A traditional mild curry which has its root in Persian and Indian cuisine. Its uses coconut, yogurt, cashew,almond or cream in the cooking to give its distinctive flavor.My Chicken Korma recipe used coconut milk, cashew and black peppercorn (adjust to taste) and quite easy to prepare. Best eaten with rice, naan and parata.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
CHICKEN KORMA
A traditional mild curry which has its root in Persian and Indian cuisine. Its uses coconut, yogurt, cashew,almond or cream in the cooking to give its distinctive flavor.My Chicken Korma recipe used coconut milk, cashew and black peppercorn (adjust to taste) and quite easy to prepare. Best eaten with rice, naan and parata.
Monday, November 16, 2009
APOM
Appam is a famous South Indian breakfast dish especially in Kerala.It uses raw rice, cooked rice and coconut milk. After soaking the rice for few hours, grind it using mixer and fermented for 8 hours then only it is cooked using appam pan. After pouring the batter, swirl the pan to have a crispy edge but thick in the middle.
Instead of doing it in a traditional way, I tried this simpler method using rice flour and yeast,the result is close to original appam but using normal flat pan since I don't own a special pan for making the appam. In Malaysia and Singapore it is called apom normally served with orange colored sugar.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
FATT KOH
My first attempt of making Fatt Koh which is smiling steamed cake and fatt koh means prosperity. This is a must for Chinese during prayers. They are other version too but I tried this one using self raising flour.
I'm using my muffin cup but you can also utilize any shallow glass bowl or heatproof plastic mold to steam them but make sure you grease your container before filling with the batter.
Friday, November 13, 2009
CHOCOLATE OIL CAKE
Really impressed at the simplicity of this cake. It turns out moist and soft. I halved the recipe and baked in 7 inch round pan for 25 minutes.
If you want you shall apply frosting of your choice. Chocolate Oil Cake It is not so sweet, fantastically easy to prepare. I also love the one bowl mixing, beaters not required. This is great for those intolerant of lactose and cholesterol as well as vegan.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
ALOO PARATHA (POTATO STUFFED FLATBREAD)
Paratha is a popular Indian flat bread using whole wheat flour (atta) or plain flour. You can either prepare them plain or with stuffing. The most common stuffing is using potato.
Care should be taken when adding the water for the dough, do it a little at a time. When rolling Aloo Paratha make sure you added sufficient flour to avoiding sticking. Since my sons love spicy food, I've added the chili powder for the filling if not you can omit them.
TOMATO RICE
There are so many ways to prepare this Tomato Rice but this turns out great. I'm using long grain rice but you can also use basmati rice. If you're using basmati rice, do soak the grain for 20 minutes then drain. Basmati rice produces perfect rice all the time, it has special aroma.
It is highly recommended to use rice cooker for cooking this dish in order to avoid sticking to the bottom if not just use ordinary pot but once the water evaporates you must use the lowest flame to continue cooking the rice until it is done.
CHICKEN PIRALAN
This is quite an interesting recipe, the method of preparation is quite different from the normal one. The chicken is first marinated then slowly simmered with spices until almost dry. They are later added to the onion to complete the cooking process.
Chicken Piralan turns our excellent but I have added more water since extra gravy was needed. In fact this dish is quite thick and dry. Best served with hot steaming rice or roti. Kindly adjust the chili powder used according to your preference..
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
BREAD PUDDING
Bread pudding is a great way to use your leftover bread into delicious and easy dessert. You can use either white bread or sturdy french bread works well too.
Some recipe calls for soaking the bread for several hours but now I have soaked mine for only 30 minutes. It is a satisfying comfort food that most people crave. Nothing beats warm bread pudding on a cold night.
APPLE ROLLS
A sweet breakfast treat your family will enjoy. Apple Rolls are also a great way to use your apples. It's absolutely delicious and the nice aroma filled your entire kitchen when you're baking is really fantastic.I halved the recipe. It had sweet and sour taste came from the apple.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
BANANA PANCAKE
This is a really simple and yummy dish. It was mild sweet for me and do take note that you must use medium heat so that inside of the pancake get cooked. For best result, fry using non stick pan. Recipe by allrecipes.
Monday, November 9, 2009
KEEMA
Keema or minced meat curry either beef or mutton which is simmered in spices together with green peas, carrot, potato or any other vegetables of your choice.
It can also be used as a pastry filling or stuffed into flat bread. In this case, you have to cook them until almost dry.
