Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Category: Baking & Preserving

Oatcakes

I recently bought the most heavenly oatcakes from Stir Crazy at the Veg Out Farmers' Market. They were divine and I scoffed the whole packet on Saturday night whilst watching Doctor Who on ABC iview. I couldn't wait another day, let alone a month, for the next Veg Out Market to get more so I spent yesterday in the kitchen baking oatcakes.

Mine look and taste different to the originals but were still super scoffable.

Oatcake recipe
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp chopped fresh thyme q

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Grind oats and pumpkin seeds to a coarse flour.
Place in bowl and add salt and thyme. Stir.
Add oil and mix.
Add boiling water and mix into a dough.
Spoon on to a parchment lined baking tray and press into rounds with your fingers.
Bake 15 minutes.
Store up to a week in an airtight container.

Serve with cheddar & relish or smoked salmon & dill. I had mine with black olive tapenade. Yum!

November 23, 2015
Activated Tamari Almonds Recipe

I love tamari roasted almonds. So tasty and more-ish. The one thing I don't like about them is the price. They are ridiculously expensive in the shops and I have no idea why as they are super simple to make.

Tamari is a wheat-free soy sauce. You need to soak your almonds overnight so start this recipe the day before you need it. The soaking gets rid of the nasties from the almonds. These almonds are baked at a low heat to dehydrate them without losing their goodness.

Activated Tamari Almonds

pinch himalayn salt

2.5 cups almonds

2 tbsp Tamari sauce

Soak your almonds overnight in a large bowl of salted water.

The next day, preheat your oven to 200 F.

Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Drain and pat almonds dry with paper towel.

Spread almonds evenly over tray and heat for 10-15 minutes or until a nice almond aroma drifts through the kitchen, tantalizing your taste buds. While they are toasting, give them a stir every so often so they don't burn.

Remove almonds from oven and place in large mixing bowl.

Add tamari and stir well.

Leave to sit for 15 minutes.

Spread evenly over tray and roast for an hour, stirring occasionally so they don't stick or burn.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

September 15, 2015
Barley Biscuits

The baking bug has bitten me, hard. It’s the cooler weather and shorter nights. I just want to be indoors, hugging the heater and eating yummy treats! My various intolerances mean I do a lot of experimental baking, just like this recipe.

Luckily for me, the goddess of baking was smiling on me this time. The biscuits (aka cookies) were absolutely delicious. I don’t actually know if there is a goddess of baking but there should be one. When the goddess smiles upon you, your cakes rise perfectly. When she’s looking in the other direction, your meringues just won’t work.

I love experimental baking, I can tailor a recipe to suit my needs exactly. Low GI barley is great for those with type 2 diabetes. Olive oil instead of butter for those with lactose intolerance. And minimal rapadura sugar. Sweet enough, but not too sweet.

Barley Flour Biscuits (aka cookies)
makes 12

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups barley flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rapadura sugar
1/2 vanilla bean

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Line a baking tray with baking powder.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.

In a small bowl, mix eggs and oil.

Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways. Using a blunt knife, scrape out the seeds. Add to the egg mixture. Stir well.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix well.

Put teaspoonful measures on to the baking tray.

Press into biscuit shape.

Bake for 8 minutes or till golden.

Place biscuits on wire rack to cool.

On some of the biscuits I poked a little hole and added some sugar free raspberry jam (jelly for you North American folks). This jam is divine – you don’t even notice the sugar is missing.

This recipe was truly delicious, I’ll be making more, soon!

July 20, 2015
Tropical Rice Pudding

I've loved messing about in the kitchen, baking, ever since I was a kid. Now that I am an adult who can't eat wheat or dairy and chooses alternatives to sugar, I have even more of a reason to bake. When you have to read the ingredients labels on food like I do, you realise that there is a whole lot of extra crap in there. Yet more reasons to make-it yourself!

I came up with this recipe a few years back when I had a sudden yen for rice pudding. Since I can't have milk I replaced it with coconut milk. Drawing on my Sri Lankan heritage, I then added in some tropical spices to compliment the coconut milk. Coconuts are huge in Sri Lanka. They are used for everything – in cooking, building walls in the garden and even as a loofah when giving an elephant a bath in the river. True story – saw it with my own eyes!

I really love the creamy and zesty taste of this pudding. You can substitute quinoa for the rice which I did for this one. It would make it lower GI and add some protein to the mix. If you don't have kitul palm treacle, agave syrup and maple syrup also work well.

Tropical Rice Pudding
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
3 cardamom pods
1.5cm strip lemon zest
1/4 cup kitul palm treacle
Shake cinnamon
1/4 cup arborio rice

Preheat oven to 140 C (248 F).
Mix the coconut milk, cardamom, lemon zest, treacle and cinnamon together in an oven proof dish with a lid.
Add rice and stir.
Put on lid and cook for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This makes four smallish serves but you may not want to share as it is super delicious.

Enjoy!

July 6, 2015