I like to butter the base for a super toasty finish without it getting too dry (I use soft vegan butter from a tub or you can use regular butter if you’re not vegan). These vegan sesame toasts are loosely based on the much-loved Sesame Prawn Toasts or Shrimp Toasts you get in Chinese restaurants.

So what replaces the shrimp?

I spent ages thinking about what could replace the sticky shrimp that tops the bread before it gets dipped in a sea of creamy-coloured sesame seeds. Mogo (also known as cassava) was the winning answer! The rich texture of mashed mogo (pronounced Muhogo in Swahili to those from East Africa) is the perfect natural glue to capture hundreds of tiny sesame seeds. It also has a neutral flavour so you can spice up the mixture however you like. I went for a bit of a Desi Chinese/Indo Chinese mix, using ginger, spring onions, chillies, coriander, lemon juice and soy sauce. You can also add a pinch of garam masala or Chinese 5-spice if you like. After slathering sliced white bread (or brown bread if you prefer that) with the spiced mogo mash, I pressed it face-down in a sea of sesame so it stuck to it like beads to glue. It reminded me so much of doing arts and crafts at school! Of course, you can use any bread you like, as long as it’s thin or medium thick slices from a loaf. Super chunky rolls might throw the bread:filling:sesame ratio off.

The beauty of these golden toast triangles is that they’re not deep fried like conventional sesame toast from takeaways and restaurants. I popped them right into the basket of my air fryer for a crazy-crispy finish without all the grease. They’re light, buttery and so perfect as a party starter or just with chai. If I was throwing a vegetarian Indo-Chinese dinner, I’d make these Air Fryer Mogo Toasts alongside Chilli Paneer, Vegetable Momos, Garlic Mogo, and Tofu Noodles.

It’s such a simple recipe to make.

I start by boiling frozen mogo (cassava) in salted water until very tender, then drain and mash immediately using a potato masher. You can use fresh, peeled mogo if you have access to that. If not, pick up a bag in the frozen section of your local supermarket. It is sometimes labelled Yuca too. The reason why you need to mash it straight away is because as it cools, the starches in the mogo get to work, making it difficult to mash effectively. I don’t recommend using a food processor because it will become glue-like in consistency. Just go in with a potato masher and remember that a few small lumps are fine.

Next, I add the following ingredients: finely chopped spring onions (white and green parts), chopped chillies, grated ginger, lemon juice, chopped fresh coriander, light soy sauce and a little bit of salt if required. Taste the mixture to see if it needs the salt before you add it as the soy sauce is salty. Like potatoes, mogo calls for a generous amount of seasoning. You can also add a pinch or two of garam masala or Chinese 5-spice if you like but it’s great without if you don’t have it. I personally like to make it without. Give everything a good mix.

Now, take a slice of bread and butter one side with softened butter. I use softened vegan butter from a tub but you can also use regular butter if you’re not vegan. This buttered side will be the base of the toast. Place it on a plate, buttered side down (some of the butter might come off onto the plate a little but don’t worry about that). Spread the naked (unbuttered) side with 2-3 tablespoons of the spice mogo mash and use a knife or the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly. Be sure to take it right to the edges of the bread.

Pour out some sesame seeds on to a separate plate and place the bread, mogo face down right on top of the seeds to encrust the entire surface. Pick the bread up and make sure all the seeds are pressed in (be gentle!). Set aside and repeat for the remaining bread slices. My recipe should make 6 full slices of toast (to be cut into triangles later) but it will depend on the size of your bread slices. In any case, the recipe should feed 4-6 people as a starter/appetizer.

Pre-heat your air fryer to 200ºC for 3 minutes to get it nice and hot and place your first slice directly into the basket, sesame side up. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until nicely golden all over. You can remove it halfway to dab some extra butter on top for extra toasty sesame seeds but that’s a personal choice. Remove from the air fryer using a large flat spatula and with a sharp knife, slice into four even triangles. Repeat this process for the remaining toasts. You can keep the toasts warm in a low oven while you make the rest. Serve immediately, garnished with extra chopped spring onion greens.

