SNEAK PEEK: Vanilla Cupcakes With Vanilla Buttercream

Made these lovely babies last weekend for my niece's birthday party. Recipe coming up soon! In the meantime, drool over these pictures!!

Onion Fritters (Cucur Bawang)

This is an extremely simple recipe and you can whip up a batch of these fritters in no time for a savoury and tasty tea time snack.

When I make fritters I usually use a combination of plain/self raising flour and whole wheat/atta flour. For these onion fritters I used equal amount of self raising flour and atta flour. To that flour mixture I add the sliced onion and some salt and gave it a good mix.

Add some water to make a batter. Make sure the batter is not too runny. If you have accidentally added more water, just add extra flour to make the batter thick again.

Heat some oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, spoon in about 1 tbsp of the batter into the hot oil. Be sure not to over crowd the pan. Spoon in only about 3-4 fritters at a time. Fry the fritters for about a minute and flip it to the other side. 

Once the fritters have turned golden brown on both sides, remove from the pan and place it on kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil. Serve hot with ketchup or chilli sauce.

ONION FRITTERS (CUCUR BAWANG)

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:

2 red onion, sliced

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup atta flour

Salt to taste

3/4-1 cup water

1 cup oil, to fry

METHOD:

1) In a bowl, combine the two types of flour, sliced anions and salt.

2) Add the water bit by bit to make a thick batter.

3) Heat the oil in a pan, in medium low heat.

4) Once the oil in the pan is hot, spoon in about 1 tbsp of the batter in to the hot oil. Repeat this to make a few more fritters at a time.

5) Fry the fritters for 1 minutes. Flip the fritters to the other side and continue to fry for another 1 minute, or till golden brown.

6) Once the fritters turn golden brown, remove from oil and place the fritter on kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil.

7) Serve hot with ketchup or chilli sauce.

NOTES:

1) The self raising flour can be replaced with plain or all purpose flour. If this is done, add 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

2) The atta flour can be replaced with whole wheat flour. If you can't find atta or whole wheat flour, you need not use a combination of flours. You can just use self raising/plain/all purpose flour.

4) Make sure to add the water in small amounts so that you don't end up with a runny batter. If you added too much of water, just add a bit more flour to make the batter thick again.

5) Make sure the oil is hot enough before you fry the fritters so that your fritter does not absorb excess oil and becomes soggy.

6) Make only about 4 fritter at a time and do not overcrowd the pan.
   
   *This recipe yields 16-20 fritters.

Fried Egg Noodles (Yee Mee Goreng)

This recipe is perfect for those who are living by themselves or like me, left to rot alone at home without food. So, I decided to  fix myself something to eat and this recipe appealed to me the most since is tasty and quick to make.

To make this dish, I used dried egg noodles, which you can easily obtain from the supermarket.

I started to boil some water in a pan and cooking one disc of the dried egg noodles. Once the egg noodles are al dente, strain the noodles and keep aside.

Go on to prepare all the other necessary ingredients.

In a wok, heat some oil and fry the sliced onion and garlic till soft and fragrant.

Add in the cubed chicken, prawns and chicken stock and fry for about 1 minute.

Throw in all the veggies and continue to fry for a bit.

Add in the dark soy sauce and mix well.

Lastly, add in the cooked egg noodles and give it a quick toss and remove from heat. Sprinkle some chopped spring onions and serve hot.

FRIED EGG NOODLES (YEE MEE GORENG)

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:

1 disc dried egg noodles
1 red onion, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
50g prawns, shelled & deveined, cut into small pieces
50g chicken breast/fillet, cut into small cubes
1/2 cubed chicken stock, crushed
1/2 medium carrot, grated
4 snow peas, sliced
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp oil
A pinch of salt (optional)
Chopped spring onion (optional)

METHOD:
1) In a pan, bring some water to boil and drop in the dried egg noodles. Cook it for about 3-4 minutes, till its al dente.
2) Once the noodles are done, strain it and keep aside.
3) In a wok, heat the oil and fry the sliced onions and minced garlic till soft and fragrant.
4) Add in the cubed chicken, prawns and cubed chicken stock (crushed) and fry for about 1 minute.
5) Throw in all the veggies and continue to fry for 30-45 seconds.
6) Add in the dark soy sauce and mix well.
*At this point you may add a pinch of salt, if necessary. I did not add any salt since the chicken stock I used had already had salt added.
7) Add in the cooked egg noodles and give it a quick toss, about 45 seconds to 1 minute.
8) Remove from heat and sprinkle some chopped spring onions. Serve hot.

* This recipe serves 1

Thick Chicken Curry With Greek Yogurt

This is a very simple chicken curry recipe and I've added a little greek yogurt in place of coconut cream to make it nice and creamy without the added calories from coconut cream.

I started off by making into paste the onions (I used a mix of spanish and red), garlic and ginger. 

Go on and puree one tomato.

Peel and cube one potato and keep aside.

Prepare all the spices ingredients.

In a pan, heat some oil and fry all the spices ingredients till fragrant.

Add the onion, garlic and ginger paste and fry for 1 minute or so. 

Stir in the pureed tomato and continue to fry for another minute.

Add the chicken pieces and cubed potatoes and mix well.

To that add some Baba's meat curry powder and combine well. Add some water and mix well. Add salt to taste and cover the pan. Let it simmer in medium low heat for 30 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.

