TODAY AXELLE ROSENCOFF
In this series of blog posts, everyone in the Swissphysio team is sharing our favourite recipes and discussing how we are coping with the lockdown.
Needless to say that we would love to hear from you. What are you doing, your thoughts and your experiences? Why don’t you drop us a mail or send a funny picture of you or a video and post it on out Facebook wall @swissphysio?
Here how Axelle Rosencoff, one of our desk angels, is experiencing her quarantine.
Axelle is our social media and computer wiz, who joined our team 15 months ago. When not at Swissphysio Axelle studies History of Art and Classical Studies at the Open University, and enjoys art (of course), crafts, reading, and travelling. Axelle is Punjabi diaspora and from an Anglo-Indian background, and is treating us with a simple and delicious personal recipe for an authentic Punjabi dish and some interesting trivia. Here are her thoughts on food:
” Food is an important part of family and culture; we all have cherished family recipes, dishes and special memories of home cooking. I remember learning spices with my mum, thinking her dozens of little jars were like a witch’s magical assortment of potion ingredients. I wasn’t far off – spices are magical!
It’s no secret that Britain loves Indian food. Our national dish is tikka masala and no town is complete without a local Indian restaurant to satisfy your curry cravings. Cooking your own Indian food may seem daunting, but with a properly stocked spice rack you would be surprised at how many delicious, healthy Indian recipes you can make in your own kitchen. If you’ve never experienced a homemade, authentic Indian curry before, then you don’t know what you’re missing out on. So, I’m sharing one of my
favourite recipes, a northern Indian dish straight out of the Punjab called chole masala. “
About the Quarantine
– 1.What have you been doing to stave of boredom?
To make use of the extra free time I have now I have been pursuing my hobbies which had been neglected between work and university, so I dusted off my watercolours and have been painting again. I started a little project painting my favourite local places in Whitley Bay and Tynemouth. When I’m not studying textbooks I’m working through my book collection, and right now I’m reading Stephen Fry’s Mythos which is a very funny and engaging retelling of Greek mythology (when I’m not reading textbooks, anyway!). I’ve also been playing video games: exploring alien planets in No Man’s Sky, roaming ancient Egypt in Assassins Creed Origins, and revisiting the fantastical lands of my favourite game The Witcher 3. The transportation and immersion of a good story is my favourite way to escape the boredom of being stuck inside.
– 2. Have you discovered any new hobbies or interests?
I’m learning embroidery and growing a herb garden. My plants are definitely happy that I’m home more! I used to enjoy sewing and dabbled in cross-stitch and wanted to develop a new skill to make the most of my time. Buying craft supplies is addictive in a way that your wallet won’t appreciate though!
– 3. What do you miss most about normal life?
Travelling (RIP my holiday plans!), visiting galleries and museums, my favourite sushi restaurant, any restaurant for that matter I love cooking but there’s only so much a girl can take! I miss relaxing at the beach as well as walking for my daily exercise and can’t wait for a sunny day after this is all over to take a blanket, a picnic, and my paints and just enjoy being outdoors.
– 4. What is the first thing you will do when this is over?
Take my paints to the beach for a few hours and go to a gallery. I wish I could say hop on the first plane to fulfil my now cancelled summer holiday plans but c’est la vie.
– 5. What are your top words of encouragement or advice for people during lockdown?
We may not be able to control the current situation, but we can control how we respond to it. Be kind to others and to yourself.
The Recipe: Chickpea curry (chole masala)
Serves 4
This aromatic, flavourful curry is made with a common pantry staple: the humble chickpea. This recipe is incredibly versatile too; you can adjust the spice level to suit your tastes by using less or more and milder or hotter varieties, make it vegan by using vegetable oil instead of ghee, and if you don’t have a blender you can finely chop all of the paste ingredients.
Ingredients:
Pantry:
2 tins chickpeas
2 tbsp ghee or oil
Fresh:
1 medium onion
4 large ripe tomatoes
1 inch fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 – 3 chillies
Spices:
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 cardamom pods
1 tsp amchur (harder to find so can be omitted)
Optional: A few handfuls spinach or a few frozen spinach
portions.
Directions:
- Roughly chop the
onion and tomatoes, peel the ginger and garlic. - Blend the onion,
tomato, garlic, chillies, and ginger into a paste. - Heat oil/ghee in
a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. - Once hot, add the
fenugreek seeds and lower heat to medium. Fry for 1 minute until fragrant. - Add the paste and
the spices. Fry for a few minutes or until the oil starts to separate from
the paste. - Add the chickpeas
and enough hot water or vegetable stock to cover them, and stir well. - Simmer for 20
minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces and thickens. - If using spinach,
stir into the pot in the last few minutes. - Serve over
basmati rice or with a naan. (And fish out any cardamom pods!)
Trivia:
A lot of people call the popular Indian flatbread ‘naan bread’, but the word naan literally means bread. So by calling it that you are calling it ‘bread bread’! This is not an uncommon linguistic quirk, some other examples include Chai tea (tea tea) and the Sahara Desert (desert desert).
And what have you been doing and what is your favorite recipe?
If you make this recipe at home, we would love to see how it
turned out!
Please tell us by email, angela@swissphysio.co.uk or via Facebook
@swissphysio.
We look forward to hearing from you.