Don’t have an air fryer? Cook the toasts in a conventional oven at 200ºC. Just place the slices on an oven-safe wire rack with a baking tray underneath. This will ensure the heat circulates around the toast evenly, preventing a soggy base.

Ready for the recipe? Let’s go!

Print

Air-Fryer Sesame Mogo Toast

My lighter, vegan take sesame prawn toast using lightly-spiced cassava or mogo.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine African, American, Indian

Keyword african, cassava, healthy, mogo, vegan

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 6 slices white or wholemeal bread
• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 40 g white sesame seeds
• 250 g frozen mogo (also known as cassava or yuca)
• 2 spring onions (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 chillies (finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Extra chopped spring onion greens, for garnishing

Instructions

• 1. Boil the mogo in salted water until tender. Drain and mash whilst hot (it won't mash if it's cold). You're after a puréed texture but some small lumps are fine. A potato masher is the best tool for this - don't use a food processor or it will become like wallpaper paste.
• 2. Add the spring onions, chilli, ginger, lemon juice, coriander, soy sauce and salt. Mix thoroughly.
• 3. Spread one side of a bread slice with butter. Flip it over and spread 2-3 tbsp of the mashed mogo mixture on top, right to the edges. Repeat for all of the bread slices. Remember, the buttered side should be on the base.
• 4. Place the sesame seeds on a plate and place the cassava side of the bread face down, directly into the sesame seeds to encrust the entire surface. Pick the slice up and keep aside on a tray whilst you repeat for the remaining slices.
• 5. Place the toast in the air fryer at 200°C/400°F for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. I had to cook one at a time due to the space limitations in my air fryer. You can also cook in a pre-heated oven at 200°C/400°F for 10-12 minutes or until crispy.
• Slice into triangles and serve sprinkled with extra spring onion greens. I love these with chai but they also make for a delicious starter for parties.

Love Sanjana

The post Air Fryer Sesame Mogo Toasts appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

These East African-style Mogo Chips are a childhood favourite. It’s the kind of food we’d prepare if we have guests coming over because it’s so simple to throw together. I’ve also never met anyone who doesn’t love fluffy mogo.

Mogo (a.k.a Cassava) is a staple carb in Africa, in many parts of South America where it is known as Yucca and of course, in my house. Countless Indian restaurants all over the UK serve it up in all kinds of ways, popular choices being Tandoori and Indo-Chinese style (with soy sauce). Personally, I think the simpler it is, the better.

What I love about mogo is its earthy flavour, which truly comes to life when it’s gently steamed or boiled. It’s so distinct, you’d know within a split second that someone is making ‘bafelo mogo’ (steamed cassava). It reminds me both of the beautiful Mombasa sunshine and eating as a family.

I cook cassava in lots of different ways, all ones I was taught by my mum when I was a little girl. I hope one day I can proudly say I’ve shared them all with you. My favourite is a mogo and coconut stew recipe, which I’ll post up soon.

Aside from the fried or grilled with a sprinkling of salt kind of mogo, this is probably the simplest mogo recipe I make. It has very few ingredients but is loaded with flavour. Heaps of garlic, chilli and lime make it the perfect party recipe to share with friends and family – there’s hardly any prep involved and everyone can just tuck in from a large platter.

For the perfect Sunday afternoon snack, serve with a cup of hot masala chai. I’ll share my recipe for that in the next post.

This is going to be delicious.

Chilli, Lime and Garlic Mogo
Serves 6

Ingredients

1kg fresh or frozen mogo (also known as cassava or yucca) – peeled if fresh
70g salted butter
1 tbsp sunflower oil
6 large cloves garlic, crushed
4-5 chillies (more or less according to taste)
½ tsp red chilli flakes
2 tbsp cumin seeds
Salt, to taste
Juice of 2 limes, zest of 1
Chopped coriander to garnish
Lime wedges, to garnish

Method

1. Chop the mogo in to bite sized chips. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the mogo. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain in a colander and allow to cool and steam to evaporate for 15-20 minutes.

