Back to food

We have recently moved the rig from one part of the field to another and as a result we now get our food from a different camp.
Different camp means different cook which in turns of course means different food. It is a great change. This camp feed more local workers than our previous camp since they feed more permanent workers so we are getting some interesting food, finally!

Yesterday for lunch we had a side dish (which was labeled "salad") of spicy pickle-like "things" which could have been green mangoes. I loved it! I sent a quick email asking the guy in charge of catering what it was and asking for the recipe. It is "Mango Achaar", he's promised to give me some to take home with me but has no recipe for it.


Since I have shown interest in spicy side dishes in the evening he sent some "Chakalaka" (picture is chakalaka I got from this site which is unfortunately written in Afrikan)...Isn't it a great name...chakalaka...how can anything that sound that good not be delicious....I haven't open the jar yet, I am waiting for a "special occasion" but he has warned me that it is very spicy.

Looking it up on the internet to see what I was getting myself into I found this great blog with this great post about chakalaka...and here goes one more blog into my "food blogs" folder!

Here is one recipe I got from a South African Food Magazine site:
Ingredients
oil for frying
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp paprika
2.5ml turmeric
2/3 cup carrot, grated
1 cup green beans, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp sugar
1 pkt tomato paste
2 tsp vegetable stock powder
3 cups very finely grated cabbage
1 cup baked beans
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp vinegar
60ml chutney
salt and milled pepper to taste

METHOD:
Heat oil in large pot. Add spices and cook for a minute or two. Add carrot, beans, tomatoes, sugar and tomato paste, toss to mix and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and a cook for 5 minutes.