Recipe of the Month – May

Zena’s Prawn Malai

Ingredients:
Pinch salt (optional)
¾ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cornflour
½ bag (175–200g) cooked prawns (defrosted)
1 dstspn coconut oil
¼ tsp each, cumin and coriander
1cm piece ginger, grated
100ml coconut milk
½ tsp sugar of your choice, or you could use Hillfarm Runny Honey
2–4 tbsp water – to get to the right consistency
2 tbsp double cream (optional)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 spring onion (optional)

Method
1. Rub the salt, ½ tsp turmeric and the cornflour into the prawns and set aside for 10 mins.
2. Heat the oil gently and add the cumin, coriander and remaining turmeric; then add the ginger and cook for a minute to release flavour. Add the coconut milk, prawns and sugar.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer 4–5 mins until sauce has thickened and the prawns are cooked through. Add water, if needed, to reach the desired consistency.
Finish with cream, if using, and stir in garam masala. Chop the spring onion and garnish the dish.
Serving Suggestion
Serve with rice or naan bread; for a healthier option, pak choi, green beans, or mangetout would make a good accompaniment. If you like your curry hot, you could sprinkle some fresh or dried chilli on top to serve.
Simon says:
Butternut squash is very versatile. Store the surplus squash in the
fridge and use another day, alternatively, you could mash it and serve
it. The Hillfarm rapeseed oil has 57 per cent less saturated fat than olive
oil and I really like its mild nutty flavour alongside the squash.

Cooking for One – a collection of recipes and stories written by the bereaved offering wisdom, insight, love and hope.

Cooking for One contains no platitudes about what a great healer time can be, it is a candid account of the raw pain and utter loneliness that grief can bring about. Those who have opened up about their grief have told it as it really is, not what they think people want to hear. They tell you what has helped and the lessons that they have learned along the way.

So, as well as containing delicious recipes, Cooking for One aims to serve as a personal handbook designed to help the bereaved navigate their personal pathway of grief. Despite people telling them that they ‘really ought to be getting over the worst of it by now’ – and however much they appear to be outwardly coping – perhaps the pain will never fully fade and nor would they wish it to.

Zena’s Story

Being a shy child, I hid behind my mother’s legs as she was a larger-than-life character. I was a bad eater, never trying much, and as I got older, her cooking got better and better. It wasn’t until I went into catering at 16 that I actually got into food and tried new things – we then shared recipes, cooking and fabulous meals out. My mum, Irene Leech, loved to cook, and she loved to cook for other people.

I was working as a chef in London when my mum got breast cancer. We decided to move back, but before we had the chance, she contracted secondary cancer. We rushed to move back and got a rental until our house was ready.

When my mum was having her double mastectomy, I visited her in hospital and told her what I’d been cooking that week in London. The mention of oxtail casserole got her very motivated to come out of hospital. I promised I’d be home the following week to cook it for her, and I was. It became our favourite dish – a nostalgic one for her and something that became ours. We cooked it for each other.

We rushed our wedding forward and I even got pregnant early to give my mum some zest for life, but she passed away when I was six months pregnant with my daughter. The Saturday night before she died, we went to her favourite restaurant together and my hubby paid; he still has the receipt in his wallet. The day before she died, I made her final
meal – parsnip soup. After she died, there was a toffee slice left in the fridge; it was my favourite of all the things she made for me. I made it last by freezing pieces, but eventually, it all went – and since she never gave me the recipe, I’ve never been able to have it since.

After mum died, I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions – she was only 52, my age now. I was angry, I was sad; there wasn’t an emotion I didn’t feel leading up to the funeral – then you have to face that day.

Death is so final – and the pain never goes away. But you just learn to live with it and remember the good stuff.

After working for 15 years as a chef, I worked for a further 15 years as a cookery tutor. My mum was my biggest influence in terms of food and inspiring me to try new things. I now travel to eat and have a huge passion for food. I think she’d be proud of me, and I still miss sharing meals with her.

For information on Rosedale’s bereavement support group, please click here.