It is best served with naan, capati or bread. Kindly adjust the spice level according to your preference.
BUTTER VS MARGARINE
Confused which one to use, please go through the article below which will shed some light and help you to make a better choice of what to use in your cooking.
Subject: Margarine vs Butter
Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow colouring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it?
They have come out with some clever new flavorings.
DO YOU KNOW..the difference between margarine and butter?
Read on to the end...gets very interesting!
Both have the same amount of calories.
Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavours of other foods.
Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years..
And now, for Margarine..
Very high in trans fatty acids.
Triple risk of coronary heart disease.
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol,(the good cholesterol)
Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
Lowers quality of breast milk.
Decreases immune response.
Decreases insulin response.
And here's the most disturbing fact....HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY NTERESTING!
Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC..
This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).
You can try this yourself:
Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:
* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny micro-organisms will not find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
DO YOU KNOW..the difference between margarine and butter?
Read on to the end...gets very interesting!
Both have the same amount of calories.
Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavours of other foods.
Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years..
And now, for Margarine..
Very high in trans fatty acids.
Triple risk of coronary heart disease.
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol,(the good cholesterol)
Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
Lowers quality of breast milk.
Decreases immune response.
Decreases insulin response.
And here's the most disturbing fact....HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY NTERESTING!
Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC..
This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).
You can try this yourself:
Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:
* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny micro-organisms will not find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?
Sunday, November 8, 2009
SERUNDING
This spiced coconut floss is made of fresh grated coconut simmered until almost dry with spices, There are other type of serunding either beef (contains shredded beef), chicken or fish. But this plain ones is the most common. It is best served with white rice or lontong (compressed rice cake). If properly cooked the serunding can last for days without refrigeration. You can adjust the amount of chili power used.
BISKUT MAKMUR
Another popular cookies baked during Eid or Chinese New Year. Made of wheat flour, ghee (clarified butter), stuff with roasted ground peanut and sugar then mold into leaf shape biscuit using the pincer. You can also shape them into small ball and stuff the filling.
A drop of green coloring is added to the dough if not you can let as it is. If you find the dough is too soft you can add some flour. After baking you have to coat them with icing sugar. These Biskut Makmur are very fragile to handle and really melt into you mouth.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
BANANA ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFIN
Three in one muffin using banana, coffee and chocolate chip totally irresistible. These are absolutely delicious and so easy to prepare. I added only a quarter cup of chocolate chip since my stock was running low. Nevertheless it turns out great and used instant coffee powder.
Would definitely bake this Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffin again since my kids love them Here's how they are made:
MALABAR BEEF CURRY
One of the most delicious curry of Malabar. Malabar cuisine is distinctively spicy, aromatic and rich. The most famous dish of Malabar is Malabar Biryani. Its delicately flavors and scrumptious taste are greatly influenced by Arabs..
For Malabar Beef Curry recipe, coconut milk and grated coconut are used, it blends well with the spices and these produce a rich, creamy and spicy curry that goes well with roti or hot steaming rice.
For those who can't take hot and spicy dish, feel free to reduce the chili powder and black pepper used. Here is how I prepare this wonderful curry:
Friday, November 6, 2009
SPICY SARDINE
This is really simple and easy recipe. Spicy Sardine uses canned sardines in tomato sauce. With addition of onion, tomato and spices, it turns out really delicious. Sometimes I do prepare this dish on lazy weekend. Kindly adjust the chili used according to your preference. It is best served with hot steaming rice, capati or bread.
CINNAMON ROLLS
If you're looking for soft and delicious cinnamon rolls you should try this one. These are great for breakfast or your afternoon snack. Baking bread is really challenging, it takes time to prepare but once they have baked to perfection with a fantastic aroma you're overjoyed and relieved.
You could easily purchase these rolls from your nearby bakery but nothing beat the homemade rolls, fresh from the oven. The best part about making this roll is that the dough can be shaped, sliced and frozen. When you need them just thaw and let rise again before baking. What you need are:
Thursday, November 5, 2009
PARATHA ROLL
Prepared this Paratha Roll for our dinner and well received by my family members. This healthy flat bread consists of two parts, the filling and the bread.First you have to prepare the filling and let it cool before you proceed.
Next to mix up the dough and leave for 30 minutes. Roll out the dough into round shape, fry on flat pan with little oil. Once it is fried, put the filling at one end then roll up. It is best eaten hot. Add more green chili or chili powder according to your preference.
