Meghan Markle launches cookbook for victims of Grenfell Tower fire

The Duchess of Sussex has launched a cookbook for charities to raise funds for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Together: Our Community Cookbook features women's recipes that are part of the Hubb Community Kitchen, which was created to help the hundreds of people who became homeless after the devastating Grenfell Tower fire.

The duchess was joined yesterday by her husband, Prince Harry, and her mother, Doria Ragland, to Kensington Palace to celebrate the launch of Together – And she also helped prepare lunch for the guests.

Meghan Markle launches cookbook for survivors of Grenfell Tower

Meghan first thought of the recipe idea after going to the community kitchen of the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Center in North Kensington in January of this year, before marrying the prince. Harry in May and continued to visit the cooks in the following months. .

Here, a group of women gathered to cook in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire and, with the duchess, they decided to create the cookbook.

"I had just moved to London and I felt so immediately welcomed by the women in the kitchen – your warmth, your kindness and also to be able to be in this city and see in this little room how c & rsquo; Was multicultural. "Meghan said yesterday at the launch party.

The Duchess of Sussex celebrated the launch of the recipe book by delivering her first public address as Duchess, before attending a lunch with some of the book's dishes: "Working on this project for nine months has been a tremendous job for me. # 39; love ".

Speaking under a marquee at Perk's Field near Kensington Palace, she said about the heads of families: "On a personal level, I am so proud to live in a city that can have so much diversity – 12 countries. "

The duchess quickly set up, preparing the food that was arranged on trestle tables, distributing green rice and then turning chapatis, then observing kebabs of kofta to brown them evenly.

Guests sat down to homemade dishes from the new recipe book: chicken curry with coconut, eggplant masala and a range of shared chapatis and dips, caramelized plum cake and spicy mint tea.

The Duchess wrote the preface for Together, which is now available in bookstores and online.

In her speech, which was done without notes, Meghan thanked everyone involved, adding, "On a personal note, I am especially grateful to you for this is my first project, so I appreciate your support and the vision I had to come to fruition.

"Everyone embraced it so deeply, because it was a project of passion for all of us – and for a very good reason. I've said in the foreword that it's more than a cookbook, and what I mean by that, is that the power of food is more than just the meal itself, that's the story.

"And when you get to know the story of the recipe, you get to know the person behind it, and that's what we're talking about in terms of gathering, dialogue and celebration of what connects us rather than what divides us.

"I think it's the ethic of Together. "

Here are some recipes from the book:

Gurmit Kaur's Aubergine Masala, from Hubb Community Kitchen – serves four

ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• 2 large aubergines, cut into cubes of 4 cm
• 350g new potatoes, cut in half
• 2 tbsp. Cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 dried curry leaves
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon of garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon of ginger paste
• 1 C. Turmeric tea
• 4 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 200 ml of water
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

For rice

• 600 ml of water
• pinch of salt
• 300 g of basmati rice

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the eggplants and fry them, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Pour the eggplants in a large bowl and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add 1 tablespoon of oil to the saucepan. Add the potatoes and fry them, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Add the sautéed potatoes with eggplant and set aside.

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the seeds of cumin, mustard and fenugreek and grill until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Then add the rest of the oil and, when it is hot, add the onion and curry leaves and fry them for 10 minutes until they are tender and golden.

Add the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic paste, the ginger paste, the turmeric and the tomatoes. Bake for about 5 minutes, until the tomato juice has evaporated and the mixture starts to dry in the pan.

Meanwhile, prepare the rice. Put the water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice, reduce the heat slightly, cover and boil for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat by holding the lid firmly and let stand for 10 minutes.

Add the aubergines and fried potatoes to the curry pan with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add half of the chopped coriander and mix.

Remove the rice lid and inflate it with a fork. Serve next to the curry, sprinkled with remaining coriander

Coconut Chicken Curry, by Aysha Bora, from Hubb Community Kitchen – Serves Four

ingredients

• 1 large chicken, assembled into 8 pieces, excess skin being cut
• 1 large ripe tomato, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion cut in four
• 15g fresh ginger roots, peeled
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 6 serrano peppers, stems removed and seeded (use less if you prefer softer curries)
• 2 tbsp. Ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 C. Turmeric tea
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 2 boxes of 400 ml of coconut milk
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half
• juice of ½ lemon
• salt and pepper
• 10g chopped fresh coriander to garnish
• rice, chapatis or flat breads, to serve

Method

Mark each piece of chicken in two or three places, slicing about 1 cm into the meat.

Pour the tomato, onion, ginger, garlic, chilies, cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt and pepper in a food processor and mix to obtain a rough dough. Rub one-third of the dough on all the chicken, in the cups and under the skin; reserve the rest of the mixture. Refrigerate the chicken for at least 1 hour or until 5 hours.

Preheat the grill to the maximum and garnish with a large platter of foil.

In a large saucepan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat; Add the remaining dough and cook stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until all moisture evaporates. Increase the heat slightly and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the dough is thick and dark. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the sauce is thick.

Meanwhile, put the marinated chicken, skin up, into the garnished pan and grill for 15 minutes, until it is well colored and charred, then flip the chicken and grill another 5 minutes. to cook well.

Stir in chicken and juice in the pan of curry, simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes until the flavors are combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add the boiled eggs and lemon juice to taste. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with rice, chapatis or flatbreads.

Faiza Hayani Bellili's caramelized plum spoiled cake from the Hubb community kitchen – serves eight to ten people

ingredients

• 2 teaspoons of sunflower oil, for greasing
• 300g of granulated sugar
• 100 g unsalted butter, very sweet
• ½ c. To vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 8 plums, cut in half and pitted
• 40g dark brown soft sugar
• 2 beaten eggs
• 25g of corn flour
• 50g almond powder
• 100g of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 ° C. Grease a 23 cm round cake pan with sunflower oil and place on a baking sheet.

For caramel, pour 225 g caster sugar into a large, heavy saucepan over low heat. Without stirring, let the sugar dissolve completely. Once liquid, let it bubble gently for 15 to 20 minutes or until it becomes golden. Add 10 g of butter, half of the vanilla extract and salt, gently stirring the pan to combine the butter by melting. When fully incorporated, immediately remove from heat and pour the caramel into the prepared cake pan. Place the plum halves on top, cut the side down, block well together and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the remaining butter with the remaining granulated sugar and brown sugar until obtaining a pale and creamy paste: it will take 2 to 3 minutes to l '. help with a portable electric whip; if you do not have one, use a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Once the eggs are well combined, add the remaining vanilla extract, corn flour, ground almonds, flour and yeast to the bowl and fold with a spoon until that they are well mixed. plums. Smooth on the top and then bake for 40 to 45 minutes until complete cooking: a thin skewer inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean.

Transfer the cake to a rack and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning it on a platter. To do this, place the serving plate on the mold and turn it over before releasing the sides of the box and removing the base. Let the cake cool for another 5 minutes before slicing.

From Together: Our Community Cookbook (Ebury Press, £ 9.99). Photograph of Jenny Zarins.