Sweet Potato Fritters

Sweet Potato Fritters  @ Keledek Goreng

What you need:
Sweet potato - washed, peeled and sliced slantly.

Batter
2 cups of besan flour (tepung kuda, chickpea flour)
1 cup of rice flour
2-3 tbs of corn flour
10-15 cubes of rock sugar (diluted in 1/4 cup hot water)
salt to taste

How to do:
Whisk well all of the flours together with salt and sugar water and enough water.  The consistency should not be too watery nor too thick. 

Heat oil.  Dip the sliced pieces into the batter and fry till golden in color.
Serve hot...

Steamed Brownies

I was in a mood to baking (or actually steaming off...).  My new neighbour Marida from Indonesia, shared a delicious recipe, Steamed Brownies.  Then I made another cake  - Steamed Chocolate Cake. After the steaming marathon, it was time for some baking ~ Honey Cornflakes.

Lets first look at Steamed Brownies...

Steam Brownies
source : Marida Nababan

What you need:
10 eggs
420gm sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
250gm flour
100gm chocolate powder
350gm butter
250gm dark cooking chocolate
chopped almonds, optional 

How to do:

1. Melt butter and dark chocolate.  Once fully melted, stir well, remove from heat and cool it.
2. Whisk eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla essence till smooth and well mixed.
3. Add flour and chocolate powder gradually into the mixture  till well blended.
4. Add melted butter/chocolate mixture in and stir well.
5. Stir almond, if desired.
6. Cover the mixture with aluminium foil before steaming to avoid the water dripping into the mixture.
7. Steam over high heat for 1 ~ 1.5hours or till the cake is well done.

Steamed Chocolate Cake

I found this recipe from Izah's blog. was tempted to try and so the baking starts (or actually the steaming of the cake).  Steaming is a processed where bowl/pan filled with water is boiled to a point of steaming oozing out.  Normally steaming for cakes takes approximately an hour to 2 hours, there are instances where they are steamed for 4 hours...

Tips when steaming, when you need to add more water to your steaming pot, use only hot water....cold water slows down the whole process as the cold water reduces the heat of the existing water, thereby taking time to heat and thus the steaming process is not effective..

When pouring into lined pan, make sure it is about half of the pan.

Cover with aluminium foil to avoid water droplets onto the cake mixture...

Steamed Chocolate Cake
source : http://www.izahdaut.blogspot.com/

What you need:
2 eggs
1 cup oil ( I used sunflower oil)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
(A)  1 tsp vanilla essence
      1 1/2 cup of coklat milk
      1/2 cup of water + 2tsp of nescafe
(B)  2 tsp sodium bicarbonate
      1 tsp of baking powder
      1/2 cup of cocoa
      2 cups of flour
(Topping)  1/2 cup cocoa
               1/2 cup condensed milk
               1 tbs oil

How to do:

1. Whisk egg till fluffy.  Add sugar and whisk further.
2. Add oil and stir well.
3. Mix all ingredients of (A).  Sieve (B).
4. Add gradually alternating with A into egg mixture.
5. Pour into lined pan and steam for an hour or so or till the cake is done.  You may also bake them at 170C for an hour.

Topping : Whisk together ina  pan on slow fire till the mixtures turns shiny/glossy.  Glaze over the cake when cool.

Enjoy.........

Chicken Yogurt Masala

Chicken Yogurt Masala

I made this to accompany with Takkali Sadam @ Tomato Rice.  This chicken masala has a little sour taste from the yogurt.  Another easy going dish.

