This delicious, chewy flat bread is a little addictive.. it’s savoury, and yet a wonderful addition to dips and soups etc.

There are many variations on this base recipe, but they will be posted another day!

Turkish Bread

400ml warm water
1 table spoon (2 sachets) instant/dry yeast (about 14grams)
1 tea spoon of caster sugar (or honey, if you dont like white sugar)

500g white flour – a good strong or bakers flour is ideal, but any will do.
1 tea spoon of sea salt flakes.

Olive oil, for brushing
sea salt flakes
One teaspoon each of sesame seeds and nigella seeds*, mixed

Mix the first three ingredients, in a jug, and leave for about 10 minutes until it is frothy.

By hand:

Put flour and salt in a bowl, and pour in the yeast mix, mixing by hand until it is a smooth but wet and sticky dough. This is very tricky by hand, so I prefer:

By Kitchenaid/mixer:

Using flat beater attachment, put flour and salt in the bowl, and on a low speed, add the yeast mix. As soon as all the flour is incorporated, switch to the dough hook. Knead for a couple of minutes, until the dough is smooth, sticky, but the bowl is clean.

Very lightly oil a clean bowl, scrape dough in, cover with glad wrap, and put in a warm place to rise. And rise it will! (About an hour, possibly less depending on the weather)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C

Important: you must have wet hands for this next step!

Line a tray with baking paper. Put the dough in the middle of the paper, and with wet hands, smooth it out evenly. It is VERY sticky, so wet hands is a must.

Make indentations in the bread with your fingertips.

Brush the bread generously with oil (traditionally you use egg, but I bake egg-free so my toddler can eat it too!) and then sprinkle with sea salt and the mixed seeds.

Bake until golden, but not too hard and dry.

Cool on a wire rack, and slice into squares. Enjoy!

*nigella seeds can be hard to find. Try an indian grocer, where they are also known as black cumin, kalonji, or black caraway. They add a beautiful nutty savoury flavour to the bread.

So usually, I dont blog about this stuff, but I am sitting here watching the last Masterclass of the year, and feel compelled.

I have loved this season up until a few weeks ago. The New York challenges were a little meh, and the whole format is getting a little old, but people like Kumar, Billy, and Dani kept things interesting. I was pretty devastated to see Billy go, in particular, as I was 100% sure he would be this year’s Masterchef!

(By the way, you can find Billy’s fabulous blog here)

So then last week saw Dani leave (boo) and the last three left: Kate, Michael, and Jeggings. Sorry, I mean Alana.

Now, why these three shit me.

Kate: A big god-freak. No problems with me, there. But then when cooking for the Dalai Lama (Hello??? The freaking DALAI LAMA!!!!) she refused to call him His Holiness. Yeah, whatever. Get your hand off it. I also dont think she’s a particularly fabulous cook. And for this reason alone, she will probably win.

Alana: She’s been booted now, but WHAT GIVES, CHANNEL 10??? She wore the same horrid pair of JEGGINGS on like 20 consecutive episodes!! She even wore them to New York!! Please, someone, buy this girl some decent pants.

Michael: Has the personality of a dog poo that’s been rained on, and then pissed on by another dog. And someone who lists his occupation as a ‘film projectionist’ is just begging for jokes about watching porn. I get the feeling he has made it thru to the finale by sheer luck, or possibly giving the judges sexual favours. And for this reason, he will probably win, too. Whatever.

Year one: I wanted Poh to win. Julie won instead.

Year two: I wanted Alvin (our favorite Gaysian) or Marion to win, and instead Adam won. Adam is still a good cook, but certainly not their level. We can all just be grateful that Nasty Hat didn’t win!

So yes, I will be watching, but I am certainly not emotionally invested in the result this year.

You will need:

4 – 6 skinless chicken thigh fillets
1 small pot of natural yogurt (about 200ml)
half a teaspoon of chilli powder
A good chunk of ginger, about an inch long, peeled and minced.
Juice of one lemon

Combine the above in a bowl, and leave to marinade while you get ready for the cooking.

Slice 2 onions, not chop. Nice and thin.
Mince 4 cloves of garlic, Aussie please, and nice big cloves. Have ready on the bench:

2 table spoons of tomato paste/puree/concentrate/whatever you call it
3 tins of crushed tomatoes.
50g of butter
1 table spoon of honey

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

In a bowl, prepare your spice mix:
1 heaped teaspoon each of cumin, ground coriander, paprika
1/2 a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, chilli powder, turmeric
2 bay leaves, and a cinnamon stick.

Half a cup of cream

Chopped coriander/cilantro. If you are a (heaven forbid) corianderphobe, you can leave it out.

Here we go!

Heat up your pan, and add some oil. Sautee your onions and garlic, not browning. Turn down the pan a little, and add the butter and spices. Mix around and cook the spices a little to remove that ‘raw’ flavour.

Add the chicken to the pan, and the remaining yogurt mix, making sure your pan is not too hot that everything starts to burn. Seal the chicken, and then add the tomato paste. Pour over your crushed tomatoes, and a little water or stock if it needs a little more liquid. Add the honey at this point.

Make sure the mix is all combined and taste once the chicken has cooked thru. Season with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper.

If you wish, you can transfer the mix to a slow cooker at this point, and leave to bubble for the afternoon.

When the chicken is tender and delicious, turn off the heat, and allow the curry to sit for 5 minutes. Add the cream and stir thru. Check again for seasoning, and then sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Serve with basmati rice, and garlic naan.

This recipe freezes beautifully.

You need:

2 small or one very large brown onion, sliced, and lots of garlic. Here I have 4 large cloves of Aussie garlic crushed.

2 or three skinless chicken breasts, sliced.

Cooked rice. I use basmati. Here is 3 cups of rice.

Some kecap manis, and some regular soy.

Dried chilli. I used about a teaspoon, but you can go a little harder with the heat. I also add tabasco at the end if it’s lacking some zing. The same each of ground cumin, ground coriander seed, and a sprinkle of cumin seeds for a nutty texture. The secret ingredient in my nasi goreng is curry powder – good ole Keen’s.

2 eggs, beaten with a fork with a splash of water. Free range, please.

Heat up some oil of your choice in a pan. Dont be shy with the oil, this dish needs it.

Sautee the onion and garlic until it has softened. Please, no crunchy onion in my rice. There is NOTHING worse! Then, add the chicken, and brown. Keep the food moving – we want browned chicken, not stewed!

Add the chilli flakes, and let them release their spicy goodness. Add your dry spiced and curry powder. Depending on quantity, feel free to amp them up a bit. The overall flavour should be smokey, gently spiced, and toasty. When the spices are frangrant, add the kecap manis and soy. Dont be afraid of the kecap manis – this will add sweetness, caramelisation, and depth of flavour. I estimate that I add at least 3 tablespoons.

Add your cooked rice. This is meant to be best made the day before, but to be honest, I have best results with rice straight from the rice cooker.

Take your time here. Fold the rice through the mix, adding more sauces if it needs it, or even a splash of water. Smoosh all the lumps of white rice, and eventually it will look evenly brown and delicious. Taste a bit, and make sure it’s balanced. If it needs more spice, push the rice to the side and add it!

Beat your two eggs with the splash of water, and push the rice to the side. Pour the egg mix in, and cook. Chop up the cooked egg, and fold it through the rice mix.

At this point, you could add any extras to the rice, like chopped spring onions, or anything else you feel like. I just forgot.

Serve topped with dried shallots, and sliced crisp lettuce. We ate ours with chilli garlic prawns on top, and it was just delicious. Bean sprouts would be awesome.

Enjoy!