8 oz/200 g butter
6 oz/150 g icing or confectioners sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. ground cardamom
6 oz/150 g chickpea flour

Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the yolk and cardamom.
Add the chickpea flour by kneading it in until the mixture is smooth. Pinch tiny pieces of dough, roll into balls, decorate with the prongs of a fork.
Arrange on a lightly greased pan and bake at 300°F for about 30 minutes. Makes about 40.

This is a similar dish.

Double the quantities above.

Melt the butter (or shortening) in a frying pan. Turn the heat to low and gradually add the sifted chickpea flour while stirring constantly with a wire whisk.  Remove the pan from the heat and cool the mixture slightly. Stir in the icing  sugar and ground cardamom. Spread onto a greased pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake at 300°F for 1 hour. Cool and cut into tiny squares with a sharp knife. The top can be decorated with silvered pistachios or almonds before baking (if desired).

¼ lb/100 g chickpea flour
¼ lb/100 g ground almonds
¼ lb/100 g dried milk
3 oz/75 g ghee or butter
2-3 eggs, beaten
6 cardamoms
fat for frying
rose-flavored syrup
caster sugar

Rose-flavored syrup:
2 lb/800 g sugar
1 quart/1 liter water
rose essence, to taste

Separately fry the chickpea flour, ground almonds and dried milk lightly in 1 oz/25 g ghee or butter for each pan. Allow to cool and then mix with the beaten eggs and the seeds from 6 cardamoms. Form into walnut-sized balls and fry until golden brown. Drop while still hot into a heavy rose-flavored syrup for a few minutes. Drain, then roll in caster sugar.

Syrup: Boil ingredients together, stirring until the sugar has melted and the syrup has become quite thick.

Supposed to have originated by somebody trying to use up odds and ends while cleaning out their kitchen cupboards.

3 oz/75 g chickpeas
3 oz/75 g haricot beans
2 oz/50 g rice
2 oz/50g wheat bugday (whole meal ground wheat)
2 oz/50 g currants
2 oz/50 g sultanas
3 oz/75 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla essence or 1 pod

Garnish: cream, chopped walnuts, pistachios and almonds

Soak the chickpeas and haricot beans overnight in separate bowls. Soak the rice and wheat together in another bowl. The following day boil the chickpeas and haricot beans (separately) until tender, drain. Boil the rice and wheat together until tender, mix with the chickpeas and haricot beans; stir well with a wooden spoon until the mixture has the consistency of a thick porridge. Add the dried fruits, sugar and vanilla; mix well. Put into small bowls and chill thoroughly.
Decorate with cream and sprinkle chopped nuts over each dish.

Once traditional on Twelfth Night (6th January). A whole dried (faba) bean was put into the cake for luck; the person who was served the slice containing the bean was proclaimed 'King Bean' for the night. In another version, both a bean and a pea were put into the cake. The man who found the bean was King and the girl who found the pea was Queen. If the bean was found by a girl, she could choose the King and if the pea was found by a man, he named the Queen.

4 eggs
½ lb/¼ kg/1 cup butter
½ lb/¼ kg/2 cups sugar
½ lb/¼ kg/3 cups plain flour
1 lb/½ kg currants
3 oz/75 g chopped candied peel
2 oz/50 g almonds, blanched and chopped
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
2½ fl oz/60 ml brandy
1 dried faba bean (and 1 dried pea, optional)
crystallized fruit

Beat the eggs throughly over a pan of warm water; cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and gradually beat in the eggs. Carefully fold in the sifted flour and blend well before adding the currants, peel almonds, and nutmeg. Blend in the brandy to give a soft dripping consistency. Add the bean (and the pea, if using). Spoon the cake mixture into a 9-10'' (about 24 cm) pan, double-lined with greaseproof paper; level the top and bake at 275°F/150°C for 2 hours or until done.
Turn out and leave the cake to cool. Cover with Royal Icing and before it sets, decorate with pieces of crystallized fruit.

3½ cups sugar
2 egg whites, beaten
juice of one lemon

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually add the sifted sugar and lemon juice of a spreading consistency. Icing sets hard, so cover with a damp cloth until ready to use.

