FEKEI OF ROTUMA,BY ISIRELI MUAROR

Fekei is a Rotuman delicacy which is usually cooked in a earth oven. Fekei is a sweet pudding made from starch, sugar and coconut milk.
Today we give you a special recipe for this Rotuman dish. What you need:
Dalo, cassava starch (usually sold in supermarkets), grater, coconuts, coconut scraper, sugar, banana leaves and soya bean oil.
What to do:
l Clean dalo and grate using grater (amount of dalo depends on the number of people to feed);
l Mix grated dalo with cassava starch, adding water to keep mixture moist;
l Mix well and then wrap in banana leaves or foil;
l Place in earth oven (note this can either be placed in a lovo with other food or in the oven);
l Scrape coconuts while mixture is in earth oven (or oven);
l Squeeze out coconut milk and place in basin;
l When dalo and starch mixture is cooked, place in coconut milk;
l Mix well (using two long wooden spoons) until coconut milk has soaked into mixture. Add sugar to taste.

Words and pictures by Isireli Muaror, Fijitimes online

DEEP FRIED CHICKEN IN SPECIAL KOREAN SAUCE

Deep fried chicken in special Korean sauce
Serves: Five people
Preparation time: 15- 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
500g chicken wings or baby, drumsticks, sliced potatoes, Soya bean oil, 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of starch, salt, pepper, carrot, lettuce, Kikkoman soy sauce, grated onion, tomato ketchup, tbsp sugar, honey, crushed peanuts, thin sliced round cabbage, carrots, cucumber and apple.
Equipment:
Frying pan or wok (optional)
Basin, scissors (for real Korean deep fry method), tongs, wooden cooking spoon, grater, small pot
Method:
Wash chicken nicely and drain out water. Add salt and pepper to chicken. In a basin, mix two cups of flour and half cup starch.
Pour soya bean oil in a frying pan or wok and leave to heat up.
Marinate chicken in dry mix of flour and starch. Deep fry chicken in hot oil. Using scissors and tongs, cut into chicken to allow it to cook properly.
Deep fry chicken until golden brown. Add sliced potatoes and fry until golden brown.
In a small pot, add and mix grated onion, crushed garlic, Kikkoman soya sauce, half tbsp sugar and tomato ketchup. Add a little water and leave to boil. In a small bowl, mix half spoon starch and add to the pot. Stir until sauce reaches boiling point.
Finishing touch:
Place deep fried chicken and potatoes on a plate with lettuce and chopped carrots. Pour special Korean sauce over the chicken and garnish with crushed peanuts.
Enjoy with a glass of fruit juice or cold beverage.

ADAPTED FROM FIJITIMES ONLINE

ROTI RECIPE

Tasty roti in 30 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ready in: 30 minutes
Recipe yield: 12 big rotis'
Serves: Six people

Ingredients:
Four cups of boiled water
3 cups of normal flour
Margarine or ghee

Cooking equipment:
Girdle or roti iron or hot plate
1 basin
1 cup
1 tbl spoon
rolling pin
flat, smooth board or surface

Directions:
1. Boil four cups of water
2. Scoop 3 cups of normal flour into a basin and sieve flour
3. Add three cups of boiling water into the flour mix and stir with a spoon
4. Keep mixing flour and boiled water with the spoon. Knead the mix until a dough is soft. Grease dough with margarine and knead the margarine into the dough again.
5. Heat the girdle until hot and grease once with margarine. While the girdle is heating up, roll out the dough into a strip and divide into prefered sized roti balls. In this case, big ones. Dab with a little flour to avoid sticking to the flat board.
6. Using the rolling pin, roll out the dough until thin and place on hot girdle. Turn roti over three times until light brown. Continue until all the dough is used.
Avoid using too much water as this will make the dough stick. Too little water will make the dough hard. Instincts are very important.

Recommended dish:
Roti is best eaten with any type of curry. It is considered a staple food so it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. As a quick and easy filler, roti can even be buttered with jam or eaten with barbecue.

ENJOY!

ADAPTED FROM FIIJITIMES ONLINE

ELVIS SANDWICH by Peter Waqavonovono

'Elvis' Sandwhich

Ingredients:
Five Bananas, one medium whole meal sliced bread, butter, peanut butter, jam.

Method:
First you mash bananas; put peanut butter and jam on one side on your sliced bread and place mashed bananas on top; place another slice of bread on to the ingredients and butter both sides of the bread; now you fry both sides of the bread evenly until golden or darker as you wish.
Ready to serve.

Beverage option:

Strong tea and a glass of milk

ADAPTED FROM FIJITIMES ONLINE

WATER CRESS TUNA SALAD

Water cress tuna salad

Ingredients:

Bean sprouts, lettuce, carrots, water cress, cucumber, spring onions, apples, tuna, toast.

Method:
1. Wash and clean vegetables properly. Peel carrots before chopping.
2. Chop ingredients to bite size pieces and throw into a bowl.
3. Open tuna and pour into bowl with chopped ingredients - mix well.
4. Add salt, pepper and seasoning either olive oil or add a drop of soya bean oil, mix.
5. Toast bread (can be leftovers) - add butter
6. Enjoy as a side dish.

ENJOY!

TURKISH BREAD

RECIPE: TURKISH BREAD, Adapted from Solo Williams, of Green Olives Restaurant, Suva, Fiji

BOREK (TURISH BREAD)- Filled with spinach, Basil, fetta, cottage cheese and sundried tomatoes
INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs; 1 tablespoon plain yoghurt;
1 cup milk (warm);
1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 1/2 tsp yeast; 1 1/2 cup warm water; 1 kg plain flour; 1 tsp salt; 4 tsp sugar.
METHOD:
Combine eggs, yoghurt, milk, olive oil, yeast, warm water, salt and sugar. Mix well. Add flour to the mixture slowly and knead till it forms a firm dough. Rest it for 30minutes or till it is double in size. Knead it down and cut cup size dough, knead again.
Rest for 15 minutes
Roll out the dough and fill it with spinach, cottage cheese mixture, close the ends and brush it with egg mixture
Bake it in the over (160 degrees) for 20 minutes or until its all brown.

Pea Soup with Dhal

Pea Soup with Dhall

One and half cup dhal; sprig of mint, 1 onion, rasher of bacon. Boil for 3 hours. Strain, and add milk or cream, pepper and salt to taste. Serve with croutons of fried bread. ENJOY!