What you need:

500gm of chicken - cut to bite size
170gm of tairu (yogurt)
2 big onions - sliced
1tbs ginger/garlic paste
1 tomato - cut into wedges
1-2 green chillies (depending on how spicy you want the gravy)
2 tbs of chicken masala
1 tsp of tumeric
2 small cinnamon
3 cardamons
2-3 cloves
2-3 aniseeds
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
a few sprigs of curry leaves
a few sprigs of mint leaves - optional

How to do:

1. In a bowl, marinate chicken with yogurt, ginger/garlic paste, tomato, tumeric and green chilly for 30 mins.
2. In a wok/pan, heat oil and saute cinnamon, cardamons, aniseed, cloves, bay leaf, fennel and cumin seeds for a few minutes.
3. Add in onions (about 3/4) and saute further till soft. Add in curry leaves.
4. Add in chicken, mix well and cover to cook.  Stir occasionally and add water if needed.
5. When the chicken is tender, add in the chicken masala, stir well, salt to taste.  Add in the remaining onions and mint leaves. Stir well and cook for a few more minutes.  Remove from heat and serve hot.

Honey Cornflakes

I have been doing this cookie for Divali for the last few years.  I just fancy those cookies which are simple, easy and quick to do and yet delicious.

Honey Cornflakes

What you need:
90gm butter
1/3 cup of honey
1 1/2 tsb of sugar
4 cups of cornflakes
1/2cup of cashewnut (I used chopped almond)
1/4 cup of dessicated coconut - roast lightly
1-2 tbs of sesame seeds - roast lightly
cherry - chopped finely for deco (I did not use)

How to do:

1. Melt butter and honey together with sugar over slow heat till well mix and starts to boil.
2. Let it cool.
3. Add all others - mix well and scoop into small paper cups.
4. Bake 10-13 minutes till golden brown.

Takkali Sadam @ Tomato Rice

Takkali Sadam (Tomato Rice)
source : my mum

Takkali Sadam - Takkali being tomato and Sadam is rice in Tamil.  When my mum mention that she prepared this rice, I was interested to find out more. 

You see this is not the typical tomato rice which has tomato puree/paste, evaporated milk, cinnamon etc. It is simple and quite a dish by itself.  You can have it with any type of raita.  I had mine with Chicken Yogurt Masala.  Lets look on how to prepare Takkali Sadam.

What You Need
2 cups of basmathi (or any long grain rice)
3 cups of water
2-3 tomatoes - cut small (I used cherry tomatoes)
15 shallots - sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1 inch of garlic
1 green chilly

How to Prepare:

1. Wash and soak rice for 20mins.
2. In a wok, heat oil.  Saute onions, garlic, garlic and ginger till the onions are soft.
3. Add in tomatoes and saute further till the tomatoes are soft.
4. Remove from heat, cool and blend into a paste. 
5. In a rice cooker, add in the rice, mix the tomato mixture and salt, mix well. Cook

Note : the amount of water depends on the rice used.

Kirai Karee (Spinach & Dhall Gravy)

I love making this curry. It is normally a combination of a few type of vegetables usually available in Malaysia/India.  Otherwise simply adding spinach to cooked dhall and you get a wholesome meal.  add along a spicy dish to it vegetarian or non vegetarian...simply superb.

300gms of spinach - chopped finely/coarsely
1 1/2 cups of thoor dhall/mung dhall
a few pieces of birds eye chill(red/green)
2 tsp of ginger/garlic paste
2 -3 tbs of lemon juice or tamarind juice
1 cup of coconut milk ( I used fresh milk)
1 tsp of tumeric powder
salt to taste

Tempering
1tsp of mustard seeds
1 onion finely sliced
1inch of finely sliced ginger 
curry leaves
a few pieces of dry chillies
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
hing

Method

1. 
   
   Wash and boil dhall with ginger/garlic paste and tumeric. 
2. 
   
   Once it is cooked, add in tomatoes, chillies and chopped spinach into the dhall and cooked further till the spinach is soft and cooked.
3. 
   
   Heat oil in a separate wok.
4. 
   
   Once hot add in hing, fry 1 -2 seconds.  Add in mustard seeds.
5. 
   
   Add in onions, ginger and fry for a few minutes.  Add in dry chillies, curry leaves, cumins and fennel seeds.  Fry till the onions are soft and light in color.
6. 
   
   Pour this into the dhall, add in lemon juice, coconut milk and salt and stir well. Remove from heat once it starts to boil.
7. 
   
   Serve hot with rice.

