Stir-Fried Courgettes with Sesame Seeds

 

Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery was given to me by Jenny Stevens  as a parting gift after we had stayed with her and her husband David some years ago. It is a lovely reminder  of their warm hospitality. The book accompanied the BBC  Televison series of the same name and Jenny was both the producer for the TV series and the book editor.

And this was the first recipe I cooked from it, a Korean dish called Hobak Namul.It is described as a mild dish which goes well with any Asian meal as well as with roasted and grilled meats. And good even with sausages and hamburgers.

I like to eat it as a light vegetarian lunch, perhaps with some Korean sushi.

Ingredients:

1 kg of courgettes
2 teaspoons of salt
4 cloves of garlic
1 spring onion
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 1/2 tablespoons of roasted sesame seeds.

In the original recipe the courgettes are salted and soaked but I skip this part and simply slice them.But they do need to be young and fresh or they will taste bitter.

Then I slice the spring onion ( both the bulb and green leaves) into fine rounds.

I toast the sesame seeds in a dry hot fry pan. This doesn't take long at all and the secret is to watch over them carefully as they can easily burn.

I peel the garlic, chop it finely and  fry it in a hot frying pan ( as I don't have a wok) until it begins to have started to brown lightly at the edges by this stage)

Then I add 1 teaspoon of salt ( or to taste) and the spring onion and sesame oil and give them a stir. The roasted sesame seeds are now also quickly stirred in and the dish is ready to be served.I think it tastes best straight out of the pan, or warm but definitely not cooler than room temperature, so I would avoid putting any left overs  in the fridge.

A small variation would be to add a few red chilli flakes or a sliced red chilli at the same time as the spring onions. That would warm it up more!

I am looking forward to joining the I Heart Cooking Club this week and am really looking forward to the weekly challenge of cooking/adapting a Madhur Jaffrey recipe.