Pholourie

K, so I'm about to go all Guyanese, well sort of. My mom is Guyanese which makes me 1/2 Guyanese. She makes Pholourie, which is basically a fried dough. But it is so much more then that. It is these little balls of curry goodness. They taste fantastic on there own but when you dip it in a mango sauce it taste even better. This recipe calls for split pea flour, which I have yet to find at a normal super market. To make it easier on yourself just go to a bulk food store, that is where I get mine. Spilt pea flour isn't expensive, so you can make this over and over again. My only suggestion is to use new oil, using old oil will make the pholourie taste like fish or whatever you fried last. I also don't recommend re using the oil unless you want your food to taste a bit like curry. Please, please please be very careful when you fry these, I find that I need only put 2 or 3 inches of oil in the pot. There is a lot of moisture and the oil will bubble up because of this. Use your best judgment and be safe.

You will need:

For the Pholourie

1 cup split pea flour
1 cup plain flour
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup water

1) In a bowl add all the dry ingredients and stir

2) add the garlic
3) Add a cup of the water and stir to combine, if the batter seems to dry add more water. It should resemble a pancake batter
4) Let rest for 45 minutes to an hour.

5) Heat a pot or pan with oil
6) Using a spoon or a mellow baller spoon the batter into the pot. Make sure not to over crowd the pot, 4-6 pholourie should be enough.
7) Cook until golden brown

ENJOY!!

Mango Sauce (Mango Chutney)

1 Large green mango or 2 small
1 clove of garlic minced
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)

1) Using a box grater, grate the mango
2) Add the garlic and pepper sauce, stir to combine

ENJOY!!!

Tips
1) Make the mango sauce while the batter rests
2) The amount of curry powder and garlic can be adjusted. I like a fair amount of garlic.
3) A unripened mango is preferred, if you can not find one a rip mango is fine.

Homemade Cured Salmon (Gravlax)

Curing salmon at home isn't as hard as it sounds....really. It takes maybe 5 minutes to put everything together and you can change the amounts up if you like. Now the only hard part at least for me was waiting, you have to wait 2 or 3 days before you can eat it. It was very hard to know that you where making the most amazing food ever and that you couldn't even sneak a taste. Well I guess you could but you may not want to. Shortly after making and then devouring my cured salmon I learned that raw fish may carry tape worm eggs. Because I am paranoid by nature I started worrying about if my salmon had tape worm eggs in it....it also didn't help that Dr Oz had a segment about tape worms.... but that is another story. Anyway upon further Internet searching I found that if you freeze the fish then defrost before you cure it will ensure there are no alive tape worm eggs. But really what are the odds that you will get a tape worm? beside it taste SO good. Now once again this is one of my recipes where the amount you need really depends on how much you want to make and your own taste. So feel free to adjust.

You will need
1 or 2 pieces of salmon
1 bunch of dill
1/3 cup of course salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper corns (Lightly crushed)
the juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
1 tablespoon vodka (optional)
Several cans ( to weigh down the salmon)

1) Clean the salmon. Check for bones and carefully remove any. Scale the salmon, since the fish is not whole be gentle and try not to harm the meat.
2) Place the salmon skin side down onto a dish. Sprinkle half the salt and pepper onto the meat, lay the dill over top.

3) Combine the lemon juice and vodka, pour half over the piece of fish.
4) Sprinkle the other half of the salt and pepper over the second piece of salmon.
5) Lay the second piece of salmon over top of the salmon with the dill on it. Make sure you lay the flesh side on top of the dill.
6) Pour the other half of the lemon and vodka mixture over the fish.
7) Cover with plastic wrap. Place cans or jars on the fish, this will weigh it down and aid in the curing process.

8) Place in the fridge
9) Turn the fish over once a day for 2-3 days depending on the size of salmon you are using.
10) Slice thinly.

ENJOY!!

Tips
1) The recipes can be halved. I originally made this with one salmon fillet, I didn't want to make two in case I didn't like the way it turned out.
2) The fish can be basted in the juices that gather at the bottom of the dish.
3) The salmon will still look raw when it is done. It will look just like smoke salmon you see in the super market. So don't worry if after 2 days your salmon is still bright red.

To Serve
1) Toast a bagel and spread with cream cheese, place some sliced red onion and layer with salmon.
2) Cut up several pieces and place over a salad.
3) Serve with crackers and cheese
4) Eat it as is, or any other way you can think of.