Note : Normally I cut the spinach coarsely. When they are done, I remove 3/4 of it and pulse it using a mixie/blender before adding in the tempering ingredients. I will have a mixture of coarse/pulsed spinach.   Tradionally, it is normally mashed by using a wooden mortar. Well gone are days where these are used.......

Sambal Hijau (Green Chili Sauce)

Sambal Hijau
source : Resipi.net

a hot spicy sambal superb combination with hot steaming rice....

Ingredients
10 green birds eyes chilli
1/2 green tomato
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
2 tbs of anchovies
a few pieces petai ( I omitted this)
oil

Method
Pound chilli, tomato and garlic into a fine paste.
Heat oil. 
Fry the paste together.
Add in the anchovies and petai.  Mix well and saute for a few minutes.
Ready Serve.

Sweet Soya Sauce Chicken Javanese Style

Sweet Soya Sauce Chicken Javanese Style
source : Salwa Musa

This recipe was shared a good friend of mine, Salwa.   Thanks Wa for sharing a lovely dish.

Ingredients
450gm of chicken breast - cut into small pieces
salt to taste
1 tsp of tumeric
2 - 3 tbs of ginger/garlic paste (this I add on)
2 cloves
2 small sticks of cinnamon
2 cardamons
2 aniseeds
1 big onion - cut into rings
3 tbs of chilli paste (you can add more if you like it spicy)
2 tbs of sweet soya sauce

Methods

1. Marinate chicken with salt, ginger/garlic paste and tumeric powder. Leave to marinate for a while.  Fry the chicken.
2. In a wok/pan, heat oil, once hot saute cinnamon, cloves, aniseeds and cardamons till aromatic.
3. Add in onions and saute further till they are soft.  Add in the chilli paste and fry further for a few more minutes.
4. Add in chicken and soya sauce and stir well mix.
5. Serve with rice.

Onion Chutney

Chutney mania!!!! - yes I made 2 different chutneys for my dinner dosa/thosei. One is tomato,mint, coriander chutney and the other one is onion chutney.

My children love their dosa with ghee and sugar and coupled with this chutneys, there are awesome combination, sweet from the sugar, tangy/sourish from the tomatoes, nice aroma from the mint/coriander, spicy from the chillies....

Lets venture them.

Onion Chutney
Loads of onions saute in virgin coconut oil, it is really an awesome aroma.



4-5 onions - finely chopped/sliced
3-4 tbs of coconut oil ( you may opt to other types of oil)
1 tsp of urad dhall
2 sprig of curry leaves
1 dry chilly - break into pieces
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of fennel powder
1/4 tsp of tumeric powder
1/4 tsp of coriander powder
salt to taste

Method

Heat coconut oil. Once hot, add in urad dhall. Once it starts to splutter, add in the chillies, curry leaves and onions. Saute till the onions are soft and light in color. Add salt and all the powders, mix well and fry for a few minutes and remove from fire. let it cool. Once cool blend in a food processor and serve.

Tomato,Mint & Coriander Chutney

Tomato, Mint & Coriander Chutney


3-4 large tomatoes- chopped
a handful of mint
a handful of coriander - chopped finely
1 tsp urad dhall
1 tsp of cumin seed
1 tsp of fennel seed
1 green chilly - finely chopped ( I used 2 bird eyes chilli)
salt to taste
oil for sauteing

Tempering
1 tsp of mustard seeds
a few sprig of curry leaves
a pinch of asofoetida (hing)

Method

Heat oil, once hot, add in urad dhall, cumin seed and fennel seeds. Once start to splutter, add in chilly, saute for a few seconds, add in mint/coriander and saute for a few more minutes. Remove to a plate.

In the same work/pan, heat a little oil, once hot add in tomatoes and saute for a minutes till the water evaporates and the tomatoes are soft. Remove and let it cool.

Blend coriander/mint, add in the tomatoes and blend into a fine paste. Remove to a bowl.

In a wok, heat a little oil, once hot, add in hing and fry, add in mustard seeds, once they start to splutter, add in curry leaves, saute for a few seconds and pour the chutney. Serve.

