Som Tam

I usually do not find all the ingredients readily to make authentic non-Indian food, so I have to make do with alternatives, or I just skip the ingredient altogether if it is not crucial. Here's a version of the Som Tam (Thai for Papaya Salad) in the absence of fish oil and shrimp paste.

1 medium-sized Raw papaya

Roasted peanuts (whole or crushed)

Some red chili powder

1 green chili, sliced

1 onion, chopped

2-3 tomatoes, chopped

Handful of basil leaves

Bunch of coriander

Soya sauce

Honey

Lemon

Olive oil (or fish oil if you have it)

The raw papaya should be slightly yellow in color to be used. Peel it, remove the seeds and grate it, or use a potato peeler to get thin strips. Just throw all the rest of it in together. You can play around with the quantities to make it more spicy, tangy, or sweet. Add salt if you need to...usually the soy sauce compensates. The original recipe calls for mixing it up using a mortar and pestle to get the juices flowing. Try it if you have it!

Adding raw beans or sprouts will make it more wholesome.

Cous cous with Aubergine and Blue Cheese

Cous cous is a great form of pasta...mainly because it cooks in 5 minutes flat. Moreover, I am always looking for recipes that include some mint since I have a mint plant and I need to use it often, else it will wither. This is a nice light meal in itself, or a good side dish for some grill.

About half a cup of cous cous (pour some boiling water in it, and after 5 minutes...Voila!)

1 large Aubergine cut in thin slices

1 Onion, chopped

Handful of mint

Some Blue Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Oil (preferably olive)

Juice of 1 lemon

Firstly, grill the aubergine slices and season with salt/pepper. This is the most time consuming part, but make sure it is cooked evenly on both sides. The cut the pieces in quarters.

The cous cous is cooked by just the boiling water. Use a fork to fluff it and separate the grains as much as possible.

Then comes the best part...you simply put in all the ingredients (including a dash of olive oil) together and mix. Add and subtract the quantity of the ingredients as you prefer. I like more of veggies than cous cous.