Lastly, add some greek style yogurt and continue to cook for a minute or so.

Remove from heat and serve hot with rice or chapathi.

THICK CHICKEN CURRY WITH GREEK YOGURT

+PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:

To make paste:

4 onions (2 spanish, 2 red)

5 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

To puree:

2 tomatoes

Spices:

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

3 star anise

5 cloves

1/4 tsp cumin, heaped

1/2 tsp fennel

4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

3 dry chilies

Other ingredients:

500g chicken, cut into pieces
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 1/2 tbsp Baba's meat curry powder, heaped

4 1/2 cups water

1 tbsp greek style yogurt (heaped), or plain yogurt

3-4 tbsp oil

Salt to taste.

METHOD:

1) Make into paste all the to make paste ingredients.

2) Puree 2 tomatoes.

3) In a pan heat 3-4 tbsp oil and fry all the spices ingredients for a minute till fragrant.

4) Add the onion, garlic and ginger paste and fry for 1-2 minutes till fragrant.

5) Add the pureed tomatoes nd continue to fry for another minute.

6) Add the chicken pieces and cubed potatoes and mix well.

7) Add the Baba's meat curry powder and combine well.

8) Add water and salt to taste and mix well. Cover the pan and let the curry simmer in medium low heat until the potatoes are fork tender.

9) Once the chicken and potatoes are done, stir in the greek style yogurt and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.

10) Remove from heat and serve hot with rice or chapathi.

Instant Idli With Greek Yogurt

If someone asked me what was my one favourite indian food item, I would right away, without thinking twice, I would definitely say "idli". I can have idli every other day of the week without getting bored of it, and that is how much I like it. However, the process involved making the regular idli batter is a quite a lengthy one. Hence, I can't get my idli fix as and when I want it. And then one day I discovered how to make instant idli at home from scratch using semolina/rava from the recipes section in the magazine that I was reading at that time. I finally made time to try out the recipe, with minor tweaks, last weekend. 

In a bowl, combine the semolina/rava, greek style yogurt, soda bicarbonate, oil and salt to taste to make a thick paste.

Go on to add some water to bring the paste into regular idli batter consistency. Once mixed well, cover the bowl and let the batter stand for 30 minutes.

Pour the batter into greased idli moulds and steam for 10 minutes.

After the idli is done, remove from the steamer and let it cool for 2 minutes before removing from the moulds. 

Remove the idlis from the moulds and serve warm with sambar, chutney or any condiment of your choice.  

INSTANT IDLI WITH GREEK YOGURT

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup semolina/rava

1/2 cup greek style yogurt

1/8 tsp soda bicarbonate

1/4 tsp oil

Salt to taste

1/4 cup water

METHOD:

1) Combine all the ingredients except for the water in a bowl and mix till it forms a paste.

2) Slowly add in the water and mix to form batter. The batter should be like regular idli batter consistency. 

* I used a little less than 1/4 cup of water. 

3) Cover the bowl and let the batter stand for 30 minutes.

4) Pour the batter into greased idli moulds.

5) Steam in an idli steamer for 10 minutes.

6) Remove the idli pan from the steamer and let the idlis cool for 2 minutes.

7) Remove the idlis from the moulds and serve warm with sambar, chutney or any condiment of your choice.

NOTE:

The greek yogurt in this recipe can be substituted with regular plain yogurt. However, if this is done, you would have to cut back on the amount of water used to make the batter.

* This recipe makeS 5 medium sized idlis.

Stir Fried Veggies With Egg Tofu

This stir fry recipe is an extremely simple and satisfying one. I could just have this alone for lunch or dinner.

Slice the egg tofus and fry till golden brown. Once done, remove from heat and place them on a kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil.

Go on to blanch all the vegetables. Make sure not to blanch them too long to ensure that the veggies are still crunchy. Once blanched, immediately place the vegetables in cold water. This is because it stops the cooking process and the vegetable remains crunchy. Blanch the vegetables separately.

In a wok/pan heat some oil and sauté the onion and garlic till soft and fragrant.

To that add some oyster sauce and a pinch of salt.

Add the blanched veggies and fried egg tofu and give a quick toss. 

Remove from heat and sprinkle some chopped spring onions, if desired and serve hot.

STIR FRIED VEGGIES WITH EGG TOFU

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:

1 spanish onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 packet egg tofu

3/4 cup broccoli florets

6 snow peas

1/2 cup red bell pepper
3/4 tbsp oil

1 tsp oyster sauce

A pinch of salt
Oil to fry the egg tofus
Water to blanch the veggies

METHOD:
1) Slice the egg tofus and fry till golden brown. 
2) Once the tofus are done, remove from heat and place them on a kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil.

3) In a pot, bring to boil some water. Once it has reached boiling stage reduce the heat and start blanching the veggies. Blanch the veggies one after another, separately. Make sure to blanch for only 30-45 seconds, to ensure that the veggies are still crunchy.
4) Once blanched, remove from the hot water and immediately place the veggies in a bowl of cold water and remove them after a while.
5) In a wok/pan heat 3/4 tbsp oil and sauté the onion and garlic till soft and fragrant.

6) Add the oyster sauce and a pinch of salt and continue sauteing for a few mmore seconds.
7) Add the blanched veggies and fried egg tofu and give a quick toss.

8) Remove from heat and sprinkle some chopped spring onions.