New Year's Eve canapés: Spiced blinis with smoked salmon and tom yum coke recipe

Ingredients

For the Blinis:

150 grams plain flour

75 grams buckwheat flour

10 grams dried yeast

1 teaspoon garam masala

300 millilitres milk

10 grams sugar

1 egg yolk plus 2 extra egg whites

1 tablespoon chopped coriander

For the salmon:

2 small sides of salmon

Large bunch of coriander

Large bunch of dill

600 grams sugar

300 grams rock salt

6 tablespoons gin

4 Indian bay leaves

6 tablespoons coriander seeds, roasted and crushed

6 tablespoons cumin seeds, roasted and crushed

2 tablespoons chilli flakes

1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed

Zest of 2 limes

For the spiced crab and coconut:

200 grams fresh crab meat, flaked

Bunch coriander, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely diced

Juice of ½ lime

Zest of ½ lime

2 spring onions, finely sliced

2 tablespoons coconut cream

Fish sauce, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Salt, to taste

For the Tom Yum coke

Coke

Brandy (optional)

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 3 limes

¼ cup sugar

Salt

1 stem of galangal, lightly crushed

1 stem lemongrass, lightly crushed

Kafir lime leaves, lightly crushed

2 birds eye chillies, sliced

Method

For the blinis, sift both the flours and add the yeast and garam masala.

Heat the milk gently until just warm. Whisk in the egg yolk and the sugar.

Allow the sugar to dissolve then pour on to the flours. Combine thoroughly to make a paste. Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks, then fold them into the yeast mixture along with the coriander.

Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature. Heat a non stick frying pan over a medium heat and drop in tablespoons of the batter, do not overcrowd in the pan.

Cook until the underside is golden approximately 40 seconds, then flip over with a flexible palette knife and continue to cook the other side for another 30 seconds.

Drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining batter and keep the blinis warm until you are ready to serve.

For the salmon, mix all the cure ingredients together. Smother on to the meat side of the salmon. Sandwich the salmon sides together, with the skin on the outside. Wrap well in foil. Pierce the foil all over with a knife, be careful not to pierce the salmon.

Lay the salmon in a tray to catch the juices. Weigh down with some full tins.

Leave in the fridge to marinade for 24/48 hours. A lot of liquid will come out of the salmon as it cures. Remove from the fridge and scrape off the cure, thinly slice to serve.

For the spiced crab and coconut, mix the crab meat with the coriander, chilli, lime juice and zest and spring onions. Stir the spices into the coconut cream. Pile onto the blinis. For the Tom Yum coke, simply mix together all the ingredients in a glass with plenty of ice.