BAKED PUMPKIN CUSTARD

 

This Baked Pumpkin Custard is quick and perfect to serve during Christmas party or other functions as well. 

You could make your own pumpkin puree by boiling  peeled pumpkin pieces for 8-10 minutes then immediately mash while still hot.   If you are pressed for time just get a can of pumpkin puree from supermarket.

If you are not keen to use fresh milk, replace with coconut milk instead.

Also add dark chocolate shavings on top together with nuts like pecan or almond which is optional and this addition adds crunch to this Baked Pumpkin Custard.    

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PERFECT CARROT BREAD

This  Perfect Carrot Bread  becomes my favorite as it was easy and no-mixer required recipe.

It is loaded with carrot and warm spices of ground cinnamon and ginger. Using only 3/4 cup of sugar but you can increase up to 1 cup  if you want it sweeter.  By adding mashed bananas it cuts down the use of butter or oil in the recipe thus makes it healthier.

This bread is delicious on its own as  for  festive touch, a drizzle of cream cheese or lemon glaze on this Perfect Carrot Bread is what you need. It takes exactly 50 minutes to bake this loaf, turned out tender, just sweet enough and beautifully sliced.

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PRAWN BIRYANI EASY WAY

 Nothing beats the aroma of biryani, whether it is Chicken Biryani, Mutton Biryani or Seafood Biryani. I have tried them except Prawn Biryani.

This Prawn Biryani Easy Way does not involves boiling of rice instead soaked rice is put over prawns and cooked until water evaporated. Sprinkle with fried onion, cilantro and ghee before closing the pot.  Did not add any coloring but you can do so by using yellow food coloring or few strands of saffron soak in hot water.

After that the pot with lid is placed atop tawa (cast iron pan), cook for 10 minutes using the lowest heat.

You can also use rice cooker for ease of cooking.  Transfer the cooked prawn into rice cooker, add in rice, salt and water,  After water evaporates sprinkle with fried onion, cilantro, ghee and coloring if you like.  Close the lid and continue cooking. .

Either way you choose, this Prawn Biryani Easy Way really satisfies your appetite and makes  you a happy man. 

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NO YEAST NAAN

If you are in a hurry to make naan at home, this No Yeast Naan comes handy,  it is simple and quick.   No need to wait for it to rise.

Whisk plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in yogurt and oil, gradually add water to form into pliable dough.  Let this rest for 30 minutes.

No Yeast Naan can be topped with nigella seeds, sesame seeds, chopped garlic or coriander but this time I have made it plain without toppings. Press them well on the surface of naan so it sticks. 

Fry them on stove top using cast iron pan until both side turn light brown. 

 Other flat bread recipes you should check out:

Dry Fruit Naan

Focaccia

Caramelized Onion Flatbread

PUMPKIN SWEET POTATO GALETTE

 

Tender, flaky crust and savory, this Pumpkin Sweet Potato Galette can be served as an appetizer or main course for small gatherings.  However, it is served, it is sure to be loved by all.

CRUST

I used all purpose and whole wheat flour for added health benefits.  You could you use all purpose flour entirely for the crust. Replace butter with oil for vegan.

TOPPINGS

The pumpkin and sweet potato  should be sliced thinly so it cooks faster.  They need to be cooked before putting on top of the galette either using microwave for 1 minute or steam for 2 minutes as we need to bake them again for 40 minutes.  After cutting, soak sweet potato in water to avoid discoloration. Create a beautiful pattern for pumpkin and sweet potato atop the sauce if you like.

SAUCE

The mixture of mayo and cream cheese together with paprika, salt, lemon juice and black pepper yield a mild tangy taste and it was seriously delicious.  Add honey if needed but mine done without it.  Use vegan mayo and vegan cashew cream cheese or tofu sour cream if you are a vegan.

My family devoured this rustic Pumpkin Sweet Potato Galette in no time, am so glad there is no leftovers. 