It is not necessarily be spicy, feel free to adapt to your taste, even by spreading nutella or jam will taste great.
SPICY NADAN TOMATO FISH
Instead of normal fish curry, I tried this Spicy Nadan Tomato Fish recipe by Roselle which is a hit with my family. It has sweet, slightly hot and tangy taste the way I like it. Sweetness comes from the onion used and recommended that you lightly fry the fish before adding to the gravy.
If possible try to use bigger fish with less bone and thick flesh. Adding chili powder and tamarind can be adjusted to your liking. This recipe produces rather thick curry but if you want more gravy, do add more water but not too much.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
SPAGHETTI W/TOMATO SAUCE
Bored taking rice daily so prepared this Spaghetti w/Tomato Sauce for our lunch with little twist by adding chili powder, tomato sauce and also chili sauce, received compliments from my family. You can use other vegetable and substitute
prawn with chicken or meat. The thickness of the sauce is up to you so adjust accordingly.
PEAS PULAO
If you're looking for easy and delicious rice, this is for you. Using basmati rice and green peas (fresh or frozen), it is very mild and fragrant. Peas Pulao is great for unexpected guests or for small gatherings.
Soak the rice for 30 minutes before you start cooking. It is best served with spicy gravy of meat, chicken or vegetable.
Now this dish has became our regular menu on weekend. Let's get cooking..
CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD
Ventured into making my own bread by hand and tried this recipe by Southern Food with slight adjustment by me. Although I'm not the pro the result is not disappointing at all. The main ingredient for baking bread is the yeast, use either instant or active dry yeast and make sure the yeast is still active if not throw it away. To check whether it is active or not simply pour warm water ( not hot) into a bowl and sprinkle the required yeast and sugar, wait for 10 minutes if the mixture resembles creamy foam then you can go ahead baking your bread. Cinnamon Raisin Bread produces nice aroma due to the cinnamon used.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
BEEF RENDANG
Beef Rendang use blended dry chili, kerisek (pounded roasted coconut) and other spices which can be adjusted to your liking and produced an unique taste. For this Beef Rendang preferably use lean meat ,fat removed and thickly sliced. Too many version on this dish but mine does not use coriander or cumin powder.
CAPPUCCINO MUFFIN
This easy cappuccino muffin is a great as your breakfast or afternoon snack. These are also handy for kids since it is smaller or even you could bake the mini one for their lunch box. Now you could easily purchase this muffin from nearby bakery with multiple flavors and gorgeous decor but bake you own is much healthier and better choice. You decide what you need to use or add for the batter.
If you're running short of time, just mix all the dry ingredients at night, the next day just add the liquid and stir until well mixed and now it's ready to be baked in the oven. This way you could enjoy your freshly baked muffin on your breakfast table.
Since the chocolate chip was not in hand, I omitted them but surprisingly it still tastes great.
Monday, November 2, 2009
KEERAI KOOTHU
This dish comprises of spinach and the mung dhal. Keerai Koothu combination worked so well for this vegetable dish. As you may know, spinach is a good source of iron, niacin, zinc, dietary fiber, vitamin A/C/E/K/B6 and other nutrients, equally moong dal is also rich source of protein, fiber, vitamin C/K, niacin, iron and other minerals.
Combination of vegetables and dhal are very popular in southern part of India. Best eaten with naan, paratha or rice. What you need are:
RAVA PAYASAM
Payasam is an Indian dessert similar to Western rice pudding. It is delicately flavored, usually serves in the end of spicy meal and also essential food during wedding.
The semolina is lightly roasted with ghee (clarified butter) then simmered in hot milk until thicken. Rava Payasam is sweetened with sugar according to your taste then sprinkled with roasted cashew and raisin.
It is best serve either hot or cold but this is not recommended for dieter since butter and full cream milk are used for making this wonderful dessert.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
MEE GORENG
Mee Goreng or fried noodle is a famous hawker food in South east Asian countries. It is so delicious and spicy. Normally seafood, chicken or meat is added together with vegetable such as cabbage or bean sprout. What I used here is the precooked noodle made of wheat flour. If unavailable you could use dry egg noodle which requires boiling before you proceed to cook.
