Sweet Potato Chutney

This is my first time making chutney out of sweet potatoes. The idea striked in when I ended up with way too many purple sweet potatoes which I bought out of impulse 😆. When your stock are overloaded that's the time we'll be creative and find a way to use them to the maximum, almost in anything and everything. That's how the idea of sweet potato chutney came into the show.

I used purple sweet potatoes for the recipient and was amazed upon landed with bright orange chutney instead and found out the Kashmiri chilly done the trick. Tadaa...magoc do happen in the kitchen in my case, in the blender 😉. Kashmiri chilly have a bright colour and usually use for it's colour alone.  Do not taken aback with the vibrant colur as,  Kashmiri chilly unlike ordinary chilly not spicy at all (atleast for me). I'm happy I tried the chutney as it was, rich, delicious,smooth and creamy. Goes very well with dosa,idli or panniyaram.  

Ingredients 

2 medium sweet potatoes 

5 tablespoon grated coconut 

6 dry red chillies,torn

2 Kashmiri chillies,torn

1 medium onion,sliced

4 cloves garlic,sliced

1 1/2 tbps tamarind paste 

Salt to taste

For Tempering

1 sprig curry leaves

2-4 chillies (small chillies) 

3 tbsp urad dhal

Pinch of asafoetida

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Methods

Wash and poke the sweet potatoes. Boil till soft and tender. Drain and run cold water over the sweet potatoes. Peel off the skin and cut into pieces. 

Heat 2 tbsp gingely oil and saute grated coconut,onion,garlic,Kashmiri chillies & dry red chillies for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside to cool. 

In the blender add the sauteed ingredients,sweet potato pieces and little water. Grind to a coarse paste. 

Add tamarind paste and salt.  Grind to a smooth fine paste. Transfer the mixture into a bowl. 

In a pan,  add remaining 1 tbsp gingerly oil and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter,  add urad dhal,curry leaves, asafoetida & torn chilly. Saute for few seconds.

Pour over the tempering to the ground sweet potato mixture. Stir and serve with dosa,idli or paanniyaram. 

Rava Dates Panniyaram

 

I have shared few panniyaram recepi in my blog both,  sweet and savoury. Pennsylvania can be served for breakfast or as tea time snack. Usually, I'll use special paniyaram mould to which will give the beautiful puffed up round shape but,  this time I deep fried them and simply love it.  Pennsylvania comes in many variations with added banana,jackfruit,dry fruits or nuts or even savoury version. That's how versatile panniyaram are. 

This time around, I added grated coconut and dates to the batter. Do not taken aback with the deep dark colour, it was due to the dates and jaggery syrup. The coconut and chopped dates enhance the taste to the simple batter. The tiny bits of semolina adds texture to the delicious panniyaram.  

Ingredients 

1 cup semolina/rava

1/2 cup chopped dates 

1/2 cup grated coconut 

1/2 cup yogurt

3/4 cup whole milk

1 tbsp melted jaggery syrup/brown sugar

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1/4 tsp salt

Oil for deep frying 

Methods

In a large bowl,  add semolina, salt, cardamom powder and sugar. Stir to combine. 

Add grated coconut,chopped dates, milk and yogurt. Mix well. 

Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Using a tablespoon, gently drop the batter to the pan and fry on medium heat on both sides till done. 

Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

Serve hot with tea or coffee. 

Lemon Chia Seeds Individual Loaf

With the help of my little Dandelion, I baked this gorgeous individual  lemon chia seeds cake on weekend as our tea time treat. I baked lemon poppy seeds bundt cake months ago and decided to give it a try with chia seeds this time around. To my surprise it turns out absolutely wonderful and I'm truly impressed with the soft and spongy cake. Instead of individual loaf you may bake them in single loaf tin which works good too. 

The whole house filled with "lemony" aroma kind of refreshing aromatherapy and the sweet fragrance coming out of hot oven are indeed amazing. The tiny bits of chis seeds popping in mouth on every bites adds texture the gorgeous cake. You may dust the cake with confectioners sugar or drizzle with simple icing but I prefer mine naked 😄.

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp lemon juice 

2 1/2 tbsp chia seeds 

1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest

Methods

Preheat oven at 350'F or 175'C. Greased individual cake mould and keep aside. 

Combine flour,baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.  Keep aside. 

Using a stand or hand mixer, cream sugar and butter till pale and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition.

Beat in lemon juice and lemon zest. Add half of the flour mixture and beat. Add chia seeds and yogurt.

