Risotto from the East

Yesterday was a funny old day but one that was typical of how I have spent a lot of January days over the years as during the preceding week I had picked up a bit of a chest infection that had caused me to have a rare day off work and this weekend had still laid me low and disrupted my plans.

Apart from a quick and necessary trip to the hairdressers and a short walk round the block with my dog to try and get my bearings, I was stuck inside. However this didn't stop me from trying out a new cooking project and to help me overcome illness I opted for a risotto using several infection- busting ingredients.

I needed some bright and positive music from my record collection to help me get in the right frame of mind to cook and looked no further than Stevie Wonder's 1976 masterpiece 'Songs in the Key of Life". The album is one the best of all time and you cannot help but love Wonder's infectious enthusiasm for the music and lyrics that comes across throughout its duration. It has everything from infectious funk ("I Wish" "As") to strong and emotive ballads ("Have a talk with God" "Joy Inside My Tears").

I peeled and cut finely a two inch by one inch piece of Ginger Root and then finely sliced two large Garlic bulbs after first topping and tailing the Garlic bulbs. These powerful and tasting fresh ingredients were just the sort of thing to cut through my blocked- up synapses. I then took a bunch of Spring Onions, washed the dirt from them and then cut the bottom parts and the superfluous long stems forming the top parts off them.

I added the ingredients to a frying pan I had first covered the base of with sunflower oil and fried them for around fifteen minutes with half a teaspoon of black pepper, two teaspoons of ground Coriander and the juice of one Lime. Having eaten at numerous oriental restaurants over the years I have found that Lime is a key ingredient of many dishes.

After around fifteen minutes I added eight ounces of risotto rice and stirred it thoroughly into the other ingredients for one minute. I also at this time poured half teaspoon of Soy Sauce into the ingredients. I then added half a pint of vegetable stock and mixed it continuously into the other ingredients. I repeated this trick with a further three half-pints of stock until the rice became soft and bloated but there was still enough liquid in the pan for the ingredients to float in.

The risotto was now ready and I served it with a side dish of Prawn Crackers. The unique, soft taste of the Prawn Crackers coupled with the strong flavours of the Spring Onions, Ginger, Garlic and Lime plus the rich rice and stock made this a dish with plenty of strength and also protein to help me start to shake off my traditional January illness.

The Risotto featuring some tasty Prawn Crackers