Addition of blended dry chili, sauces and tomato really enhance the flavor of this noodle. Kindly adjust the chili used according to your taste. You could easily omit the chicken or seafood making this a complete vegetarian dish. Here's the recipe:
COKDAM COOKIES
Cokdam Cookies is named after the ingredients used for making this cookies. they are cocoa and badam (almond), I have tried other cookies using almond but not this combo. It is extremely delicious and has a right amount of sweetness. Not only that the dough is is so easy to work with. So much easier if you roll out the dough in between plastic sheet. It is now becomes one of my favorite cookies collection.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
BUBUR FIESTA
This rice porridge is very popular during fasting month of Ramadan, almost every household would serve this for iftar. It's very nutritious and fulfilling too. Instead of using ready made garbanzo and kidney bean you can also use dry beans like lima bean, mong bean, red bean or black eye bean. It is much tastier if you add few types of bean when making this porridge.
All dry bean used must be soaked overnight if used to cut down the cooking time and the meat to be marinated before you start cooking. Although it involved a bit of work but you will be pleased after tasting it. What you need are:
Friday, October 30, 2009
KADAI CHANA
I was introduced to Kadai Chana, a popular vegetable dish when we went to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner and instantly fall in love with it. It uses chickpeas simmered with onion, tomato, garlic, coriander, dry mango powder and garam masala. . Lucky enough the recipe was aired on local cookery show. This recipe turns out very well, I cook without the coconut and serve with naan., please adjust the chili powder used according to your taste. My family really loved this spicy chana. Here is how I made them:
MEE JAWA
Mee Jawa or Jawa Noodle is quite similar to mee rebus which is popular hawker food in Singapore and Malaysia but Mee Jawa does not use salted soya bean (taucheo) unlike mee rebus.
Made with yellow noodles accompanied with thick, spicy and slightly sweet gravy. The gravy is thickened with mashed sweet potato, seasoned with curry powder and dried shrimps. This dish is garnished with a hard boiled egg, limes, red chili, fried tofu, fried onion and bean sprouts.
Tried this version by Chef Hanieliza which produce perfect result. Here's the recipe:
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
SWEET AND SOUR FISH
There are so many recipes relating to this Sweet and Sour Fish but this one really suits my taste and you can adjust the hotness according to your liking. For the vegetables you can add whatever you have like capsicum, carrot or pineapple. This recipe does not use any thickening agent. First step you have to fry the fish which is coated with turmeric and salt then transfer onto a plate and pour the prepared sauce on it or cook the fried fish with sauce for few minutes, the choice is yours.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
OATMEAL & NUTS COOKIES
One of the tastiest cookies I ever baked. Oatmeal & Nut Cookies uses oat and chocolate chip but use almond instead since that was in hand.
The dough is quite easy to handle, but must place the cookies apart since it will expand when baking. Apart from chocolate chips, nuts and dried fruits are the best alternative.
After baking, let them sit in the baking sheet for 5 minutes since it is still soft and fragile. Transfer into wire rack to cool. My family love them so much, will definitely bake them often.
NAAN
Naan is a popular Indian flat bread cooked using 'tandoor' or clay oven. It is easily obtainable from North Indian restaurant almost all countries around the world.
It is made using plain flour, dry yeast and yogurt then left to ferment for several hours before baking them.
However, you could prepare your own using the oven. But now I'm using flat pan to cook them. In fact you can make very good naan from white bread dough or pizza recipe. Besides spicy gravy, you can also serve them with soups or dips.
Monday, October 26, 2009
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Love chocolate pudding and want to make one that is quick and easy at home? Then this is the right recipe for you. It is pretty simple to make, in just a few minutes you can have your delicious dessert.
I'm using agar powder, sugar and chocolate milk for making this jelly. It is much healthier choice since no fat or cream are being used. So sit back and enjoy this satisfying dessert that won't ruin your diet.
If your are serving for kids, do use fancy mould with various shapes, definitely your children would love to have a bite. Here is how it's made:
BRIOCHE EGGLESS
Brioche Eggless is a French sweet bread enriched with butter, sugar and egg. It uses special brioche pan and a classic shape has a fluted bottom and an upper protruding knob.
I decided to bake a simpler version of brioche and eggless too. Although slight modification was made from the original recipe I found on net, it turns out fantastic, buttery and sweet but with less fat. My children love this bread and request to bake it again. What you need for this bread are:
CHICKEN MASALA
This Chicken Masala is on top of my family's favorite recipe and I will prepare on every other week together with pulao,naan or ordinary bread. It's very easy to cook and taste great. For milder taste you can reduce the quantity of chili powder used.
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