Other similar recipes:

Pizza Rolls

How to make Chicken Calzone

Homemade Tuna Pizza

EXTRA HOT FRIED RICE / NASI GORENG CILI PADI

Instead of having sweet bread or pastries, I also love to  have this Extra Hot Fried Rice / Nasi Goreng Chili Padi for breakfast.

If you are not a fan of bird's eye chili you can replace with red chili.  Add your favorite veggies if you have.

An incredible simple and delicious Extra Hot Fried Rice / Nasi Goreng Chili Padi really make you full throughout the day. It  can be served for lunch, dinner or anytime of the day with a lot of variations.

With this basic recipe, we can add chicken, shrimp or other seafood for a complete meal in a jiffy.

Other rice recipes you should try:

Mutton Biryani

Chana/Garbanzo Pulao

Easy Tomato Rice

Pumpkin Pulao

PETOLA MASAK BENING / HEALTHY LUFFA SOUP

One of the easiest soup you could prepare was Petola Masak Bening / Healthy Luffa Soup.  Made with just a few ingredients you had in your pantry.

This soup can be made without oil by boiling until the luffa is tender. For vegetarian, omit dry anchovies and add freshly ground black pepper for extra heat. 

Luffa or Ridge Gourd is  beneficial to our health and nutritious, among  them are: 

Enhances Vision

Vitamin A in form of beta carotene  improves eye sight, preventing macular degeneration, partial blindness and other eye ailments

Aid digestive system

It contains high amount of dietary fiber,  Vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc, iron,  potassium,  thiamine and magnesium.  High fiber content contributes to healthy digestive system.

Prevent Muscle Pain

Potassium balances the fluid level and helps to relax muscle.  Low potassium leads to muscle cramps, spasms and pain. 

Petola Masak Bening / Healthy Luffa Soup is simple and quick dish, really good for your health.  I always add the luffa when cooking my fish curry, it was super yummy. give it a try, you going to love it too.

VEGGIE PINWHEEL TIKKI /VEGAN VEGGIE PINWHEELS

This make ahead recipe is full of crunchy colorful veggies and spicy yummy  filling all rolled up into easy to eat finger food.  So let's have our all time favorite snack called Veggie Pinwheel Tikki / Vegan Veggie Pinwheels.

This spiced mixed veggies is wrapped in whole wheat pastry, roll into tight log and cut into 1 in thick.  Veggie Pinwheel Tikki / Vegan Veggie Pinwheels were shallow fried until golden and serve with ketchup.

Chopped cabbage, grated carrot and mashed potato are combined and seasoned with chili powder, chaat masala, ground cumin and onion as the filling.  You could also use tortillas for the wrapper.  These were incredibly tasty and disappear in no time.

If you are not keen for spiced pinwheel, this  Pizza Rolls  is for you.  It tastes exactly like regular pizza but in rolls form.

NO KNEAD RAISIN BREAD

  

After baking numerous yeast bread, this is my first time making No Knead Raisin Bread.  Seriously am curious whether this bread be above my expectations. 

MAKING THE DOUGH

Just combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl then add raisin and butter. If you are using active dry yeast,  dissolve the sugar in warm milk (not hot), sprinkle dry yeast as specified in the recipe, cover  for 10 minutes to activate.  Check whether the yeast turns foamy if not start all over again. Stir this mixture and add to the flour. 

Reserve 1 tablespoon of egg to use for brushing together with a tablespoon of milk later.  Add warm milk and an egg to the flour mixture,  forms into soft dough.  Cover and let sit for 1 hour or more. 

SHAPING  AND BAKING

After it doubled in size,  punch down the dough and transfer onto lightly floured top.  Roll out into rectangle or round. Equally divide into 10 pieces.  Shape each into desired shape and place into lightly greased pan. You could also turns this into one big loaf.  Cover and rest for 30 minutes. Just 10 minutes before rising time, preheat the oven at  180 C, brush with egg wash.   Bake until golden for 20-30 minutes. Brush with butter after removing from oven if desired.

