CARROT STIR FRY

This is pretty simple to prepare and does not involved grinding. Despite its easy method, this is truly delicious and healthy stir fry. Moong dhal is added along with carrot. The dhal is soaked then boiled until soft but still retains its shape.

Besides moong dhal you could substitute with grated coconut, using the same method.This vegetable dish is great if served with rice, capati or roti as the side dish.

CARROT STIR FRY

4 Medium carrot
1 Big onion
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp split black gram (urad dhal)
1 tsp cumin seed
2 green chili
2 dry chili
1/2 C moong dhal (soaked and boiled)
2 T cooking oil
salt to taste
curry leaves

METHOD

* Scrap the outer skin of the carrot, cut into small pieces. Slice the onion and green chili.

* Heat the oil, add the mustard seed, when it pops up, add urad dhal, cumin seed , stir until urad dhal turns light brown.

* Now add the onion, green chili, dry chili and curry leaves, cook until the onion is translucent.

* Add the carrot and salt, stir and add a few spoons of water, cook until carrot turns soft using medium heat and close the lid.

* Now add the cooked moong dhal, stir well and remove.

OATMEAL BREAD

For a change we baked this Oatmeal Bread, most of the time I did sweet bread on a regular basis. I need new and healthier ways to bake bread. This seems a perfect recipe to add to my collection.

After going through various sources, I re-create them since most recipes called for molasses, soaking the oat for several hours and using bread machine. I opt for brown sugar and used butter instead of shortening, done it manually.

When heating the milk and the rest of ingredients you could use microwave but make sure they are not piping hot. If not cool down to lukewarm before proceeding.

This recipe is still among my absolute favorite yeast bread recipes. It turns out great with nutty flavor of oat, right amount of salt and lightly sweetened. It's my hearty breakfast of the day!

OATMEAL BREAD
Yield  :   One loaf

2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/4 C warm water
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
3/4 C milk
1 C rolled oat
1 tsp salt
3 T brown sugar
2 T shortening
1 tsp sugar

METHOD

* Combine water, 1tsp sugar and yeast in a small bowl, let stand for 15 minutes until frothy.

* In a glass bowl, combine milk, oat, salt, brown sugar and shortening, heat until lukewarm using microwave oven.

* In a mixing bowl, combine milk mixture and yeast, gradually add the flour until stiff dough is formed.

* Knead by hand for 10 minutes or use stand mixer until elastic.

* Transfer dough onto oiled and covered bowl, let rise for 1 1/2-2 hours.

* Punch the dough, flatten into rectangle then fold into 3. Shape into loaf.

* Place the dough into greased 9 x 5 loaf pan, covered and let sit for 60 minutes. Towards the end of rising time, preheat the oven @ 190 C.

* Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove and cool on rack.

Linking to  Yeastspotting 10-29-10
                 Bread Baking Day 34 : Bread With Grains
                 Bakers Sunday 4 

HOT & SPICY FRIED CHICKEN

Any time of the day, fried chicken sounds great and appetizing snack for chicken lovers especially the aroma at the time you're frying them. It is a great appetizer or side dish to serve along with main course. It is quite easy to prepare, just require time for marinating, the longer time it takes will make them more tastier.

Using dry chili but chili powder works well too, adjust to suit your taste. If you're using wet blender, kindly add some water to grind. In case the lemon grass is not available at your place, do omit them, this is for fragrance only.

This is my favorite recipe, do you believe that one of my sons can complete them in one sitting. What you need are:

HOT FRIED CHICKEN

12 pieces chicken drumstick/breast
salt to taste
oil for shallow frying

GRIND

1 in ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 stalk lemon grass
15 dry chili - soak to soften
1 tsp turmeric powder

METHOD

* Place cleaned chicken, ground ingredients and salt in a bowl. Mix well.

* Marinate for at least 1 hour in a refrigerator.

* Heat the oil, shallow fry the marinated chicken until both sides turn golden brown. Transfer onto plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

* Serve hot.

BAKED POTATO WEDGES

Once a while, my kids love to eat western food and instead of buying from popular fast food joint, I cook my own, not only cost effective but healthier and delicious.

For the potato, you could leave the skin on but I peeled them, first half the potato, then cut into wedges. If possible cut almost all the same size to ensure even baking. Do adjust the chili used according to your taste. These tasted great even without any chili or tomato sauce, just eat on its own.

MILK ROLLS

As you all know the aroma of homemade roll is irresistible. These are really easy to prepare and the taste is far superior from the store bought. These could easily serve as a snack, lunch or party food and you can decide how big or small you want them to be.

Kneading is essential for bread making in order to develop gluten, you need about 10 minutes to do this which help rolls to retain the shape and accumulate a volume of carbon dioxide gas while rising. Try not the add too much flour during shaping and rolling. This makes the dough tougher.

Rising or proofing brings out flavor especially from the yeast. If your kitchen is on cool side, leave the dough in the oven with pilot light on.

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I'd been searching for perfect and low fat chocolate chip cookies which are chewy but soft inside. This recipe really fits my taste. This is good for those who are egg-allergic

You could use 2 cups of all purpose flour but I used only one and half cup of flour, the balance is half cup of rolled oat, just run them in a mixie.

The texture of the dough is great, easily shape and with this dough I got about 45 cookies. It's all depend on the size you've made.

