Mira Manek is an author of three cookbooks, founder of the chai spice brand Chai by Mira, and a speaker specialising in Ayurveda and wellness. In her book Saffron Soul, inspired by her travels across India, Mira celebrates the authenticity of her Gujarati roots, bringing together cherished home-cooked recipes with a modern sensibility.
For Christmas, Mira shares two festive recipes, one savoury and one sweet, designed to bring warmth, colour and comfort to the table.
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Chilli Crisp Roast Potatoes
Serves 4-6 as part of a feast
Roasted rosemary potatoes are delicious and simple to make, plus they’re filling, hearty and everyone loves them! A sprinkle and shake of semolina gets them extra crisp!
Ingredients
15 baby potatoes
1 tablespoon semolina
1 teaspoon salt
1 stalk fresh rosemary, handful
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or can use butter)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
Process
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6. Wash the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in hot water for around 10 minutes, then drain the water and sprinkle over the semolina. Mix together well. In a small pan, heat the cumin seeds in the oil and add the rosemary leaves, chilli flakes and salt. Pour this over the potatoes and mix well. Place in the oven for around 40 minutes until cooked. Check with a fork to see if they’re cooked.
Dips that steal the show at the table
1) Lemony beet hummus
Ingredients
2-3 medium beetroots
1 clove garlic
1 tin chickpeas, 240g
1 tablespoon tahini
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
¼ - ½ cup water
Process
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400F. Peel and discard the beetroot skin, then wrap each beetroot in aluminium foil (just enough to fully cover the beet) and place them in the oven with the peeled garlic clove (these don’t need to be wrapped in foil) for around 45 minutes until soft and cooked. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds for a couple of minutes until they turn a darker shade of brown and you smell the aroma. Leave aside. When cooked, chop the beetroot into chunks so it’s easier to blend, and place with all other ingredients including the toasted cumin seeds in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Taste for salt and lime, and add more if required.
2) Roasted carrot & red pepper dip
Ingredients
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
3-4 tablespoons white kidney beans
100ml water
juice of ½ lemon or lime
Process
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400F. Chop the carrots into small chunks and boil them for 10 minutes, then place in the oven with the chopped red pepper and garlic clove. Let them cook in the oven for around 40 minutes until soft, then place into a blender with the cumin seeds (lightly toast the cumin seeds on a small pan for a minute or two until you can smell the aroma), white kidney beans, water, salt and lime and blend in until smooth. Taste and add more salt or lemon if required. You can also make it thinner by adding a little more water.
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Winter Spiced Banana Bread
I love a good banana bread – and this one’s healthy, wholesome and just so good! It’s a recipe from my cookbook Saffron Soul, one of those recipes that friends and readers make on repeat, I’ve been told.
Ingredients
100g, 3/4 cup almond flour
140g, 1 and 1/4 cups spelt or wheat flour
60g coconut sugar or honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
120g coconut oil, melted
60ml almond milk or any
1 ripe banana
4 pitted dates
Juice of 1/2 orange
10-15 walnuts, broken
Handful blueberries
Process
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a cake or loaf tin and mix together all dry ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Stir in walnuts and blueberries and pour into tin and bake for 50 minutes.
