Savoury Mince Rolls

Recently going to a party on the weekend i witnessed my aunty making a delicious savoury snack for her guests. I asked her to give me a really good recipe the next day so i can share with all of you :) 

These are 3 important steps for all of you cookers to follow. 

1. Making the Filling:

Ingredients:

  

1lb of ground meat  (see note)

2 carrots finely grated (optional)

4 boiled potatoes coarsely mashed

1 medium onion chopped

2 green chilies seeded and chopped

1-2 Tbs of grated fresh garlic

2 inches of fresh ginger grated 

10-15 curry leaves (torn)

1 small stick of cinnamon 

1 Tbs of finely minced fresh mint leaves

2-4 Tbs of soy sauce

1 Tbs of vinegar 

1 Tbs of curry powder

1/2 tsp of turmeric

1/2 tsp of chili flakes or powder

salt and pepper to taste (I used a lot of pepper)

juice of half a lime

2. The Pancake:

2 cups cold water

1 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1 egg

2 cups of all purpose flour

Beat all ingredients together until it forms a thin pancake batter. 

Heat an 8 inch non-stick frying pan and grease it with a little oil between each pancake. Pour a ladle full of the batter into the pan and swirl it around gently until it forms a thin pancake.  Cook until set without browning. 

Place the cooked pancake on a plate and add about 2 Tbs of filling. Proceed to roll the pancake like an egg-roll. 

3. Adding the base to the Rolls:

Roll the pancake roll into the plain breadcrumb base gently, covering the entire roll.  

After u have finished adding the base deep fry them. 

THE FINISHED DISH :) Serve on a plate with some spicy sauce :) 

Hey Dhal!

Hello dhal-ing is what I was saying tonight to everyone who came across my path when I was busy cooking dhal for the first time. Indian was on the menu. Curried vegetables, rice and dhal. For my first time I decided to try and cook this delicious lentil dish. Here's the recipe I used. I didn't need to add any extra water to it, but if you feel the lentils are getting too dry and thick, you can add extra hot water as it is boiling away. This recipe serves 4-6. We managed 5 meals out of it.

Ingredients:

• 250g red lentils
• 1 1/2 tbs oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of finely grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
• 3 cups of hot water
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

Method:

1. Wash lentils thoroughly- pouring water and draining them several times.
2. Drain well
3. Heat the oil and fry the onions, garlic and ginger until onion is golden brown
4. Add lentils and fry for a minute or two. 
5. Add hot water and bring to the boil reduce heat to simmer
6. Cover and cook for 15-20minutes
7. Add salt and garam masala
8. Continue cooking until the lentils are soft and of the consistency of porridge (If there is too much liquid, leave the lid off the pan to speed evaporation)

Lentils

Bringing it to the boil

Almost finished

Voila! Dhal with rice and curried vegies!

You can eat dhal by itself, with rice or Indian breads, as an accompaniment to curry or simply garnished with fried onions on the side. It's to me one of the lighter and healthier Indian dishes.

Salmon Fishcakes

Salmon fishcakes. Living in the country has meant that whatever seafood we purchase it is never going to be the freshest. The closest beach to us is at least 3 hours drive away. In any case, these salmon fishcakes use canned tins of salmon and still taste delicious! (If I do say so myself). They are super easy and people who are gluten free can enjoy them too. They are really yummy with paprika aioli but even just plain whole egg mayonnaise will do the trick.

Ingredients:

• 500g potatoes (such as pontiac or desiree), peeled
• 440g can red salmon
• 1 small onion, peeled, grated
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 tbs chopped fresh dill
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
• 20ml (1 tbs) lemon juice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 40ml (2 tbs) milk
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• Sunflower (or similar) oil, to fry
• Mayonnaise, to serve

Method:

1. Cut the potatoes into rough chunks. Boil or steam until tender, then mash until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
2. In a fry pan, heat oil and fry the onions for 2-3minutes until softened and lightly browned. (this is just to take the raw taste out of the onions)
3. Drain the salmon and remove any bones. Add to the potatoes with the onion, celery, dill and lemon rind and juice. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well together, then use your hands to form into 8 patties. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Beat together the eggs and milk in a bowl. Place flour and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Dip each patty in the flour, then in the egg mixture and lastly in the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add patties (in batches) and fry both sides until golden brown. Serve with a dollop of mayonnaise and the cucumber salad.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