1 teacup red lentils
8 oz/200 g butter or ghee
10 oz/250 g fine sugar
2 tbsp. sliced pistachios or almonds
1½ tbsp. desiccated coconut
½-1 tsp. cardamom
seeds or grated nutmeg

Clean and soak the lentils overnight, drain well and dry slightly. Crush them with a pestle and mortar until it looks like cake batter. Fry the mixture in butter or ghee for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, scrape from the sides and bottom, continue stirring until almost cold. Add sugar, 1½ tbsp. nuts, coconut, the cardamom seeds and nutmeg; mix thoroughly and leave until cold. Take a little of the mixture at a time, shape into small, flat balls and place onto a shallow buttered dish. Decorate with sliced nuts.

Makes 20

1 cup warm water
3 tbsp. honey or brown sugar
2 tbsp. yeast or 2 packages
1 cup hot water
1½ tsp. salt
1 cup sprouted or soaked lentils
3 tbsp. oil
2 cups hot water
1 cup soy flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup gluten flour
1 cup millet flour
1 cup barley flour
4 cups whole wheat bread flour

Mix warm water, 1 tbsp. honey and yeast and let stand until the yeast is growing well. Liquify 1 cup hot water, 2 tbsp. honey, salt, lentils and oil until smooth. Put in large bowl and add 2 cups hot water and the first five flours. Beat thoroughly and add yeast mixture. Beat again and add 1 cup whole wheat flour. Let stand in a warm place for 15 minutes, then add about 3 cups whole wheat flour, enough to make a dough easy to handle but not too stiff. Knead for 6-8 minutes. Make into loaves or rolls and put into cool oven. Allow 15 minutes for bread to rise, increase oven temperature to moderate, and finish baking (approximately 1 hour for loaves, less for rolls and small loaves).

Makes 4-5 loaves

2 oz/50 g chickpeas, soaked and boiled
4 oz/100 g rice, washed and drained
6 oz/150 g tomatoes, skinned and
seeded
1 large onion, finely chopped
salt and black pepper
½ tsp. ground cinnamom or
¼ tsp. ground allspice
2 garlic cloves
juice of 3 lemons

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, kneading well by hand until thoroughly blended. When filling the vegetables allow room for the rice to expand. If the vegetables are to be baked, use cooked rice and pack the vegetables tightly.

Use to stuff vine leaves, courgettes, aubergines, cabbage leaves or green peppers. Place in the bottom of a thick saucepan, add some salt and two crushed garlic cloves. Press with one inverted dish and add water to the pan to reach the dish. Cover and cook gently for about 45 minutes. Add the lemon juice and cook for 10 minutes. Drain. Serve cold.

½ lb/200 g chickpea flour
½ tsp. ground turmeric
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chilli powder
2 red or green fresh (or pickled)
chillies, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
yoghurt

Mix the chickpea flour, turmeric, cumin and chilli powder, add to the beaten egg with the chopped chillies, garlic and onion. Add yoghurt to make a thick batter. Season to taste.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into deep boiling fat and cook to a golden brown.

8 oz/200 g ground coriander
1 oz/25 g ground cumin
2 oz/50 g ground turmeric
2 oz/50 g chilli powder
2 oz/50 g ground black pepper
2 oz/50 g ground mustard seed
1 oz/25 g ground ginger
1 oz/25 g garlic, crushed
4 oz/100 g chickpea flour
2 oz sugar
2 oz salt
wine vinegar
1 tbsp. mustard oil

Mix all the ingredients together with sufficient wine vinegar to make a thick paste. Put 1 tbsp. of mustard oil into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the spice paste, cook and mix on a low heat for a few minutes. Do not add any water and make sure all the utensils used are dry. When cool, bottle in an air-tight jar; keeps indefinitely. Use ½-1 tbsp. in each curry.

Use for coating foods (including cauliflower, fish, chickpea, etc.) before frying.

seeds of 3 cardamoms
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp. coriander
2 cloves
¼ tsp. chilli powder
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. chives, chopped
1 tsp. salt
4 oz/100 g/¾ cup chickpea flour
3 fl oz/90 ml yoghurt

Grind the cardamom seeds, saffron, coriander and cloves together, add the chilli powder, black pepper, chives and salt. Make a paste by mixing the flour and yoghurt together, add the rest of the ingredients. Beat well and allow to stand for ½ hour. Beat again lightly before using to coat vegetables, fish, chickpea, etc. then deep fry until golden brown.

12 oz/300 g chickpeas, soaked overnight
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
salt
olive oil
8 oz/200 g toasted Arabic pita or white sliced bread
paprika

Boil the chickpeas in about 1½ pints/¾ liter water until cooked. Drain and retain the cooking liquor. Add the garlic, onions and salt and mash or liquidize to a paste. Stir in olive oil to taste.