Onion Pakora

Pakora or fritters is made of besan flour (chickpea flour/tepung kacang kuda), a generous amounts of onions and corianders, some chillies, mixed together and fried in hot oil. Serve hot with chutneys, chilli sauce or just as it is....


Onion Pakora

1 cup of besan flour
1 big onions - sliced finely
1 green chilli - finely chopped
a handful of coriander leaves - finely chopped.
1 tsp of cumin powder
salt to taste
enough water to make batter

Method

Add in flour, salt, cumin powder, onions, chilly and coriander leaves. Stir well. Add in water little by little. The batter should not be too thin or too thick.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Once the oil is hot, spoon the batter into the hot oil. Fry the pakoras till golden in color. Once the pakoras are cooked, drain the excess oil on a kitchen towel.

Serve hot with chutney.

Upma

I made Upma for breakast a few days ago. It is a simple dish made of semolina flour (tepung suji or Rava as it is known in Tamil). I love to take mine with loads of sugar....it is just heaven against the smell of ghee...





Upma

1 cup of semolina flour (fry slightly without oil)
3-4 tsbs of ghee
2 cups of water
1 onions sliced finely
1 green chillies or 1 dry chillies - break into pieces.
1 tsp of mustard seeds
a few sprigs of curry leaves
salt to taste

Method

Heat ghee, once melt, add in mustard seed. Once it starts to splutter, add in onions, chillies, curry leaves. Fry till the onions are soft.

Add in water and let it boil. Add salt to taste. Once the water is boiling add in the flour and stir well till the flour is mix well with the water. Cook for a few more minutes stirring occasionaly.

Serve hot.

Aloo Cheese Parotha

i cant remember where I got this recipe, nevertheless it turn out quite well too. (aloo = potatoes)


Aloo Cheese Parotha

1cup of wheat flour (atta flour)
1/2cup of boiled and mashed potatoes
1/4cup of cheese (I used grated cheese)
1 chopped green chilly (I did not use this)
1/2tsp of garam masala
1/2tsp of red chilli powder
1/2tsp of coriander powder
1/2tsp of ginger garlic paste
2tbs of oil
salt to taste
enough water to knead the flour

Method

Knead all together with 2tbs of oil as usual. Cover and leave to set. Take a lemon size dough and rolled them out as thin as possible.

Heat tawa and cook on both sides of the roti. Serve.

Mooli Thepla @ Raddish

Mooli Thepla
source : www.archanaskitchen.com

an overdue of postings....a week ago we had 2 different types of rotis for our dinner...Mooli Thepla ie roti with raddish. I used the small kind of raddish which is red in color. Quite wholesome.

Another is Aloo Cheese Parotha. Quite a good combination of cheese, wholemeal flour(atta flour) and boiled potato with some spices added in.

Moolii Thepla

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 cup grated radish
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
2 tablespoons oil + Oil for cooking the thepla
Salt to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons in a saute pan; add the cumin seeds, turmeric powder, grated radish, saltand saute until the radish becomes tender and soft. Turn off heat and allow it to cool.

Combine all the ingredients together to the above radish mixture and knead to a firm dough adding water only if required. The process of kneading with yogurt and the warmth of the hand can make the thepla dough very sticky and very soft. Add more flour if needed to reduced the stickiness and top of with a dash of oil to make it smooth from the outer.

Make 12- 15 lemon sized balls and roll them out as thin as you can to approximately 6inches in diameter. Note tossing the dough in dry flour while rolling will prevent it from getting sticky when rolling them out.

With iron skillet on high heat, cook the rolled out theplas smearing about 1/4 teaspoon of oil on both side and until brown spots appear on the theplas. Remove from heat.

Continue the above with the remaining portions of the dough, stacking the cooked thepla’s one over the other. This will prevent them from drying and also preserve moisture.

Note that the theplas are cooked on high heat and hence cook very fast.

