add a very distinctive flavour but if […]

The key thing that makes this special is the cashew layer, even though it’s still good without, but then it’s just a chia pudding. This batch of cashew cream yields 2 cups — freeze some and decadently enjoy the rest. If the season’s too early for fresh mango, use frozen or sub for any seasonal […]

French toast has always been a standalone favourite, but then add some quality bacon, a bit of fresh fruit and you’ve suddenly got an excellent brunch worthy of any day of the week. Ask your butcher for quality, double-thick-cut bacon. As a final touch, if you can serve with kefir, crème fraîche or mascarpone you […]

Who doesn’t love a tea cake? On a recent trip to England visiting my family, we were reminded that tea and cake should be part of your recommended daily happiness allowance, particularly when served with clotted cream (which you never even see in Australia). This is my mum’s super-simple but oh-so-very-pleasing tea cake.

The original inspiration for this recipe came from one of Ottolenghi’s books. I’ve played with lots of different spicing but the basic principle of a potato marinade with a dusted polenta crust works so well. If you make the effort to create your own chilli sauce, you will be rewarded.

Satisfying, fresh and a little different with both the okra and raw noodles, this is pretty simple to pull together. If you can’t find okra or don’t have a raw vegetable spiraliser, you can still create a similar experience by swapping in some green beans and rice noodles. This version is great though, so mentally […]