Break the bread into small pieces and line the bottom of a shallow serving dish with it. Sprinkle with the chickpea liquor until well soaked. Cover with the puréed chickpea, sprinkle with a little more oil and garnish with paprika. Serve hot.

Variations:
1. Yoghurt flavored with crushed garlic and mint can be poured over just before serving. Garnish with paprika, or paprika mixed with olive oil.
2. Fry 2 tbsp. pine nuts and mix them with the puréed chickpeas.

200 g dry faba beans
200 ml olive oil
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
15 ml fresh dill or 5 ml dried dill
2.5 ml chervil (optional)
10 ml sugar

Soak the beans overnight. Cook in salted water until soft. Chop the onions and liquidize them in a blender with garlic, dill, chervil and some oil; add beans and oil alternately. Add sugar and blend until puréed. Return purée to the pan and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Cool and serve cold with lemon. Good as a dip or as a sauce with fish.

15 ladles peas
7 ladles lentils
7 ladles chickpeas
7 ladles beans
7 ladles red pepper
2 ladles fresh ginger
2 ladles garlic
3 ladles red shallot
½ ladle rue
¼ ladles savory
½ ladle fenugreek
1 ladle sacred basil
15 pods of cardamom seeds
½ ladle cloves
¼ ladle cumin
¼ ladle bishop's weed
¼ ladle cinnamon
¼ ladle black cumin
¼ ladle black hidar filfile
¼ ladle coriander
3 ladles salt
¼ ladle ''Kebebe Sine''

Clean the peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans and boil them separately in water for a few minutes. Drain and dry them in the sun. When dry, grind them separately into half pieces. Pick out black parts. Mix all the legumes. Prepare red pepper and mix in. Pound fresh ginger, garlic, red shallot, rue and savory together. Dry in the sun.

Roast the fenugreek for a short time. Dry the sacred basil in the sun. Roast the remaining spices for a short time. Mix the pea mixture with the salt and add the remaining spices. Grind this into coarse spices. Grind the whole mixture very finely and keep to use a little at a time. Keeps indefinitely in a dry place.


1 ladle = 10 tbsp. = ¾ cup

½ cup lentils
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
4 oz/100 g mushrooms, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 can clam Chowder
1 cup onion, finely chopped
½ tsp. salt
½ cup cream or evaporated milk
1 egg, beaten lightly

Cook and drain the lentils. Soak the breadcrumbs in water then squeeze out excess. Mix all the ingredients together and spoon into the fish cavity. Bake until the salmon is cooked.

A traditional old English country wine.

4½ lb/2 kg shelled green faba beans, too old and ''black in the eye'' for normal use
1 lemon, thinly pared
7 pints/4 liter water
9 oz/250 g chopped sultanas
cereal yeast and yeast nutrient
(ammonium phosphate+vitamin B1)
2¼ lbs/1 kg white sugar
Campden tablet

Boil the beans and lemon rind in the water for 1 hour, then cool. Strain the liquor onto the chopped sultanas, add the lemon juice, nutrient and active yeast. Ferment in a large covered vessel for 5 days, pressing the fruit down daily. Strain out and press the sultanas, stir in the sugar, pour the must into a fermentation jar, fit an air lock and ferment out. Decant or siphon into a clear jar, add one crushed Campden tablet and when clear decant again. Mature wine for 9 months before bottling and serve it cold and dry.

2 lbs/800 g lentils
7 pints/3½ liter water
1 lemon, thinly pared
9 oz/225 g sultanas, chopped
2 tbsp. strong cold tea
cereal yeast and yeast nutrient
2¼ lbs/900 g white sugar
Campden tablets

Simmer the lentils and lemon rind in water for 1 hour, cool. Strain the liquid into a large vessel (plastic bucket) and add the sultanas, lemon juice, tea, yeast and nutrient. Cover and leave in a warm place to ferment for 1 week, pressing fruit down daily. Strain out and press the sultanas through a muslin cloth, stir in the sugar. When dissolved, transfer the liquid to a fermentation jar with an airlock and ferment out. When fermentation has finished (4 to 6 weeks) pour or siphon the liquid into a clean jar, leaving the sediment behind. Add one crushed Campden tablet. Siphon again and add another tablet, when the wine has fully cleared. The wine should be matured for 6 months before bottling. Serve cool.