Mango Pudding

An easy and simple not so sweet pudding... Enjoy

13gms of jelly powder
250gm of sugar
1 liter of water
1 cup of mango puree
385ml of evaporated milk
1tsp of essence vanilla


Method

Dissolve sugar and water, together with jelly powder.
Place on stove on medium heat and stir frequently.
Add in essence vanilla.
Stir together mango puree and evaporated milk well.
Once the mixture starts to boil, add in the mango mixture to the jelly mixture, stir till it mix well.
Pour in a mould, let it cool and place in fridge for the pudding to set.

Fried Tempe Taufoo

When I saw Treatntrick's post, I was determined to cook them as I really miss this dish. I ask Nina, my Indonesian friend where I can buy tempe in Doha and the next thing I know it, Nina sent it over to my house..Thank you very much Nina for the tempe..

Tempe is fermented soya bean normally packed in a banana leaf. Cut and fry them, add with some veges like long beans, fried taufoo and some fresh prawns with hot steaming rice and you have an amazing dish...

As usual I have made mine according to the things available in my kitchen.

Treatntrick's version.

4 hard tofu cubed and fried
4 tempe cubed and fried
1 tbs tamarind mixed with 1/2 cup of water
1 onions sliced
3 red chillies sliced
3 green chillies sliced
1 stalk lemon grass - slightly bruised
1 cm of lengkuas (galangal) bruised
10 long bean cut diagonally
1 cup of coconut milk
salt and sugar to taste
cooking oil

Grind into a paste

10 dry chillies soak to soften
8 shallots
3 cloves of garlics
1/2 inch of ginger
1 tsp of shrimp paste (optional)

Method

Heat oil and fry grinded chilly paste together with lemon grass and gallangal. Add in salt and sugar to taste, fry till fragrant and some water.

Add in the taufoo and tempe, mix well.

Pour in coconut milk and tamarind juice, stir well and simmer till gravy is fairly thick.

Add in sliced chillies, onions and long beans and cook further until the gravy is dry. Ready to serve.

p/s : I used birds eyes chilli instead and also fried anchovies and dried prawns and omitted long beans.

Moong Dhall Chilla/Spiced Lentil Crepes

source : www.archanaskitchen.com

I tried a simple and easy to cook pancake from Archanaskitchen. Its nutritional and quite wholesome meal... Thanks Archana

1 cup Yellow Moong Dal
1/4 cup White Urad Dal
2 cups Finely Chopped Spinach
1 large onion sliced finely
2 green chilies chopped finely (optional while giving children)
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Salt to taste
Vegetable/Sunflower Oil

Method
Soak the Yellow Moong Dal and Udat Dal together for 2 hours. Grind into a fine paste by adding 1 ½ cups of water. Make sure to use the water which is used for soaking. It has all the nutrition of the lentils packed inside. The batter should be of thick pouring consistency.

In the mean while, heat frying pan, crackle the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and add the sliced onions. Sauté on medium heat till the onion changes color.

Add the sautéed onions, chopped spinach, chopped green chilies (optional), turmeric powder and salt to the lentil batter.

Heat the non stick griddle on medium heat; spread 1 ladle full of batter on the griddle. Put about a teaspoon of oil around spread batter. Let it cook on medium heat. After about ½ minute, flip it over. You will notice that one side is turned golden brown. Cook until both sides have a golden brown color.

You might like the chilla to be crisp, so you can let it cook a little more on low heat till you get the required texture.

Alternatively

You can add finely chopped raw cabbage, chopped mint leaves, finely chopped fenugreek leaves, raw grated carrots to make tasty chillas.

Banana Chocolate Cake

http://resipicitarasawan.blogspot.com

I tried this cake many days ago and my children love it...though the recipe calls for a ganache to finish off the recipe, I decided to do without it as it was good as it is. It is easy as it is divided into 2 parts - the wet stuff in one bowl and dry ones into another and mix them and bake voila you have a yummy cake to indulge on...I guess with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with, it will be heaven....Lets look at the recipe.

Ingredients for the cake
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (75 grams) cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium sized bananas)
1 cup (240 ml) warm water
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
1/2 cup (120 ml) safflower or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon (14 gram) unsalted butter

Garnish: (optional)
Dried banana chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. You will notice that the batter is quite thin. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost with the Ganache.