What Government organisation interacts with just about every disabled person in the country and should be leading the field on accessibility etc?
Give up? It is our National Health Service and you may already have heard the reports that disabled people are disproportionately dying from Covid. Set aside the arguments about priorities for vaccinations and just consider the mechanics of actually getting one. For me, our glorious NHS stumbled at the first fence: is there any point sending a printed letter to a blind person? Years ago, I’d done as requested and told them how I need information but it was clearly barking at the moon. I realise that I could have waited for contact from my GP but hadn’t had a peep after four days.
Luckily, I had someone around who I could trust to read my mail, take me to the appointment, guide me through the various stages and get me back. But I suspect that there are many others who don’t even know that they’ve been counted towards the target as having been “offered” a vaccination, let alone been able to get it. OK: rant over.
These samosas filled with lightly-curried vegetables follow the theme of eating lots of different plant-based foods – and are also a good way of using anything left over at the end of the week.
1 tablespoon oil.
1 onion, peeled and diced.
2 portions GGG.
2 rounded teaspoons garam masala.
1 teaspoon each cumin and coriander powder.
Half a teaspoon each of turmeric, chilli and paprika powders.
A mix of vegetables cut according to their hardness – carrots small, mushrooms larger.
About 6 tablespoons water
2 rounded soup spoons coconut powder.
12 sheets filo pastry, cut in half lengthwise.
Oil for brushing/spraying.
Sesame seeds to finish.
Gently sauté the onion and GGG in the oil until softened.
Add the curry powders and heat until they smell spicy.
Add the hardest vegetables, followed by the remainder after a minute or two.
Add the water and stir to remove any of the curry powder on the bottom of the pan.
Cover and cook over a gentle heat: the vegetables on the base will be heated while the remainder steam.
When the vegetables are just softened, stir in the coconut powder and remove from the heat. Replace the lid and allow to cool (perhaps overnight in the fridge).
Cut the filo pastry in half lengthwise and keep covered with a damp tea towel while making up the samosas.
Brush a strip of filo with a little oil.
Place a spoonful of the vegetable mix at one end of the strip – in a little and on the right-hand side. Fold the left-hand corner over the filling to create the basic triangle shape.
Fold the triangle away from you, then to the left, away from you again.
You will probably have got nearly to the end of the filo strip so fold over the last pieces, brush with a little oil and dip one side in sesame seeds before placing on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Cook for 10 minutes Gas 4 and then turn over to crisp the underside.
If you don’t have a whole range of ground spices, just the garam masala or a curry paste/mix will do as well.
I used: 2 carrots, 1 sweet potato, 12 French beans, 12 sugar snap peas, 1 red pepper, thinly-sliced broccoli stalks, 2 tomatoes, 5 mushrooms, 1 courgette – whatever you have available – and had some filling left-over.
GGG is ginger, garlic and green chillies (de-seeded) in weight proportions of 8:4:2. Roughly chop and then reduce to a rough paste in a food processor. Divide into teaspoon portions and freeze ready for future curries (Indian, Thai, Sri Lankan etc).
These are quite fragile crisp hot parcels with a moist but not runny filling. They need something “wetter” served with them – perhaps a yoghurt raita or we have delicious home-made and home-grown tomato chilli jam.