I can relate to all of the Italian food lovers out there. From fettacine marinara to spaghetti cabonnara to beef lasagne to marguarita pizza to saffron risotto to tiramasu to chocolate gelato, Italian food makes one of my favourite cuisines. It's simple, easy and delicious. I'm blessed to have a mother with a wonderful ability to cook, especially Italian food. So I have grown up with fantastic rich tomato pasta sauces. An italian tip: always add salt when boiling water for pasta. The water boils quicker at a higher temperature and it gives extra flavour to the pasta.
Leaving that aside, one of my favourite things to cook would have to be... risotto. Here's a neat recipe that goes down a treat. Serves 8 persons.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (880g) risotto rice
• 2.5L chicken stock
• 500g chicken thigh fillets
• 2 brown onions (diced)
• 1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine
• 100g button mushrooms (cut into quarters)
• 4 rashers of bacon (cut into thin strips)
• 1 1/2 tbs thyme leaves (dried or fresh)
• 40g butter
• 125ml olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Put the stock on to boil
2. In a separate fry pan, fry up the onions with the garlic for a few minutes before adding the chicken thighs and cook until the chicken has turned white. (just ensure that you start to cook the garlic a few minutes after you put the onions in as garlic cooks much quicker then onion and is more likely to burn)
3. Add in the mushrooms and bacon and continue frying for 3 more minutes
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Add the risotto rice and fry for 2 minutes more
6. Pour in the wine
7. Slowly add ladles of boiling stock to the pan. Wait for all the stock to absorb into the rice after each ladle before adding the next. Continue until all of the stock is gone
8. Add the thyme, butter and cheese. Stir throughout
9. Take off the heat and serve immediately

If you like, you can always add peas to this recipe. Just stir in a cup of peas 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Crepes

Earlier on this year, I spent a chunk of 6 months in the beautiful country of Switzerland where I learnt to speak, eat and live in the unique swiss-french culture. Having lived with a french housemate, one of the "tricks of the trade" that I picked up along my way was the art of making crepes. mmm..mmm! I havn't met a person yet who does not enjoy that tastey sweet or savoury filled paper thin pancake. Classically eaten with a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, sweet crepes are destined to delight any persons taste-buds. Or what about a savoury crepe with gruyère cheese, ham, mushrooms and egg for dinner. Anyone? Personally, a generous spread of nutella will always go down well.
We cooked these in a crepe pan: a circular pan designed to evenly distribute the heat which has smaller edges to support flipping action (but personally I always flip by hand with a spatula).
Here's the recipe that I received from my french housemate and used successfully at many a crepe party. I remember it as the 4-3-2-1 crepe recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of milk
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 pinch of salt

Makes approximately 12 crepes.

Method:

1. Pour the milk and eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
2. Add the salt and small amounts of the flour slowly whilst whisking. Continue whisking until all the lumps are eliminated and the batter is smooth.
3. Grease the crepe pan by rubbing oil over it's surface with a piece of paper toweling.
4. Heat the crepe pan on medium-high heat on the stove.
5. Using a ladle, pour one ladle of crepe batter evenly over the crepe pan. You need to work quickly at this stage swirling the pan in order for the batter to cover the entire area (this takes a bit of practice to get right). Leave to cook for several minutes.
6. When the edges begin to curl upwards, flip the crepe over (I recommend using a spatula) and continue cooking for several more minutes. The crepe should be slightly browned and set. Remove from pan with a spatula and leave aside to cool.
7. Repeat the process until all the crepe batter is finished, ensuring that you re-grease the pan before use each time.

Savoury variation:
 
Once one side of the crepe is cooked, flip it over. Crack an egg on the cooked side, sprinkle on gruyère cheese and ripped pieces of ham. Wait for the egg to cook to satisfaction. Fold the edges of the crepe in on itself and remove from the heat.
 

Other ideas:

• Ham, Swiss cheese, egg and spinach (ensure that you fry up the spinach in a separate pan before adding to the crepe)
• Ham, Swiss cheese, egg and mushroom (ensure that you fry up the mushrooms with herbs and onion before adding to the crepe)
• Nutella, banana and walnuts
• Nutella and strawberries
• Strawberry, fig or orange confiture
• Sugar and a squeeze of lemon

Improvising with a not-exactly-crepe-pan pan

The ingredients

The lazy way to whisk. I love technology.

So... practice makes perfect hey!

Bon appetit!

Mini Homemade Pies

Ever wanted to try your hand at mini baking ? Here's a tasty recipe for mini cherry pies !

Or any pie in that matter. The trick is to bake them in mini muffin tins. Experiment with different flavours and try your hand at these designs !

Credits go to not martha for the recipe!

Ingredients:

• Standard refrigerated Pillsbury pie crusts
• biscuit cutter
• Apple mini slices
• Blueberry filling
• Canned pie Cherry filling
• sugar
• lemon zest
• cinnamon

Method:

1. Cut out round shapes from the pie crusts using a biscuit cutter
2. Place cut outs into muffin tin moulds
3. Cut up fillings into tiny pieces and fill crusts
4. Add sugar, lemon and cinnamon 
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 12minutes (take out when tops get brown and cover with foil and bake for 3-5 more minutes until bubbly)

Tips:

• Taste amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!
• Poke the pie with a skewer to indicate whether or not the apple is cooked

Tuna Fish Balls

Just about everyone I know is a fan of tasty snacks. However, many people still struggle to make/buy snacks that are high in fat and sugar. Not to worry! I thought of providing everyone with a recipe of a healthy and high protein snack of Tuna fish balls.

