THE STUDENT VEGETARIAN COOK BOOK

12 oz/375 g button mushrooms

1 large red pepper

MARINADE

1 lemon

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

Pepper Groundnut oil

3 tablespoons soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chilli powder Pepper

Sataysauce

1 medium onion

6 cloves garlic

2 dried chillies

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

12 oz/375 g smooth peanut butter

'14 pintll50 ml milk

Rice (see page 60)

2 limes

1 small lemon

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons soft brown sugar Pepper

Toserve

1 Ib/500 g Greek or other thick mild yoghurt

Thick saucepan

Grill�pan

10-12 long metal skewers or 30 short wooden ones

- METHOD-

Trim the ends of the courgettes and pare off any damaged or discoloured pieces of skin. Wash and cut into '14 inch/5 mm or even thinner slices. Sprinkle with fine salt and leave to drain in a sieve or colander for 30 minutes-I hour. Rinse under the cold tap and leave to dry on kitchen paper.

PARTIES AND DINNER-PARTIES

2 Make the marinade. Squeeze the lemon. Put the honey into a cup and beat in the lemon juice. Place all the other ingredients for the marinade, including a generous sprinkling of pepper, into a large bowl. Add the honey and lemon, then make up to % pintl450 ml with water.

3 Trim the mushroom stalks, wash the mushrooms, blot dry with kitchen paper and put into the marinade. Wash and quarterthe peppers, removingthe cores and all the seeds; trim off the white inner membranes, cut out any dark spots on the red one and chop the flesh into pieces about the same size as or a little bigger than the mushrooms. Add to the marinade. Peel the onions and cut into fine slices; add. Add the courgettes. Stir the vegetables in the liquid: there should be nearly enough to cover all of them. (I have not suggested adding the tomatoes because they are not absorbent and will take up space.) Put a large plate over the bowl and leave in a cool place for 8 hours. Stirfrom timetotime, takingcare to immerse any vegetablesat the top not covered by the marinade.

4 Make the sauce. Peel and very finely chop the onion and garlic. Wash, dry and trim the stalk ends of the chillies; slit, remove all the seeds and dice the flesh as finely as possible. Donotrubyoureyes while handlingthem and wash your hands directly afterwards (or wear polythene gloves). Fry the onions in the oil over low heat for 5 minutes or until beginning to soften. Add the garlic and fry for 4-5 minutes. Add the chillies and fry for 3-4 minutes or until the onions and garlic are soft but not brown. Allow to cool. Add the peanut butter, milk and 3 fI ozl75 ml water and stir until homogenous. Squeeze the limes and lemon and stir the juice into the sauce. Add and stir in the soy, paprika, sugar and a generous sprinkling of pepper. Cover and leave in the refrigerator or a cool place.

5 Set the rice to cook 30 minutes before you wish to serve. Put the sauce to warm over very low heat, preferably in a thick saucepan, while the kebabs grill; stir frequently. If the sauce seems very thick, add a little more water.

6 Hull and wash the tomatoes. Line the grill-pan with aluminium foil. Pre-heat the grill to medium heat if you have a choice. Thread the vegetables on to the skewers, alternating the different kinds. Incomplete slices ofonion may fall off; cook them in the pan under the kebabs. (The onion slices will be bigger than the other vegetables, but this does not matter.) Do not pack the vegetables very closely or they will not cook properly. Lay the skewers across the pan at a little distance apart. Sprinkle each with pepper and drizzle with groundnut oil. Grill at medium heat (or about 6 inches/15 cm from the element under a hot grill) for 5 minutes, basting at least twice. Tum and grill for 5-7 more minutes or until the courgettes and onions are just starting to brown. Set on a bed of rice, moistened with the juices from the bottom ofthe pan, and serve the sauce and yoghurt separately.