Using a spatula, stir in the flour mixture till no flour streak can be seen.  Do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly into the greased mould and bake for 50-55 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool on the pan for 8-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Purple Sweet Potato Balls With Sesame Seeds

Out of greediness I bought quite too many purple sweet potatoes during my roadtrip to a secluded Chinese village. The sweet potatoes are homegrown and no pesticides been used somehow, it's organic. More reason to get them in bundle right. So who can blame me 😄. The sweet potatoes are fresh and firm with a very mild sweetness.  Perfect for steaming and enjoy on it's own or for making kuih or snacks and that's what I did. I steamed them for lunch and made authentic Chinese deep fried sweet potato balls coated with sesame seeds. 

Always remember, the ratio of glutinous rice is based on the brand of the flour. Some brands required very little amount to bind the mixture and some might be a little more. Always adjust the amount to form a right consistency. The dough shall be firm to hold a ball shape. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying the balls as it will decrease the heat and will end up with uncooked dough. With all this minor steps, your goey,crispy sweet potatoes balls are ready to be enjoyed.

Ingredients 

250g purple sweet potatoes

3 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup glutinous rice

5 tbsp white sesame seeds 

Pinch of salt

Vegetable oil for deep frying 

Methods

Wash and using a sharp knife give a few slit on the sweet potatoes.

In a pot, heat water and boil the sweet potatoes till soft and tender. Drain and cover with cold water for 5 minutes. 

Drain the water and peel off the skin. Using a masher. Mash the sweet potatoes till fine. 

Add the glutinous rice, salt and sugar.  Mix well to form a firm dough. 

In a bowl dilute 1 tbsp glutinous rice with 3-4 tbsp water. Keep aside. 

Add sesame seeds in a bowl and keep aside. 

Pinch a small dough and roll it into ball. Dip the ball into diluted glutinous rice mixture evenly.

Roll the dough onto the sesame seeds to cover completely. Place in a tray. 

Repeat the process with remaining dough.

Heat oil in medium-low and gently fry the sweet potato balls into batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. Stir gradually for frying evenly.

Transfer the balls into a tray lined with kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

Serve with a cup of hot black tea.

Pillayar Patti Mothagam

Vinayagar chahurthi is my most favorite festival in the world. Grand celebration is a norm in our household with cleaning,decorating and of course the food.  From morning till evening we'll be busy in the kitchen to dish out prasadham for Lord Ganesha and I try to come up with variations. One such encounter is this mouth watering Pillayar Patti mothagam served as prasadham in Pillayar Patti temple in South India.  Sweet, filling, delicious and absolutely different from the ordinary mothagam.  I used deep dark in color jaggery which resulted in the beautiful brown colour. If you are using Bellamy the colour will be lighter and looks good too without compromising in taste. I hope everyone had a wonderful Vinayagar chahurthi.  May Ganesha bless us all with wisdom, health and wealth 🙏.

Ingredients 

1 cup raw rice 

3/4 cup jaggery

1/4 cup moong dhal

3 tbsp freshly grated coconut 

1/4 tap cardamom powder

2 & 3/4 cups water

1 tbsp ghee & more for greasing

Methods

Dry roast moving shall till golden. Keep aside. 

Dry roast raw rice for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside to cool completely.

In a blender, combine both moong dhal & roasted rice.  Grind to a coarse powder. The mixture shall resemble like semolina or rawa.

Dissolve jaggery with a cup of water and strain to remove impurities. Keep aside to cool. 

Add a tsp of ghee in a frying pan and roast the rice mixture for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. 

In a pan add the strained jaggery water and remaining 1 3/4 cups water. Bring to a boil.

Add the rice mixture to the boiling Jagger and stir to combine. Close with lid and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 2-4 minutes uncovered. 

Once the rice softened, add the remaining ghee and stir till the mixture form a huge mass by leaving the sides of the pan. Pinch a small portion of the mixture and form a ball,  if it forms easily the texture is correct. Add grated coconut and cardamom powder.  Stir well and switch off the heat. 

Let the mixture to cool completely. Grease hands with ghee and pinch a lemon sized of the dough and start to form into balls. 

Place on a plate greased with ghee and stream for 10 minutes. 

Serve warm. 

Kothu Parotha

This one recepi is what you shall give it a try whenever there's left over parotha. Kothu parotha is a popular Indian street food which loved by many.  In my neighborhood, we have an Indian restaurant which serve one of the best kothu parotha I ever tasted.  Salna or gravy is what makes a delicious kothu parotha. The restaurant's salna is the best. We simply love the kothu or literally means pounding which refer to the pounding action of the parotha on a hot kadai. You know someone ordered kothu parotha from the loud sound of metal spatula pounding the mixture on hot kadai. 

My nephew is an ardent fan of kothu Partha and I made my own at home to surprise him. Thanks to my left over chicken gravy which works wonder as salna for the parotha. Other spicy gravy like mutton or fish goes well as salna too.  Filling, delicious and absolutely stress buster kothu parotha got a thumbs up from my nephew and I'm a one happy aunty 😄.

