Green Masala

This tangy recipe is more of a paste than a sauce, and has so many uses! It will keep in the fridge for a few days, but the best way of keeping it is to make ice cubes (I suggest a designated tray to avoid cross-contamination with your gin and tonic!). This way you can defrost a small amount, perfect for many recipes. There are a couple of full recipes below, but suggested uses are:

• 1 tbsp in a tin of baked beans will transform it to a culinary masterpiece!

• 1 tbsp in about 500g prepared mashed potato

• 1 tbsp stirred into lightly steamed green beans

NB to avoid an overload of raw garlic, you may wish to briefly cook the masala before adding it to the above suggestions.

To make the green masala:

• 20 small green chillies

• 20 cloves garlic, peeled

• thumb-sized piece ginger

• 1 tbsp oil

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds or powder

• handful fresh coriander

Roughly chop everything, then use a blender to make a smooth (ish) paste.

Prawn Omelette - serves 2

• 1 tbsp green masala

• 4 eggs, beaten

• 150g cooked prawns, finely chopped

• 1 tsp soy sauce

1. Mix together the prawns and soy sauce.

2. Gently fry the masala in the omelette pan for a couple of minutes.

3. Add the eggs and mix well before allowing the eggs to cook gently.

4. After a couple more minutes add the prawns to the pan and spread them over the omelette’s surface.

5. Place under a grill to finish cooking, or fold in half.so that the centre cooks on its own.

6. Serve with a simple salad.

Fish Cakes - serves 2-3

• 400g mashed potato

• small tin crabmeat, drained and chopped

• 100g cooked prawns, chopped

• 1 tbsp green masala

• oil for shallow-frying

• cornflour, egg & breadcrumbs for coating (optional)

1. Mix the potato, fish and masala together and form in to about 6 cakes. Chill.

2. You can either just shallow-fry as they are or dip each one in cornflour (about 2 tbsp), 1 beaten egg and 2 tbsp breadcrumbs before frying.

3. Serve with sweet chilli sauce and/or mayo (not traditional but really good!).