Used milk to combine but you could add water if you prefer. My family loves this cookies so it will be regular on our dining table.

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 and 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C rolled oat (grind)
1/2 C sugar (if you want it sweeter use 3/4 C)
1/2 C melted butter or oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C chocolate chip
1/2 C milk/water
1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

* Sift flour and baking powder.

* Combine flour, oat, salt, chocolate chip and baking powder in a mixing bowl.

* In a small bowl, beat butter, vanilla with sugar until well blended.

* Pour butter mixture onto flour and mix until pliable dough is formed. Preheat oven @ 180 C.

* Drop teaspoonful of dough onto non greased baking sheet, bake about 8-10 minutes until light brown.

* Cool on pan 5 minutes, transfer onto wire rack to cool.

* When completely cool, store into airtight container.

BEST COCOA BROWNIES

I'm looking for brownies that is healthy and eggless but unfortunately can't find any that suit my taste, either high in sugar or fat.

So I came up with this recipe after going through various sources and so glad I did, I can assure you, this is seriously good. It is really remarkable that with mere cocoa powder it turns out great. It is very healthy, guilt free as a dessert or afternoon snack that does not hurt your diet.

Since most brownies called for eggs but now I use buttermilk. To make your own add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk, let sit for 5 minutes or until curdled, now it is ready to be used in your cooking. Next time I need to double up this Best Cocoa Brownies  recipe since it is a huge hit with my family.

KERANG GORENG CILI / SPICY FRIED COCKLES

Do you know that cockles has a high content of selenium, a cancer-fighting antioxidant, iron and Vitamin B12 but I seldom cook them since my children not keen to eat cockles.

Cockles will taste better if eaten fresh after boiling them with a hot spicy dip. Now I'm cooking them with shallot, ginger, garlic and the most important ingredient, bird's eye chili which makes this dish really good to eat with hot steaming rice. It is so simple to cook without much spices yet tasted great.


INGREDIENTS

500g boiled cockles
4 shallots sliced
3 cloves garlic smashed
7 bird's eye chili sliced
1/2 inch ginger sliced
1 lemon grass bruised
1/2 cup water
2 T cooking oil
salt and sugar to taste

METHOD

* Heat the oil, fry the onion until light brown, add ginger, garlic, bird's eye chili and lemon grass, fry until fragrant.

* Add cockles, sugar, salt and water, bring to boil.

* Remove from heat, serve hot.

RAISIN BREAD

Since my previous attempts of making bread are successful, today I'd love to share with you another favorite recipe, Raisin Bread. Used to buy them from the bakery but now trying to bake it myself.

Baking bread is so exciting, such a challenging and rewarding task and you'll be proud of yourselves once you've baked them.

This is quite simple and the result is very satisfying, full of flavor and has great texture. This Raisin Bread  is really worth baking.

Soak the raisin for 30 minutes then drain before adding to the dough but some recipes called for adding the raisin directly without soaking, may be I'll try this method next time.

OAT & ONION PARATHA

Looking for some healthy and easy to cook dish? You have came to the right place. I'm sharing with you this absolutely oil free and packed with goodness of oat and milk, all in one flat bread.

This bread uses whole wheat flour and ground rolled oat. Adding of green chili or chili powder to the dough is up to your preference. When mixing the dough, care to be taken that you don't pour the milk at one go, add a little at a time until pliable dough is formed.

Oat and Onion Paratha is great to be served during dinner, breakfast or as brunch together with your spicy non vegetarian curry and for vegetarian dishes such as chick peas/rajma masala or other spicy vegetable gravy.

Oat & Onion Paratha
Yield : 4

3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C rolled oat (ground)
1 onion chopped fine
1/2 C milk (do not use all)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chili chopped or
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp chopped coriander leveas
1/2 tsp salt

METHOD

* Place all ingredients except milk in a mixing bowl.

* Gradually add milk until pliable dough is formed. Keep 30 minutes.

* Divide dough into 4 balls. Roll out each ball into round on floured board. Complete the rest of the dough.

* Heat the cast iron flat pan, the fry each paratha until bubbles appear on top, flip and cook the other side.

* Serve hot with your favorite gravy.

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BREAD CRUMB COOKIES (REPOST)

Don't know what to do with leftover bread? This is my idea, toast or bake the bread without oil until crispy, break into small pieces and grind it. Your bread crumb is ready to be used as a coating, topping or thickener, money saver too. It is easily turned into a crunchy and irresistible cookies enjoyed by whole family.

DATES BREAD

I had plenty of dates lying around in my kitchen. My son suggested to bake a bread/cake to clear my pantry. Yes, it is indeed a great idea.

After going through my old collection of recipes, this one attracted me since it is pretty simple to whip up and use all the ingredients I have in hand.

Oh my goodness, this bread is damn yummy with right balance of sweetness came from the dates. This is a keeper, will bake this often.

DATES BREAD

2 and 1/4 C all purpose flour
1 C pitted dates chopped
1/2 C melted butter
1 C milk
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C hot water
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

METHOD

* Soak chopped dated in hot water for 30 minutes. Preheat oven @ 180 C. Lightly grease the 8 in pan or loaf pan.

* Combine together butter, sugar, milk, salt and baking powder until well mixed. Mix in the dates.

* Gradually add flour, mix until just combined.

* Spoon mixture into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes of until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

* Cool on wire rack.

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