Ingredients 

2 pcs parotha,torn into pieces

1/2 cup left over chicken or mutton gravy

1 pc fried chicken drummet,torn into pieces 

2 eggs,beaten

1 green chilly, chopped 

1 medium onion,chopped

1 medium tomato, chopped 

1 sprig curry leaves 

1/2 tap ginger garlic paste

1/3 tap chilly powder 

1/4 tap turmeric powder 

Pinch of garam masala

1/2 tsp lemon juice 

Salt to taste

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves 

2 tbsp oil

Methods 

In a flat heavy bottomed Kasai, heat oil on medium flame and saute onion,curry leaves and green chillies for 2-3 minutes.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 minute. Add chilly powder and turmeric powder. Saute got another 1 minute. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till the mushy approximately for 3-4 minutes.

Make a well in the center of the kadai and add the beaten egg till half cooked. Stir the scrambled egg with the tomato mixture to coat well. 

Add the torn parotha,fried chicken pieces and salna (gravy). Stir well to combine. Using a metal spatula start mincing the mixture with pounding action. Keep mincing for 3-4 minutes. 

Season with salt, lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves. Mince well to combine. 

Transfer to serving plate and enjoy hot. 

Cashew Milk

Tired of ordinary fresh,skimmed milk?  Need something new and tasty?  It's time to get your hands on nutritious cashew milk packed with zinc, iron, photasium & magnesium for your family to enjoy. Safe to consume for kids and adults who are not having any nut allergic issues. I made a reasonable amount of cashew milk to replace my fresh milk for my chai/tea and it tastes awesome. The same cashew milk enjoyed by my girls for their breakfast replacing their morning milk and they absolutely love the rich and creamy texture of the delicious milk. 

Soak your cashew to help with easy grinding. You may skip the straining process if you prefer to have a bit of cashew pieces in your drink.  Otherwise, the remaining bit of cashews after straining can be added curries to enhance the taste of the gravy. Cashew milk goes well with morning cereals or even as it own. 

Ingredients 

1 cup raw cashews

4 cups water,  divided

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp honey

Pinch of salt

Methods

Soak the cashews with water for overnight or at least 4 hours.  Drain and and add into a blender with 2 cups of water.  Blend for 2 minutes. 

Add another 2 cups of water, honey, vanilla extract and salt. Blend till all the cashews are well grind. 

Prepare a clean muslin cloth and strain  the milk. 

Store the milk in a covered container and refrigerate. Stays good up to 3-4 days. 

Sunny Side Malaysian Roti Canai

I have blogged Malaysian roti canai or flat bread sometime ago. Since then I have been making my own roti canai at home and tried with some variations too.  One if it is this gorgeous looking sunny side roti canai or locally known as roti canai goyang. It was a hit among my family members and everyone enjoyed the mixture of flavors from the thick spicy curry (left over mutton curry) and the soft runny egg yolk that burst out the golden goodness. Any spicy curry works well for this mouth watering roti canai and lucky me I have some left over mutton curry to go with it. 

I first had my taste on this delicious roti canai goyang in Transfer Road in Penang. A state in Northern Malaysia popular for it's food.  A humble stall in Transfer Road known well for their roti canai goyang and I fell in love on my very first bite. I choose the combination of fish and chicken curry to go with my gorgeous roti goyang and the sunny side was fried perfectly to reveal the bright yellow yolk and the moment my fork touch the fragile yolk and it started to drip to the crispy and soft roti canai. Haaaaa..a bite of heaven 😋😋

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp condensed milk
1 egg
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp salt

1 large egg

2 tbsp chopped red onion

Curry of your preference 

Methods

In a bowl, add flour,sugar,salt,melted butter,sugar and water. Using a hand/stand mixer attached with dough hook, knead for 15 minutes till soft and smooth dough formed.

Divide into equal sized balls and spread unsalted butter generously on each balls. Place the dough on the greased bowl  cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.

On a clean working surface, spread unsalted butter and using your palm slightly flatten the ball. Using your heel of your palm stretch the dough thi with spread of unsalted butter to ease the process. As thin as the dough can be seen thru. Pull the edges to stretch the dough.

Scrape to push the upper edge to the middle and do the same with the lower edge forming a thin wrinkle dough. Bring one end of the dough to form a disc by tucking the other end inside. Continue the same with remaining dough. While working please cover the dough with clean kitchen towel to prevent the dough from drying.

Heat a griddle over a medium flame and spread unsalted butter.  Flatten the rolled dough into 10-12 diameter and place it on the hot girddle. Cook on each sides till golden. Remove from pan and on a clean working surface, while the roti canai still hot, fluff it by bringging both end of the roti canai to the middle and squeeze it several times. Keep the roti canai covered with kitchen cloth. Continue with remaining dough.

