Sam Jones' Chilli Oil

Ingredients

- 500g Peeled Garlic Coarsely Chopped

- 200g of Whole Dried Red Finger Chilli

- 3tbsp Quality Sea Salt

- 1lt Olive Oil

Method

1. Combine chopped garlic, oil and salt in a large heavy bottomed frying pan and set over a medium/low heat, keeping oil to around 100c (ie garlic not bubbling too aggressively), gently fry until garlic turns a rich golden colour, now add whole chilli’s, keep stirring gently and fairly continuously.

2. Fry until garlic has caramelised to a deep hazelnut brown colour, this means the garlic has had most of its moisture cooked off and much of the precious essential oils from the chilli and garlic will have infused into the olive oil.

3. Remove from heat and allow to cool, once cool enough to handle, blend garlic chilli oil mix with a food processor or blender, adjust salt to taste.

Best stored in glass jars, no need for refrigeration , it will keep for many months, be careful it is very addictive !

There are loads of variations form all over the world to add to this simple recipe, many spices can be added, eg coriander, cinnamon, cardamon, star anise, fennel, clove, Szechuan pepper and even salted shrimp, peanuts or try with a spoonful of sugar, all added toward the end of the process, the possibilities are endless.

Hummus

Hummus often goes out on our condiments table and nicely compliments the curry or the pasta salad depending on whether its a lunchtime or evening distribution.

Making hummus in our kitchen requires in excess of 25kg of chickpeas and litres of tahini. But dont panic we have scaled down the recipe so you can make it for a family dinner or for a few friends!

We often like to add a few extras bit and pieces, some ideas include, roasting red peppers and blitzing them in the other ingredients to make a delicious red pepper hummus or sprinkling some nuts/seeds/coriander on top.

Ingredients:

250g of cooked chickpeas

70ml tahini

1/2 teaspoon cumin

30ml lemon juice

50ml water that the chickpeas were cooked in

2 garlic cloves

2 spoons olive oil

2 oven roasted red pepper (optional)

harissa paste (optional)

chilli powder (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Add it all to a blender and blitz it together until it reaches a consistency your happy with!

Taste it and adjust to your preferences. RCK loves a garlicy hummus and so goes heavy on the garlic part!

Basbousa

Serves 5

YOU WILL NEED:

Syrup:

- 150g sugar

- 1/2 cup of water

- Few drops of orange blossom water

Cake:

- 150g sugar

- 80g yogurt

- 225g course semolina

- 75g melted butter

- Optional, crushed pistachios for decoration

METHOD::

1. Make the syrup by sugar, water and orange blossom and bring to boil. Let the syrup then cool.

2. To make the cake beat together the sugar and the yogurt (aim to make the sugar dissolve)

3. Mix in the rest of cake ingredients and mix until it all comes together

4. Score with a diamond pattern on the top

5. Bake for 25 minutes

6. Once out the oven pour the syrup over the cake

7. Enjoy! And if you make don’t forget to send us your photos!!

Happy baking!

Keralan Cabbage Thoran

For 4-6 people:

YOU WILL NEED:

½ a large white cabbage finely sliced

2 tablespoon of green lentils

2 onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 green chilli, sliced

6 tablespoons of grated coconut meat

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp mustard seeds

A few curry leaves

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp mild chilli flakes

Salt to taste

Bunch of chopped fresh coriander to finish

METHOD::

1. Grate the cabbage finely.

2.Gently cooking the lentils until they are soft.

3. Make a smooth thick paste of coconut meat/ garlic/cumin/green chilli.

4. Heat a small amount oil in pan till hot - add mustard seeds - when they start jumping about add the dried chilli, then onions, and salt. When the onions have become soft add turmeric and curry leaf.

4. Next add the cabbage, stirring it in on low heat.

5. Cook slowly on low heat: if sticking add small amounts oil (but no water or stock). This is a dry curry using only the onion and cabbage moisture.

6. When soft and tasty stir in the coconut paste - cook through

for couple of minutes.

7. Stir in the lentils. Scatter over chopped coriander and voila!!

8. Send us a photo of your Keralan Cabbage Thoran!!

RCK Calendar 2022

February is well underway but we're still dreaming of the January calendar recipe by the wonderful Michelin-starred Giorgio Locatelli! His delicious Potato and Kale Bake was the perfect side or an indulgent dinner on its own - order one of our 2022 Calendars for this and 11 more great recipes from the RCK kitchens!

Try out our sauces, curries and salads for fresh flavours, new tastes and soon-to-be favourites!

Each calendar pays for 32 hot meals, served with love and respect

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Recipe Skill Share time

This week we met up bright and early for a recipe skill-share! In Calais we serve dozens of communities including Eritrean, Sudanese, Algerian, Pakistani, Egyptian, Iraqi, Moroccan, Senegalese and many more. Providing meals that are familiar, varied and delicious is at the heart of what we do, so researching and sharing recipes for spice mixes, salads, stews, desserts and drinks was a great way to kickstart the week's cooking!

Abdul's Bolanis

May is here and in the RCK Calendar that means Abdul's Bolani Recipe (not to mention our Orthodox Easter Doro Wat recipe which you'll find in there too!). Abdul gave a mini Bolani masterclass in our Calais kitchen recently to show us how to perfect the Afghani stuffed flatbreads. If you'd like to try them make sure you grab one of our last 2021 calendars, now only £10!

Sam Jones' Punjabi Lobia in the Observer's 20 best curries

Great to see co-founder Sam's delicious recipe for Punjabi Lobia included in Observer Food Monthly's 20 Best Curries! It's a pleasure to see a Refugee Community Kitchen staple alongside recipes by chefs like Andi Oliver, Meera Sodha and Madhur Jaffrey.

"At Refugee Community Kitchen we make many variations of this curry, which is incredibly popular with all the communities we serve, as well as providing much-needed protein and energy" - Sam

You can find the full recipe here