Urad Dal Puris

Puri is is an unleavened deep-fried Indian bread.Puri is prepared with wheat flour, either atta (whole wheat flour), refined wheat flour or sooji (coarse wheat flour).Today's recipe comes with a combination of whole wheat flour, plain flour and urad dal flour.
In the south of India, Puri is commonly served with potato based curries.

Dad, hailing from native land India, loves indian food.Even though he has been residing in  Malaysia for more than 50 years ,indeed his taste bud has not changed much. This recipe is dedicated to him on Father's Day.
Wishing all DAD's around the globe a very HAPPY FATHER's DAY .




1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup plain flour
¼ cup urad dal (roasted and powdered)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)optional
1 tsp oil
¾ cup water mix with ¾ tsp salt (dissolve salt In water)
A bit of butter to rub on your palms

2 cups oil for deep-frying



Method
Roast the urad dal and powder it in a mixer.Sieve.Measure ¼ cup .
Combine in a bowl, whole wheat flour,plain flour and urad dhal flour.Knead with salt water and add in the oil as well and knead into a soft dough.Use enough water to combine the flours into a dough.Ensure there are no cracks in your dough.
Once the flours are combined,rub some butter in your palm and knead until smooth.
Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 9 or 10 equal portions and roll out each portion into a circle or disk.
The circles or disks should not be thick but moderately thin.
Place a puri on hot oil.While the puri is rising up from the oil,it will puff. Use a flat spoon to press lightly on the puri to help it to puff.
Turn and leave for a few seconds.Drain on absorbent paper.
Serve hot with your choice of curries.







Submitting the above recipe to Cooking with seeds-Urad Dal hosted by Nivedhanam and Priya's Versatile Recipes.

Butter Prawns

Butter prawns has got to be one of Malaysia’s finest gastronomic contributions. The presence of Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking methods and ingredients is very symbolic of the various cultures here.
A common item on the menu of most Chinese seafood restaurants, butter prawns is one of those dishes that has a huge fan group, both in and out of Malaysia.
Despite its name, the key ingredient is not just butter but the curry leaves used!
Curry leaves, a familiar ingredient in Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine, gives an exotic twist to the creamy flavours present in the curry, with a small amount of chillies offering little bursts of spiciness.
The strong flavours and aroma from the curry leaves tend to blanket the overall dish, allowing the unique set of flavours interwoven with each other to surface and make up the very essence of this dish.

Fresh curry leaves work best, as the quality of their fragrance deteriorates with time. The curry leaves have to be fried in shallow oil, where the high temperature shrivels them and effectively unleashes their flavours.

They will acquire a crispy texture once ready, allowing you to chew them with the prawns. Apart from acting as a flavouring agent, curry leaves also contain calcium, iron and vitamin C

The butter absorbs the myriad flavours present in this dish, mainly because it is a type of fat. It’s the same concept as leaving an opened tub of butter in the fridge with some garlic — after a few hours, the butter will definitely smell like garlic.

In this dish, the butter sponges up the distinct curry leaf taste and the fresh prawn flavour, coating the prawns evenly.I have used daisy margarine which provided sufficient salt for the recipe.Therefore ,I had not added salt to this dish.  . If you are using margarine with less salt then by all means season it accordingly. Butter prawns are usually served with their head and shell intact.

A generous scattering of egg floss  and the curry leaves completes the garnishing. If you’re craving for a very Malaysian taste, then butter prawns is the way to go!

300gm medium size prawns,washed and trimmed

For egg floss

3-4 tbsp margarine/butter

1 tbsp oil

4 egg yolks (beaten lightly)

Ingredients B

1 tbsp chopped garlic

4 to 5 sprigs curry leaves

7 cili padi(bird's eye chilli),chopped

Seasoning

½  a chicken cube or 1 tsp chicken stock powder (There are Maggi and Knorr brand available here, I used Maggi chicken cube)

½ tsp sugar

¼ tsp white pepper powder

2 to 3 tbsp evaporated milk

Preparing egg floss: Heat a wok, melt margarine/butter with a tbsp of oil.This is to avoid the margarine to change colouring when melting.Once the margarine had melted, pour the beaten egg yolks bit by bit while stirring it continuously to get fine shreds of yolk.Keep stirring in medium heat until you have finished pouring all the egg yolks.In between there will be bubbles ,but keep stirring as you want a golden crisp floss.After a while , the bubbles will lessen and the egg yolks will turn into beautiful golden colour.Close heat. Sieve it. Keep aside the floss.Let it drain excess oil .

In a clean wok, mix in the leftover melted margarine(used to prepare the floss) with ½ cup of oil . Deep fry the drained prawns in the oil until it change colour.Drain in a paper towel. Discard the oil.

