Onion soup

This is an old standby, always popular and can be used either as a filling, main-course soup or as a lighter starter, depending on how thick you make it. I give the main course version as standard.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 2 as a main course

Ingredients

 

3 large onions

salt

2 tbsp olive oil OR butter

2 tbsp flour

1 litre water

1 tsp Marmite

pepper

Method:

• Slice the onions and heat the oil. Add about 1/4 tsp salt, which speeds up the browning. Cook the onions until they’re just on the edge of burning. The richness and flavour of this soup comes from this stage, so don’t be impatient. If you cover the pan, it speeds things up, but stir them frequently so that they don’t actually burn.
• Pour in the water and then add the Marmite, if you’re using it. This adds extra colour and flavour to the soup, but isn’t necessary. (Use Bovril instead – as Conor O’Brien recommends, in Across Three Oceans, but ensure it’s the vegetarian one; or any other yeast extract paste which doesn’t contain sugar.)
• Bring to the boil and then simmer for at least 20 minutes or pressure cook for 5 minutes.
• When the soup is about cooked, taste and season with more salt if it needs it, and generous amounts of black pepper. It can take a lot.
  
• Serve with plenty of bread.

Note:

• If you want to make this soup less substantial, use 1 less onion and leave out the flour.
• To make the soup gluten free, use 2 tbsp gram flour
  

Variations:

• Add a generous measure of brandy or sherry to the bowl when serving.
• Serve with grated (vegan) cheese.
• In France and Italy, the soup often has a slice of bread put on top and cheese grated over this.
• Add 1 cup grated (vegan) cheese and 1/4 cup (vegan) Parmesan cheese to the soup, just before serving. In this case, don’t add salt until the last minute, because the cheese will make it saltier; and don’t reboil – this could make the cheese go stringy.
• Substitute Dijon mustard for the Marmite.

Pakora

These little, crisp savoury fritters make a delicious starter to an Indian-style meal. They can also be served as a snack or with drinks.

 

Serves 4 for a starter

 

1/4 cup gram flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp coriander

1/8 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/8 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 tsp methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

1/4 cup water

a few drops hot sauce

2 onions

oil for frying

Method: 

• Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together. If the flour is a little bit lumpy, use a mini whisk. Stir in the cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, chilli flakes and methi.
• Now add the water and mix to make a smooth paste. Add the hot sauce.
• Dice the onion and separate it into pieces. Add these to the batter and mix very thoroughly so that all the onion pieces are coated in batter.
• Heat a few tbsp oil in a small saucepan, wok or frying pan.
• When the oil is hot, test it by dropping in 1/2 tsp batter. This should instantly puff up and float on the surface.
• When this happens, drop in tablespoonfuls of onion-and-batter. They should be cooking so quickly that you will be lucky to handle more than 3 at any one time. Put one in, turn the second over, take the third one out using tongs or a perforated spoon.
• Put on kitchen paper on a plate and keep warm. Eat them as soon as the final one is cooked.

Serve with a little yoghurt, seasoned with mint or spices, or with Indian pickle or chutney.

Variation:

• Try other vegetables, such as green pepper, courgette, spinach, or lightly-cooked potato. Or use plantain.