2. Heat the butter and oil in a large wok (the oil will stop the butter burning). Add the cumin seeds and garlic. Cook for 1 minute before adding the chillies, mogo and salt.

3. Allow to cook, tossing every 2 minutes until golden all over. Finish with the lime juice and zest.

4. Garnish with fresh coriander and lime wedges.

Serve with masala chai and enjoy with friends.

Love Sanjana

The post Chilli, Lime and Garlic Mogo appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Oh how I’ve missed all of you and your amazing comments! I’ve been itching to get back to cooking and blogging and now exams and university are over I’m here to fatten you all up again! My brain is currently swollen with confusion, not knowing what to do next. After seventeen years of full-time education it’s time to close the gate on that part of my life and open a new one leading to a future full of new adventures, ideas and possibilities. First on my list of priorities is to get back to my favourite hobby- blogging and sharing recipes with you.

During the past few days I’ve been basking in the sunshine and enjoying the usually short-lived English summertime. In this type of hot weather I love to eat light dishes like salads, cold pasta, rice and other grain pilafs and lots of fruit juice. In order to spend as much time outside as possible, quick dishes are essential. Eating outside is something I cannot even remember doing (how can it have been that long? Utter madness!) Just watch out for bees, wasps and accidently swallowing flies (might be a delicacy in some places but definitely not in the East Midlands).

This recipe for Hot and Sour Tamarind Cassava is an East African inspired dish which I urge you to make at least once. It is so simple, so light and sooo delicious. I created it on a whim (which is how I like to create most things), and was so pleased with the results that I knew I had to share the recipe with my readers. The recipe was inspired by a dish called Khatta Bateta (a hot and sour potato dish made with green mangoes) which is a favourite in my family of East African descendants. I am crazy about cassava (a.k.a ‘mogo’) and love to experiment with various flavour combinations like this. This recipe took me about 35 minutes to make and it was perfect for a hot day. I hear you ask, ‘hot food on a hot day can’t be good can it?’ Of course it can, silly. Hot food somewhat cools the body down and also releases those feel-good endorphins. Although if you don’t like too much heat, feel free to add less chilli. Just remember that this is hot and sour cassava. Traditionally, dishes like these are topped with things like fresh coriander, crushed potato chips/crisps or Bombay mix, chopped spring onions, chopped chillies and roasted peanuts or cashews. These toppers add so many interesting flavours and textures to the dish- play around and discover your own favourites.

Hot and Sour Tamarind Cassava
(Serves 4 hungry people)

Ingredients

800g cassava, peeled, cubed and boiled until al dente (or just boil some frozen cassava and cut it into pieces- Guess which one I did…)
1 ½ tsp ginger, minced
5 hot green chillies, minced (or according to taste)
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
6-8 curry leaves
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp asafoetida (optional)
1 ½ tbsp concentrated tomato puree
5 cups hot water
2 tsp tamarind pulp
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste (to balance the hot and sour)
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped
¼ cup spring onions, chopped (optional)
Plus crushed Bombay mix, crushed potato chips/crisps, peanuts, extra chilli etc according to your liking.

Method

1. In a jug or bowl, whisk together the hot water, tamarind pulp and tomato paste. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, ginger, garlic and chillies. Sauté until aromatic.

3. Add the tamarind/tomato water to the pan and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.

4. Add the cassava pieces and boil for a further 10 minutes. Season with salt and sugar and remember to keep tasting it. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. By this time the starch from the cassava should have slightly thickened the sauce. If not, remove 4-5 pieces of cassava, mash them and re-add them to the pan and stir thoroughly.

5. Add the chopped coriander and serve with all of your favourite toppers.

The dish is perfect for lunch or a light dinner on a hot summer day!

Two words…

Make. This.

The post Hello and Hot and Sour Tamarind Cassava appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.