Free feast for lovers of fabulous food; food & drink.

Byline: Sheila & Sean

BY NOW, the Liverpool Food Lovers Festival is well under way. The week-long food celebration began in Sefton Park last Sunday and culminates tomorrow in the Hope Street Feast. Hope Street shuts its doors to traffic, instead welcoming an abundance of local food producers and restaurateurs offeringmasses of free tasting and demonstrations.

Last year, 18,000 people turned out, so we're hoping to attract even more people tomorrow.

The Side Door's stall focuses on spices from around the world - and here are a few of the recipes we've been working on before the big day.

First up is a Fish cocktail in yoghurt sauce. You'll need to heat about 3 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy based saucepan and add one finely chopped onion. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the onion is soft and lightly browned.

Add a finely chopped 4cm piece of fresh ginger, 6 finely chopped cloves of garlic, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric and 1 tsp garam masala. Cook and stir for another three minutes.

Next, add 250ml (9 fl oz) thick natural yoghurt and three finely chopped green chillies, bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Now add your fish. We use either cod or halibut, as their firm flesh works well here.

Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through. Be careful not to overcook, though, or the fish will give off a liquid and the yoghurt will split. To finish, sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves.

Here's a recipe for a traditional Indian Rice Pudding.

For six people, you will need: 155g (5oz) basmati rice, 20 cardamom pods, 2.5 litres (4 pints and 8 fl oz) milk, 30g (1oz) flaked almonds, 175g (6oz) caster sugar, 30g (1oz) sultanas.

Wash the rice and then leave to soak for about 30 minutes in cold water. Drain well. Remove the small black seeds from the cardamom pods (by gently crushing them with the back of a large knife) and lightly crush them in a pestle and mortar (or, again, using the back of a large knife).

In a large, heavy-based saucepan, bring the milk to the boil and add the rice and cardamom. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the rice has a creamy consistency. Stir occasionally to stop the rice sticking to the pan.

Brown your almonds on a baking tray in the oven. Add the sugar, almonds and sultanas to the rice and stir. You may want to reserve a few almonds and sultanas to sprinkle over the rice at the end.

Finally, our divine recipe for Crispy Thai spiced Chicken.

Combine in a large mixing bowl 2 lightly beaten egg whites, 3 tbsp flour, 2 red chillies (seeded and finely chopped), 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves, 3 tbsp sesame seeds and 4 fresh shredded lime leaves (you can get fresh lime leaves from Mattas, on Bold Street).

Add 4 chicken breasts, each cut into quarters and mix well to combine all the ingredients..

Leave to marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge.

In a heavy-based sauce or frying pan, heat 2-3 tbsp of peanut oil and fry the chicken pieces for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked through. Try this with a quick Thai dipping sauce by combining 3 tbsp soy sauce with 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice and 1 tbsp soft brown sugar. If any of these whet your appetite, why not see how it's done before you try them yourself and come visit us at Hope Street tomorrow!

SHEILA BENSON and Sean Millar are at The Side Door, 29a Hope Street, Liverpool. Tel: [phone].