Chicken & Shrimp Wontons

This is a deep fried version of chicken & shrimp wontons which is extremely easy to make and it serves as an excellent appetizer, side dish, or even a snack.

Just start by grinding into a paste the shrimp, spring onion, ginger and garlic.

In a bowl, combine well the paste, minced chicken, cornflour, white pepper, light soy sauce, salt and sugar.

Take a sheet of the store bought wonton pastry and place 1 tsp of the mixture in the middle. Wet the edges with water and scrunch up all the sides to makes the wontons.

Heat some oil in a pan and start frying the wontons once the oil is hot enough. Fry the wontons till golden brown and remove from heat and place on kitchen towel to drain the excess oil. Serve hot with soup or preferred condiments.

CHICKEN & SHRIMP WONTONS

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:

200g minced chicken
100g shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup spring onions, chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tbsp garlic, finely grated 
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 packet wonton pastry
Oil for frying
Water

METHOD:

1) Grind together the shrimp, spring onion, ginger and garlic to make a paste.
2) In a bowl, combine well the paste, minced chicken, cornflour, white pepper, light soy sauce, salt and sugar.

3) Take a sheet of the store bought wonton pastry and place 1 tsp of the mixture in the middle. Wet the edges with water and scrunch up all the sides to makes the wontons.

4) Heat some oil in a pan and start frying the wontons once the oil is hot enough.

5) Fry the wontons till golden brown and remove from heat and place on kitchen towel to drain the excess oil. Serve hot with soup or preferred condiments.

*This recipe makes about 24-30 wontons

Almond Butter

In recent times, I've been coming across posts from various food blogs on how to make your very own homemade almond butter. If I had not stumbled upon these recipes, honestly, I would have never thought it would be possible to make almond butter from scratch, or any kind of nut butter for the fact.

Many food blogger who have attempted making almond butter more than often suggest various flavourings, such as cinnamon, chocolate, or honey could be added to the nut butter to enhance its taste. I thought I would have to add some salt and perhaps some honey to achieve a nicer tasting almond butter. But boy was I wrong! This beauty was so good on its own and it didn't need any flavour enhancers, not even salt, making this an extremely healthy recipe, albeit in moderation. Trust me, its that good, even I was a little surprised with the amazing end result.

In order to make your very own almond butter, you would need almonds, of course, and a durable food processor or grinder. Fret not if you have a not so sturdy food processor or grinder, you could still attempt making this butter but the process might take you a little longer than usual.

I only used 200g of almonds since it was my first time making it and I was rather skeptical on whether it would turn out well and if it didn't I didn't want it to end up being a royal flop!

Start of by roasting the almonds. You could very well use raw almond instead of roasting it, but I would strongly suggest roasting it since it lends a very deep flavour to the almond butter. In a baking tray covered with foil, lay the almonds in a single layer. Roast the almond for 10 minutes in the oven. 

Once done, remove the roasted almonds from the oven and let it cool for a bit. 

Place the almonds in the food processor or grinder and grind away.

This is how it looks after 1 minute of grinding.

After 3 minutes.

After a full five minutes. I was surprised that it took me only 5 minutes to reach this consistency, since most blogger mentioned that it would take around 10 minutes to reach this consistency.

Place the butter in an airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. 

You may consume the almond butter with toast or cracker, but the best way which works for me is by dipping sliced apples into the butter and eating them.

ALMOND BUTTER

+PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:

200g almonds, roasted

METHOD:

1) Preheat the oven at 150 degree celsius.
2) Place the raw almonds in a single layer on a baking try lined with foil.
3) Roast the almonds in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times in between.
4) Once done, remove the roasted almonds from the oven and let it cool for a bit.
5) Place the almonds in the food processor or grinder and start grinding.
6) Stop grinding every 1 minutes and scrape down the sides and continue grinding for another minute and repeat the same till the almond butter comes together.
7) Once the almond butter comes together, place the contents in an airtight container and refrigerate for 4-6 weeks.
* If you are adding and additional flavourings, like sugar, salt, honey, or cinnamon, the shelf life of the butter may be reduced to 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. 

Coconut Date Fritters (Cucur Buah Kurma Kelapa)

Today marks the first day of the Ramadan month and one of the popular food items this month would be dates/buah kurma. This recipe is really easy to make and very suitable for buka puasa/breaking fast.

Start by deseeding the dates and cutting it into strips. Really sweet dates are best used for these fritter and you would not need to add any sugar.

In a bowl, combine the self raising flour, atta flour and salt and make a well.

Slowly add some water to make a thick batter.

To the batter add the dates and mix well. Add some sugar if dates are not sweet and combine well.

Add the grated coconut and give it a good mix.

In a wok/pan, heat some oil. 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 or less 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 and serve hot.

Selamat berbuka puasa to all my muslim brothers and sisters!

COCONUT DATE FRITTERS (CUCUR BUAH KURMA KELAPA)

+PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:

10-12 dates/buah kurma, deseeded and sliced

1/4 cup grated coconut,packed

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup atta/whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

Sugar to taste, if needed

1/2 cup water or as needed

Oil to fry

METHOD:

1) Deseed the dates and slice them. Do not slice them too thin, it should be of medium thickness. Keep aside.

2) In a bowl, combine the self raising flour, atta flour and salt and make a well.

3) Slowly add some water to make a thick batter.

4) To the batter add the dates and mix well. Add some sugar if dates are not sweet and combine well.

5) Add the grated coconut and give it a good mix.

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

7) 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.

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

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

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 18-20 fritters

Linking this to: http://www.thelady8home.com/2013/08/16/weekend-gala-dinner-extravaganza-is-back-link-up/

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.