Am fully surprised to see  this No Knead Raisin Bread turns out tender and fluffy but  I need  to improve my shaping skills.

Other bread recipes you should check:

Milk Bread Rolls Recipe

Braided Bread Rings

Eggless Custard Buns

SAVORY OATS PANCAKE

It is close to lunch hour but I have no idea what to cook today.  Since  quite some time we did not have pancake  so why not prepare this healthy and fiber rich  Savory Oats Pancake. 

This is inspired by Oat Cheela where it uses besan (chickpeas flour) but replaced it with whole wheat flour and added an egg to the batter. Also no blending of oats required as soaking them for 15 minutes is sufficient.

Initially my batter was quite thick, added little bit more water.  It should be easy to spread, thickness  similar to condensed milk and not watery.  For smooth pancake, you need to  chop the veggies very fine. 

Apply some oil on my pan for frying the first pancake but need not use oil for the rest of the batter.

Savory Oats Pancake best served hot immediately after you have fried them.  My kids love them with ketchup.  If serving small kids omit the green and chili powder.

EASY PUMPKIN BREAD

This Easy Pumpkin Bread was so moist and tender.  Used homemade pumpkin puree or you could pick a can of pumpkin puree if you are pressed for time, both work for this recipe.

Make it  healthier by using whole wheat flour and  naturally sweetened by coconut sugar instead of white sugar.  This Easy Pumpkin Bread  was  mild sweet but you could add up to 1 cup of sugar if you want it sweeter.

Like most of quick bread,  it involves combining dry ingredients with wet ingredients just with rubber spatula.  After well combined, it is ready for baking.  Mine done exactly 60 minutes as oven varies from one another, please check before 5 minutes of baking time.

If you feel to have a smaller bites, turn this into muffin,  fill 3/4 full each muffin cups with batter and bake for 20 - 22 minutes.  You could mix in about 1/2 cup each of chopped walnuts and raisin if desired.

This bread is good for 3 days at the counter or up to 1 week if refrigerated in an airtight container in a single layer.

PAN FRIED POTATO WITH EGGS

My late mum used to prepare this Pan Fried Potato with Eggs / Kentang Goreng Telur for our breakfast.  It was simple comfort food  yet so filling. 

The hero of this recipe is potato.  Also used sweet potato. There are 2 ways to cook the potato either boiled or fried.  I choose the healthier way by boiling them until soft.

For frying, heat the oil then throw in the cubed potato, cover with tight fitting lid, in between flip the potato to cook until tender and sprinkle with salt.  Constantly check the doneness to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan.  This would take around 10 minutes or more depending the type of potato used.

Added minced ginger as I love it but this is optional also throw in few red chili for color and chopped coriander leaves to garnish.

Pan Fried Potato with Eggs / Kentang Goreng Telur   was absolutely my to go breakfast with fewer ingredients but simply amazing! 

AMAZING APRICOT DATE BREAD

My family always look forward to having dessert for tea-time, either  cake, bread or cookies.   For me, I love to bake a quick bread as it was quick, easy and simple steps.

For long time, I have not stepped into supermarket to purchase my baking products. As am looking for what to bake, found a tub of dried apricot and date so these are going to be my baking adventure this week.

Amazing Apricot Date Bread is loaded with apricot and date, mildly sweetened with coconut sugar,  it contains warm spices of ground ginger and cinnamon.

Easily turns this Amazing Apricot Date Bread into a vegan recipe by replacing butter with vegan butter and an egg with yogurt. So often quick bread  comes out dry but not this bread. It is deliciously moist despite using 2 tablespoon of butter and mouth watering good. 

EASY & YUMMY SWEET SOUR PRAWN

Looks complicated but Easy & Yummy Sweet Sour Prawn  is an easy recipe.  I have sent my kid to purchase the prawn but due to shortage of seafood products, manage to get this smaller variety.  Presently our fish port is closed due to Covid-19.  If you could get the bigger prawn, would look better.  