Tuna fish balls is a common snack in the subcontinent countries like Sri Lanka and can be served with spicy sauce and vegetables. Below is a easy and suggested recipe that everyone should use!



Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 potato, boiled and mashed
• 3-5 tblspn (or more) puree vegetables
• small tin of tuna or salmon
• handful of cheese (grated Parmesan or cheddar)
• handful of bread crumbs and some egg.
• Stuff for crumbing 

Method:

1. Mix the puree veg, tuna or salmon and cheese into the mashed potato in the pan.
2.  Season a little. Throw in some bread crumbs and use a little of the whisked up egg you have ready for the crumbing (you only need the tiniest bit).
3. Roll into balls, the smaller the better. Approximately having the diameter of a 20c piece.
4. Crumb.
5. Shallow fry in some canola oil.
6. Serve with tomato sauce or whatever else you want (i.e mayo)

Tips:

• Adding mint is something most cookers do. Most people use just curry leaves. Add more green chilli or pepper for extra spice.
• Time it takes to make: 40mins (without any distractions!)

GOOD LUCK!

Curry Puff Cravings

Curry puffs are exactly what their name suggests- little pastry puffs filled with curry! It's a common snack in Malaysia that can be eaten anytime of the day and can be found in local coffee shops and bakeries. Personally, I could have them for every meal and never tire of it. So being in Australia and not getting to savor that delicious deep-fried piece of spicy heaven anytime of the day has felt long and empty (withdrawal symptoms?) and after 2 looong years, an epiphany hit- why don't I simply make them myself?

Getting a recipe was pretty easy, thanks to the countless enthusiastic food bloggers more technology advanced homecooks. Naturally, I picked the easiest looking recipe that required the least amount of ingredients and steps. However, I did not follow any recipe closely and simply made adjustments based on personal taste. The recipe below is meat-free and perfect for vegetarians:

Ingredients:

Filling

• Oil
• Curry powder
• Chili powder
• Potatoes (diced)
• Red Onion (finely chopped)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Pastry

• 1 lb plain flour
• 3/4 cup water
• 5oz butter (can be substituted with margarine or shortening)
• Pinch of salt

Steps:

Filling

1. Boil the diced potatoes until tender (not too soft that it falls apart when pierced with a fork) then drain and run under cold water to prevent further cooking. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, sauté onions till golden brown and fragrant.
3. Add in curry powder and chili and fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add in potatoes, salt and pepper and fry gently for about 5 minutes.
5. Set aside to cool.

Pastry

1. Mix all the ingredients and knead well.
2. Set dough aside for 30 minutes.
3. Cut the dough into circles (3 inch diameter- size can be altered based on preferences)
4. Place 2-3 tablespoons of filling in the middle of the circle; fold pastry in half to form a half-circle shape.
5. Pinch or braid edges to seal the fillings and prevent them from falling out during cooking (edges will seal better with a little bit of moisture, you can lightly brush the edges with water or egg white).

Cooking

1. Heat up enough oil in a deep saucepan to cover the curry puffs.
2. Deep fry the curry puffs till golden brown and crispy.
3. Wait eagerly for the golden treats to cool and dig in!

Filling cooled and ready to be stuffed into the pastry skins!

Spot the difference! (Go crazy with the shapes, as long as the edges are sealed properly)

Sizzle, crackle, pop! Watch out for the spluttering hot oil.

First attempt - slightly misshaped but delicious nonetheless.

Second attempt using puff pastry - the light crumbly skin contrasts perfectly with the mushy, spicy curry filling!

As you can see, the ingredients are pretty basic and can be found in most kitchens. For the fillings, the exact amounts of each ingredients can be easily adjusted based on preference. For example, adding extra curry powder or chili powder for more oomph!, or reducing/omitting red onion for those who dislike them. There is no exact recipe for a curry puff, and everyone makes it differently, which makes it great fun to tweak and experiment with to come up with your own favourite and signature version!

Below are some yummy variations you can make to the humble and versatile curry puff!

Variations:

1. Add finely diced meat (preferably chicken - Add in the same time as the potatoes)

2. Add diced hard-boiled eggs (Add in the same time as the potatoes)

3. Buy pre-made puff pastry for a lighter, fluffier texture (saves time and make great hors d'oeuvres!)

* For a simple recipe (with exact measurements), click on the link below: 

http://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-curry-puff/2/