In a frying pan, heat a tbsp of oil.  Crack the egg and fry just on one side for sunny side egg, making sure the egg yolk are still runny. 

In a plate, tear the roti canai into small pieces, pour over a generous amount of curry of your preference (various curry recipe can be found in my blog). 

Top with sunny side egg and sprinkle with chopped onion. 

Serve with a piping glass of hot the tarik or Malaysian pulled tea. 

Crispy Ghee Roast

 

Who could ever resist ghee dripping nei or clarified butter dosa. Ghee aka clarified butter dosa are favourite for many including my both Dandelions. Nevertheless, to say if the ghee are homemade. Yes,  I made my own ghee at home and always have a batch ready in my pantry.  The fragrance and taste of homemade ghee in the nei dosa or topsail are simply divine. Making ghee thosai with homemade ghee is an amazing experience as you will indulge in the sweet aroma of the ghee even while swirling your dosa on tawa. 

I love the crispy and golden color of my ghee dosa. Thanks to the fenugreek seeds added to the batter and to my mom for the tips.  A little tips that goes a long way to yield a beautiful dosa for our Sunday morning breakfast. Some will use oil to drizzle the edges of the dosa for cooking but, I wanted to bring out the ghee flavor in my disability and opted to drizzle with ghee instead which is the best choice. Serve with piping hot cup of coffee to enjoy the best of weekend breakfast. I served with cardamom filter coffee. 

Ingredients 

1 cup par boiled rice
1/4 cup urad dhal
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt taste

Methods

For The Dosa Batter

Soak all the ingredients except salt for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Grind the soaked ingredients with little water. The batter should not be too thin or too thick.

Pour the batter into a large pot or vessel and add salt. Mix well. Let  the batter ferment overnight. 

Prepare Dosa

Heat dosa tawa and drizzle with little oil. Take a ladleful of dosa batter and spread into a circle.

Sprinkle little ghee along the edges of the dosa.

Cook till the dosa turns golden and crispy.

Fold and serve hot with piping cup of filter coffee.

Notes

• For fermentation pour the batter into a deep large vessel, to avoid overflowing of batter during fermentation.

Pavlova

 

Pavlova is one of the easiest and trickiest to bake. From the preparation to baking pavlova required few tips and tricks to get a perfectly crispy and soft pavlova. This is not my first time baking this gorgeous snow like beauty as I have tried variations like chocolate and rose scented pavlova in my humble kitchen. Everytime I beat the sugar and eggs mixture I have this naughty tendency to uplift the bowl over my head to make sure I get the right consistency. If the mixture hold and not dripping from the bowl,  it was a good sign for great pavlova. 

The temperature of the oven is another important thing to yield an amazing pavlova. Too high heat or too cold oven could simply ruin the whole stuff. Remember to reduce the temperature as stated in the methods after placing your pavlova in the oven for a crispy exterior and fudgy marshmallowy interior. Do let them cool completely in the  oven and don't worry with it cracks, as a good pavlova shall have number of cracks to it's account. When it comes to pavlova patient is the key 😄



Ingredients

5 large egg whites (room temperature)
1 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp vinegar

Topping

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp granulated white sugar
Strawberries

Methods

For the Meringue

Line a baking sheet with a parchment/baking paper and draw a 7 inch circle on the parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 300 Degrees F or 150' Celcious

Using a electric mixer, bet the egg whites and the cream of tartar on medium to form a soft peaks. Add sugar a tablespoon at a time and beat on high speed  till the meringue is shiny and form a stiff peaks. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved and smooth to the touch. If the sugar still gritty continue beating till smooth.

Add vinegar and vanilla beat till combined. Sift in the cocoa powder and cornstarch to the meringue base. Add in the chocolate chunks/chips and gently fold in till combined.

Dab a little meringue on the underside of each corner of parchment paper to keep it on place. Gently pile the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper and smooth the edges

Place the baking tray in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 250 F or 120 Cel. Bake the meringue for 60-70 minutes till the outside is dry. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar and let the meringue cool completely in the oven about 1 or 2 hrs

For The Topping

Using an electric mixer, whip the cold cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Before serving, mound the whipped cream into the center of the meringue and garnish with strawberries and serve immediately


Notes

Once baked, the outside of the meringue will feel firm to the touch. There maybe some cracks but that's ok as you can see that the inside is soft and moist

Do not immediately remove the meringue from the oven as sudden change of temperature will result with more crack and the pavlova tends to collapsed

Pile up the whipped cream and fruits just before serving to avoid the meringue become soggy