Fried prawn is coated with spicy, sweet and sour sauce from tomato, chili sauce and lemon juice. To add color, red, yellow and green bell pepper are added.  You can add sugar if you like but for me it is not required.

Easy & Yummy Sweet Sour Prawn  was always a favorite among my family and friends.  You could also use fish, squid or chicken for making this dish.

PAV BHAJI

Pav Bhaji is a famous street food of India consisting of pav or dinner rolls either homemade or store bought together with bhaji made from curried mashed vegetables like potato, carrot, cauliflower, green peas and bell  pepper.

You can prepare Pav Bhaji using stove top or pressure cooker method for quick satisfying meal.  This is a 2 step process, first vegetables are boiled until soft then  mashed with potato masher or hand held blender. The texture is up to you either smooth paste of little chunky.

In another pan, masala with onion and tomato is prepared , mashed vegetables are added to this masala.  The spice blend is different from one household to another.  The special ingredient was pav bhaji masala,  am using ready pav bhaji masala that is available from Indian grocery store.

Most people love the bright red color this masala brings without artificial coloring by adding kashmiri chili or red chili powder. Adjust red chili powder according to your preference.  For natural deep red color, add a small piece of  beetroot along with other vegetables.

You can also use broccoli, french bean, brinjal, sweet corn, beetroot or raw banana.

MOIST LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

After long time, I have baked this Light Fruit Cake  for my family.  As requested again, by  my son, am going to bake his favorite cake.   

Always prefer less sweet and light fruit cake and this Moist Light Fruit Cake has a right balance of mixed fruit and sweetened with brown sugar.   

It is quite easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.  You can eat it anytime of the year not only for Christmas.

Used store bought dry fruit mix or mix your own dried fruit,  coated the fruit mix with flour before adding to the flour mixture. 

As am running out of fruit juice, have added half a cup of isotonic drink.

For eggless version, replace an egg with 1/4 cup plain yogurt or 1/4 cup apple sauce.

Moist Light Fruit Cake bake perfectly for flat 45 minutes and my son can't wait to devour after it came out of oven.  My family gave a thumbs up to this beautiful cake.

PETOLA MASAK LEMAK / LUFFA in COCONUT MILK

Another oil free cooking from my kitchen  with little twist.  Petola or peerkangai in Tamil would taste better if it is young otherwise the old one is fibrous and not pleasant to eat.  Luffa is cooked in coconut milk together with blended ingredients.

Petola Masak Lemak / Luffa in Coconut Milk is just a basic recipe.  You can add or leave out any ingredients you dislike for example, I have added tiger prawns towards the end of cooking as have lightly fried them first and remove to a plate but this is optional. 

For additional kick have used bird's eye chili for this Petola Masak Lemak / Luffa in Coconut Milk.  If you are not a fan of this, just add green or red chili for milder version.

AMAZING CARROT & SWEET POTATO PANCAKE

 

I always love to explore new ways to incorporate veggies in our diet. This Amazing Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancake  is  made with shredded carrot and sweet potato flavored with green chili, onion and ginger. 

It tastes like dal vada that I used to eat.  In my quest to reduce my intake of rice and wheat noodles, i am happy to share my search for this  quick and healthy meal.  

Sweet Potato is high in fiber,  Vitamin C, potassium , decent source of other vitamins and minerals, and rich in  antioxidant  called beta carotene which is very filling.  It can be boiled, steamed, baked or fried. 

Carrot is highly nutritious, high in Vitamin A,C and K, beta carotene,  vital for eye health, low in calories/carbs  and help improve your  immune system.

This Amazing Carrot and Sweet Potato Pancake  not only light but exceedingly tasty.  You could also turns this into cutlets instead of one big pancake.

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN HASHBROWNS

This simple Homemade Pumpkin Hashbrowns  was made with grated pumpkin using box grater with light seasonings for a healthy and yummy breakfast or brunch. 

