Mai Yaki (Valley Food)

​Parrot seasoned with mountain pepper berries and leaves garnished with native raspberry sauce and river mint leaf served on a bed of buttered mixed grains flavoured with native thyme on a multigrain murromurro johnnycake.
Recipe
Serves two people

Ingredients
• Parrot 2 birds
• Millet tbs
• Barley 2tbs
• Flaxseed 1tbs
• Sesame seed 1tsp
• Native Thyme 1/4 tsp
• Native raspberry jam 2tbs
• Butter 1 tbs
• Mountain Pepper leaves ground 1/2 tsp
• Mountain Pepper berry ground 1/4 tsp
• Sea salt 1/2 tsp
• River mint 2 leaves
• Macadamia oil 1 Tbs
• Mara Murdumurdu Flatbread Qty 4

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Equipment
• Kampa kuru Saucepan
• Kuru Bowl
• Tadli tadli frying pan
• Pakipakiti Knife
• Tarralyi Chopping board
• Karnkarnkati Spoon
• Pardupamamati Folk


Prepration
  1. Pre-make the Mara Murdumurdu Flatbread before making the filling. You can make the Mara Murdumurdu Flatbread 1 or 2 days before but it is always nicer fresh and warm.
  2. You can buy native currant jam or you can make your own jam. How to make native currant jam. You will need a clean jam jar with a lid, spoon, a sauce pan, two cups of fresh native currant fruit, half a cup of white sugar and 1 cup of water. Place the fresh native currant in a saucepan with the water and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the native currant become a soft sauce. Add the half a cup of sugar and stir until the sauce becomes thick and sticks to the spoon. While the sauce is still hot, pour the sauce into a jam jar and seal the jar with the lid. When the sauce cools it will set as jam. The jam should keep in a sealed jar for 12 months. If you open the jar keep it in the refrigerator.


Cooking
  1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degree celsius
  2. Take the parrots and coat the birds skin in a marinate of macadamia oil, Murray River salt, dried native basil, ground mountain pepper berries and leaf. After you have coated the birds in the indigenous spices put the parrots in the oven for 1 hour or until the pigeon is cooked. the skin of parrots should be crispy. There should be no sign of blood but the meat should be moist not dry,
  3. While the parrots is roasting in the oven. Take a saucepan and add the Millet, Barley, Flaxseed, Sesame seed and the water. Boil the grains for 20 mins until the barley and the millet is cooked. Strain off any excess water from the grain.
  4. Add the diced native thyme, two diced mint leaves and a tablespoon of butter into the grains. Stir the ingredients through the grains well. Now the grains are ready.
  5. Take the parrots out of the oven after one hour and remove the meat off the bone. Cut the meat and the skin into nice size pieces
  6. Finally to serve. Take a warm Mara Murdumurdu Flatbread and fill it with the grains and the parrots. Top the sliced parrots with the native currant jam and garnish with river mint leaves. Season with some mountain pepper and murray river salt to taste. Enjoy!