So Long Chooks!

We are still in shock.

We have no chickens.

A hole in run and a mass of feathers leads us to believe that it was a fox. We had previously lost 2 chickens to a fox but it had never managed to get in the run before.

But this time, they are all gone, just feathers left, and no sign of how Mr Fox got in or out of the garden. It is the first time in 4 years that we have had no chickens... no more fresh eggs... no more happy cluck, cluck, clucking... and no more slug patrolling munchers.

They weren't 'pets' they didn't have names and we couldn't have picked ours out of a line-up but as a collective they were nice to have around.

The garden is just not the same without them.

So long chooks, and thanks for all the eggs.

Pakora Recipe

I originally got this recipe from the side of a packet of gram flour several years ago. I have adjusted it quite a lot over time to make it more like the pakora we get from Indian take-away shops.

 Ingredients: 

• 8oz Gram Flour
• 1tbsp Sesame Seeds
• 1tbsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tbsp Ground Coriander
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Salt
• Generous splash of Tobasco Sauce (or a tsp of chilli powder or dried chillies)
• 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• 7 fl oz Warm Water

• Vegetable Oil for deep frying.

• 1 onion (finely diced)
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

Directions:

• Sieve the flour and mix with the other dry ingredients

• Add the water a little at a time until you have a thick batter (you probably won't need all the water)

• Stir in the tomato ketchup and tobasco 

• Mix in the onion and veg, stir well until it is evenly coated.

• Heat an inch of oil in a heavy bottomed pot. The oil needs to be really hot but not smoking (NEVER leave a pot of oil unattended - a lesson learned after I had a visit from 14 fireman in my small flat one equally embarrassing and petrifying afternoon)

• Drop the mixture in 1 heaped tsp at a time, several will fit in the pot at once just try not to let them touch at first.

• Give the pakoras a bit of a stir while they are cooking, so they get evenly brown (alternatively you could use double the amount of oil, but I think that is a bit of a waste)

• The pakoras should be cooked in about 4 mins, when they are a lovely red-brown colour.

• Scoop the pakoras out with a slotted spoon and place them on some kitchen towel while cooling and continue with the next batch.

There is enough in this mixture to be a buffet or side dish for up to 8 people, They keep well for a few days in an airtight box in the fridge and make a tasty packed lunch addition.

I like them with a simple dip - my favourite is equal parts mayonnaise and tomato ketchup, but there are numerous dips that pakora goes well with.

Alternatives:

Instead of the onion and veg you could use...

2 onions finely chopped
or

Strips of cooked chicken breast
or

1 onion and a large finely diced potato

or
make the batter a little thinner dip in individual mushrooms, leaves of  spinach, or bite-size chunks of broccoli or cauliflower. 

NB. Gram flour is made from ground chickpeas. It isn't particularly easy to source. We usually buy our gram flour from the Chinese cash-and-carry or from Asian food shops. Most recently I got some from a huge ASDA Wallmart store. You might have some luck in smaller fancy supermarkets in the 'ethnic foods' section. I have seen pakora recipes that say you can use ordinary plain flour instead but I don't agree, I think you should wait until you can get some real gram flour.

Spring Arrives... 6 Weeks Late

We have had an incredibly bad spring in the UK this year, and where we are (up in the Central Scotland hills)  is always behind the rest of the country, even at the best of times.

Our daffodils only opened their heads this weekend.

A long awaited beautiful splash of colour.

The rhubarb is roughly 6 weeks behind schedule. We usually have our first crumble in March.

Forced rhubarb; not quite enough for a crumble just yet.

Tomorrow is the 1st of May and really the whole garden should be much further on than it now is, but still... better late than never. When Spring does decide to get going I am going to have loads of seeds to plant and catching up to do.

The single biggest headache of it all is the darned chickens. Remember we got 2 new hens back in February? well so far they have laid a total of 3 eggs. Our old ladies aren't doing much better, but at least they are laying a reasonable size of egg.

Our new girls lay eggs about 1/3 the size of our old ladies eggs.

We are down from our expected 4 eggs a day to just 2 eggs a week for the past 2 months. I'm suffering omelette withdrawal symptoms and Small would kill for a plate of pancakes.

As long as they have enough food and water and the occasional chance to roam freely we are the best of friends and they should usually lay 1 egg each per day during all but the worst weather.

Come on chickens.. shake a leg

Today is gloriously sunny and the mini-holding (and for that matter I) would be much better off with a few weeks of this, thank-you very much.