Permalloo - Sunshine on a plate: simple, vibrant cooking to warm the heart

Bring some sunshine into your kitchen

The best food always brings you back home and for MasterChef winner Shelina, home is Mauritius, a land of sea and surf, warmth and sunshine. Shelinas dazzling food is inspired by her Mauritian heritage, and Sunshine on a Plate showcases a stunning array of simple, subtly spiced dishes from street food like chilli cakes to comforting curries; from fresh fish dishes such as spiced red snapper to rich stews like beef with papaya; from succulent vegetables to enticing desserts, including mango, rum and lime syllabub.

With 120 family-friendly, time-saving recipes and beautiful location photography, Sunshine on a Plate takes you on a voyage of discovery to an exciting new world of flavours and tastes.

Shelina Permalloo grew up in Southampton with her Mauritian parents and siblings. Inspired to cook by her mother and aunt, preparing and cooking traditional Mauritian food made her feel close to her family and her heritage. It was only in 2011 that she decided to follow her heart and gave up a career in diversity and equality to enter the MasterChef competition. Since winning the title, she has cooked at the Good Food Shows and now plans to open her own restaurant serving Mauritian food. She lives in Tooting, London.

I am in love with gajaks. You may not be familiar with this quirky word. Gajak is a Mauritian Creole word that is the catch-all term for any food eaten before a main meal, or food that is snacked on during the day. It is similar to what the Italians call aperitivi or Spanish tapas: wonderful small plates of food served at a bar to nibble alongside your cold beer, glass of wine, or campari and soda. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to graze, particularly when I am at a restaurant: I much prefer to pick at lots of small dishes than sit down to a huge plateful. I find it a great way to eat as you get to sample lots of different foods without feeling too full.

Mauritian gajaks cover everything from small snacks eaten at home to delicious street food, but whatever form they take, the point is sharing. What could be better than enjoying a few drinks and some gajaks with friends and family? One of the most popular gajaks eaten in Mauritius is also my favourite: Gteaux Piments (see ), thin slices of aubergine in a chickpea flour batter, eaten with a hot chilli sauce. You can find gajaks across Mauritius in most small shops and bars, arranged in glass cabinets, along with a range of plastic dishes containing the condiments to go with them.

The ultimate street food in Mauritius is Dal Puri (see ). Street food vendors sell these wonderful flat breads everywhere, made with thin layers of ground yellow split peas to give an almost flaky consistency, filled with butter bean curry, chilli sauce and fresh coriander chutney. One of my fondest memories is of sitting on the beach with my sister when a street vendor drove past us on his moped with a container at the back. We quickly flagged him down and ordered our dal puri with all the extras. We sat back on the beach and watched the waves as we tucked into our favourite snack, not caring that all the juices were dripping on to our clothes. A perfect, memorable moment.

You can serve gajaks as you would a mezze, with a range of small plates to share, either to accompany some delicious cocktails and drinks (see ) or as part of a relaxed dinner party or al fresco meal.

There is a flourishing Sino-Mauritian community in Mauritius and its influence can be seen in many of the islands staple dishes. This gajak has a definite Chinese flavour and is quite possibly one of the easiest snacks to make. In Mauritius youll come across this dish all the time. The eggs work perfectly with cocktails or a light beer before a dinner party.

10 large eggs

500ml dark soy sauce

200ml oyster sauce

TO GARNISH

red onion, finely chopped

2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

3 tbsp freshly chopped coriander

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and hard-boil the eggs for about 810 minutes. Rinse under cold water and when cool enough to handle, remove the shells.
2. Put the soy sauce and oyster sauce in a bowl and add the peeled eggs. Leave to steep for at least 45 hours.
3. When you are ready to serve, slice the eggs into quarters and arrange on a large plate. Scatter with the red onion, chilli and coriander.

These are a bit fiddly but making your own samosas at home is one of the most satisfying things you can do. Do as my Mum does: make them in bulk and freeze them so you always have them handy when guests come over.

1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for deep-frying

1 shallot

1 tbsp Ginger and Garlic Paste (see )

4 curry leaves

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp Mauritian curry powder (see )

3 white potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2.5cm cubes

75g frozen peas

1 tbsp freshly chopped coriander

1 red birds eye chilli, finely chopped

20 samosa wrappers or 1 packet of filo pastry (see )

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the shallot until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic paste and then the curry leaves, ground cumin and Mauritian curry powder. Cook for about 1 minute, add the potatoes and cover immediately with a lid (the idea is to steam the potatoes a bit). Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, check the mixture and if you find it too dry add a little bit of water to prevent it sticking to the pan. Remember: this isnt a curry, it should be thick enough to fill the samosas. When you notice the potato starting to break down, add the peas and cook for about 5 minutes they just need to take on the spicy flavours from the pan. Add the fresh coriander and chopped chilli and season to taste.
3. To fill the samosas, take a samosa wrapper and place a tablespoon of the mixture at the top left corner of the rectangle. Fold the top right corner over the mixture to make a triangle. Fold this triangle over and keep going until you have a samosa. To bind the samosa together and to make sure the mixture doesnt come out, dab the corners with some water: this will act like a glue to stick the corners down. Be patient once you have made a few youll find a rhythm!