Heat a wok, add in 1 tbsp margarine and let it melt, to it add in chopped garlic. Saute until aromatic, to it  add in cili padi and curry leaves. Saute further until the  leaves turn crisp slightly. Add in the prawns and give a few stirs. Season with pepper powder, sugar and crumble in the chicken cube. Again stir to combine.Pour in the evaporated milk. Keep stirring until the evaporated milk is well combined with the prawns and stir fry until very dry.You can add in the egg floss at this stage and stir  to combine with the prawns or you can dish out and sprinkle the egg floss as topping. Either way is acceptable. I have dished the prawns on a serving plate and sprinkle the egg floss on top. Garnish with some crisp curry leaves and chopped cili padi. Serve hot.

Reference : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Happy Birthday and Vertical Layer Cake

Today my blog turns 6 years old !! I cant believe it that I've been blogging all these years and still am active .
Checking back ,this blog was started on 29th May 2007 and now its 2013 .Time does fly fast. Thank You friends and readers, hope there will be continuous support from all of you.God Bless.
I wanted to actually change the design of this blog, created all my images in photoshop, animator etc and finally when I went into the HTML link, god what's happening ?? I cant seem to view my source code as before.So, this is what  blog spot has been doing,making it impossible for us to change the sources unlike before! I am looking at a very simplified and summarized (dare I say ) codes , now where am I suppose to place my image links ??? No idea. So after much anger,depression and cursing , have decided to opt with my blog design as it is . No changes. I think its ok...There is nothing wrong with the design, simple , colour seems  to soothe  the eye!!

On this special day ,I would like to blog two cake recipes which is used to do the vertical cake.It took me about 3 days to really complete it, in between with working ,cooking,cleaning  etc. I took my time as I want the cake to be easily handled when I am designing and icing them .There are two cake recipes here.I must admit, it is  slightly a tedious cake to prepare, but it was worth it!! Click on the link at the bottom of this page to get the step by step on how to assemble the cakes.

The white cake recipe is the most suitable recipe for doing the vertical cake.It does not crumble and is easy to handle and assemble , taste buttery of course and deserve a thumb up. I had to prepare twice the cake as the height was not equal to my chocolate cake. Therefore, there was  a slight colour variance in the cake.Double the recipe to get equal heights.Both cakes have been baked in an  8 in baking square pan.

White Butter Cake:

(double the recipe)

2 large eggs, separated

1 3/4 cups (175 grams) sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butte, at room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

White Butter Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of oven. Butter and flour one - 8 inch (20 cm) square cake pan. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease and flour parchment paper.
While eggs are still cold separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl.  Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).
In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.Scrape down the sides of the bowl .Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.  
In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.
Pour the batter in prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 -22  minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in their pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make the filling and frosting of the cakes easier.)

Note:  Cream of tartar is used when whipping egg whites to stabilize them, and to prevent over beating and the whites from drying out.

Buttercream was only prepared the next day .

Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract 

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

2 tablespoons milk or more 

Makes:

About 3 cups of icing.

Instructions:

step 1

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

step 2

For best results, keep icing bowl in the refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re whip before using.

step 3

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

 

step 4

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

Chocolate Cake

250gm butter

300gm castor sugar

4 eggs

200gm self raising flour

100gm cocoa powder

½ tbsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp baking powder

200ml warm black coffee(I used Brazilian coffee: 1 tbsp coffee powder to 200ml warm water)

Preheat oven to 180C.Grease a 8in square cake tin and set aside. In a stand mixer,cream butter and sugar until fluffy,Gradually add eggs one at a time ,beating well after each addition so that the mixture does not curdle.Sift all the dry ingredients.Add sifted ingredients and warm coffee ,alternatively in small quantities ,mixing thoroughly.Pour into cake tin.Bake for 40-45mins.Remove from oven.The cake will rise slightly. Flatten  the top portion by using  a kitchen paper towel and lightly flattening  the top layer with ur palms.

After 20mins,refrigerate the cake for at least 3hrs in the freezer for easy handling.

Note: This recipe requires 100gms of cocoa powder, certain cocoa powders like Hershey and Van Houten  are rather bitter.Lessen the cocoa powder and substitute with flour. I used 100gm of TUDOR GOLD cocoa powder which has less bitterness in it.I was rather happy with the  taste of the chocolate cake.

I only prepared the frosting the next day .

Chocolate Frosting

2 bars Cadbury chocolate mousse

1 cup milk

1 ½ tbsp butter

½ tsp vanilla essence(optional)

Heat milk for a few minutes.Close fire.Break in the Cadbury chocolates (room temperature) into the milk and stir until dissolve.Add in the butter and essence as well. Stir and leave for about 5 mins.Pour the chocolate glaze on the cake and decorate as desired.

Reference : Purdy, Susan G. 'A Piece of Cake'. Collier Books. New York: 1989.
                 : Flavour Magazine

Tutorial on how to assemble the cake : http://iambaker.net/verticle-layer-rose-cake-1/?repeat=w3tc