Adjust the seasonings according to your preference.  Feel free to add garlic and  herbs fresh or dry to enhance the taste of this Homemade Pumpkin Hashbrowns, 

You could also make one large hashbrowns instead of individual patty.  Just scoop the pumpkin mixture onto the pan, flatten to shape into a big disc.  To flip without breaking, transfer it to a plate then put it back in a pan, uncooked part down.

This recipe yields 5 hashbrowns or patties.   Serve them with ketchup, mayo or yogurt.

IKAN MASAK ASAM REBUS (FISH IN HOT SOUR SOUP)

 

IKAN MASAK ASAM REBUS aka FISH IN HOT SOUR SOUP is a favorite of my parent.  It is very healthy as no oil is used.  The fish is cooked in tamarind and chili soup, it has tangy, spicy and slightly sweet taste.

You can use almost any fish but common one was mackerel, tuna, yellow stripe scad (selar kuning)  but I choose red snapper.

Before you start cooking, make sure to clean your fish properly. First remove the balance of scales from the body if any, the easiest way was to ask the fish seller to do that for you.  Then take out the gills, fats and organ otherwise you have a fishy stale smell after it is cooked.

Remove blood clots at the back bone of the fish.  It is not visible as it was covered with a membrane.  Slit open this white membrane and dig out the blood clots. Wash this with running water.  After that I soak my fish for 10 minutes in which 2 small lime juice was added, drain and coat with turmeric and salt.

Substitutions :   5 fresh red chili and 3 bird's eye chili instead of blended chili

1 teaspoon of shrimp paste (belacan) instead of dry anchovies

2-3 pieces asam gelugor  (dried tamarind slices) instead of tamarind paste

1 inch turmeric root instead of turmeric powder

Ikan Masak Asam Rebus tasted really wonderful if you cook with fresh fish and now this dish becomes my favorite too.

MY SAMOSA STORY

Am so tempted to make my own  Samosa since my feeds are flooded with it.  Made Baked Samosa before but my kids requested the fried version.  The pastry was almost the same from one another but the filling might differ slightly. 

I have used potato, green peas, carrot, chili powder, turmeric, cumin seeds, ginger, chat masala and garam masala for My Samosa Story.   I fold the pastry differently. 

Roll out the pastry into circle, cut 1 cm strips lengthwise on half of the pastry, wet the the half with water, fold into two.  Stuff the filling at the center (strips one down), fold into thirds to get triangle shape. Wet the edges and seal properly,  this is ready to be fried until golden. 

My Samosa Story did not disappoint, it turned out golden color and  insanely delicious.  I have a tip for you for getting smooth pastry.  Fry the samosa using  medium heat  and the oil should not sizzle,  also do not crowd the pan.

 Other snack recipes you should try:

Vegan Homemade Doughnuts

Honey Oat Bars

Prata Tuna Rolls

Fruit Cornflakes Bars

AMAZING BEEF BIRYANI

Eid Mubarak to all who is celebrating.  May this occasion bring joy and happiness to you and family! 

Biryani is one of the famous dish in the world.  It needs no introduction.  There were wide variations of Biryani.  Some used chicken, mutton or seafood.  Also available in  vegetarian version.

I have tried Mutton and Chicken biryani for the past years. As requested, this year I tried Amazing Beef Biryani.  There were few steps for cooking this biryani.  First marinate the meat with  yogurt and spices before proceeding.  Secondly cook the meat using ready made biryani masala until it turns tender then boil the soaked rice in salted water and whole spices.  Final step, layering  the rice with cooked beef, drizzle  yellow food coloring, fried onion and chopped cilantro/mint leaves before we slow cooked the biryani for 10 minutes. 

Amazing Beef Biryani is being served for Eid together with okra raita.  It was super duper hit with family and relatives.  The meat almost  fall off the bone, so tender and flavorful!