Daily Archives: December 23, 2016

Raw papaya and vegetable soup

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves : 2 members

Description :

The papaya tree at home in the back yard falls down with its root due to heavy rain’s here. I end up with having so many raw papayas from the tree.
Raw papaya at home is used to Marinade meats usually to soften. My mother-in-law makes a raw papaya sweet that’s served with biriyani as a side dish. Other than these two dishes,I do know that there’s a Thai salad recipe that I have never tried till date. Hubby dear asks for a soup for lunch,as I was in the middle of making the soup,the raw papaya’s in the counter were like “when are you going to put us into use”. I immediately peeled one and added it to the soup I was making. I was confident that the results will be good as raw papaya has no taste and tends to taste like what other ingredients we have added to it. I just went ahead with what I thought would go well. Asked my cook to do the first tasting. She had a smile in her face and continued saying “amma dhool” which means it’s awesome. My job done with making use of the raw papaya and coming up with yet another new way to cook them too.

Ingredients:

Ingredients	Quantity
Raw papaya	150 grams chopped
Carrot	50 grams chopped
Tomato	50 grams chopped
Gingelly oil	1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1/4 teaspoon
Garlic	2 pods finely chopped
Celery	2 stalks finely chopped
Coriander leaves	1 teaspoon chopped
Water	2 cups
Lemon juice	1 teaspoon
Salt + pepper powder	to taste

Method :

De-skin the raw papaya and remove the seeds.
chop carrots and papaya.
simmer cook the papaya and carrots along with tomato in a steam cooker for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Add one cup water and grind in a food processor until mashed and smooth.
sieve the ground mixture and bring to boil on simmer adding salt and pepper powder to taste.
Temper with cumin seeds, garlic and chopped celery in a teaspoon of gingelly oil. Add to the soup mixture. Remove from heat.
Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Notes :

Papaya,carrot and tomato are rich in beta carotene, lycopene and vitamin A. They help maintain glowing,soft and supple skin. They also enhance ones vision.

Koi po / steamed Malaysian buns

Preparation time : 30 minutes + 3 hours for doubling the dough
Cooking time : 10 -12 minutes
Serves : 8 members

Description:

The first recipe that my co-sister Farzana wrote in my first hand written cook book around 20 years back. This is her grand mother’s recipe that I got to know through her. I had never heard of a bun recipe that’s steamed ever before. I remember she being a new bride,we had her relatives visit her very often and every time they would come with some authentic home made goodies. I used to wait to check out what new goodies are gifted each time. Her grand mother is a Malaysian,so their food is dominated with a lot of Malaysian dishes. This bun recipe is also a Malaysian dish. I got to taste a similar steamed bun on my trip to Japan but that had sweet red kidney beans filling inside. Well I guess this concept of steaming buns is a very Asian thing as I got to know even the Chinese steam buns for their new year. The universal bun that’s taken its different avatar’s through out the world. I am happy I got to learn a new technique of steaming buns and the various countries that it’s made. I may have shared thousands of recipes with you all but this one is the most special as it’s the first documented recipe of mine.

Ingredients for sweet filling :

Ingredients	Quantity
Grated coconut	2 cups
Sugar	to taste
Cardamom powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	a pinch

Method for filling:

Mix all the filling ingredients together.

Ingredients for the bun :

Ingredients	Quantity
All purpose Flour / maida	1/2 kg
Butter	5 grams
Vegetable oil	5 grams
Milk powder	2 tablespoons
Ice water	1/2 cup
Powdered sugar	2 tablespoons
Salt	a pinch
Instant yeast	11 grams

Method for buns :

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients together and knead to a smooth dough for ten minutes. Cover the dough with a wet cloth and set aside for three hours to double in size.
Punch the dough down to remove air. Knead the dough. Make medium size even balls out of the dough. Keep aside covered with a wet cloth for another one hour.
Flatten each ball to Palm size discs. Place desired filling in the center. Bring the edges of the dough towards the middle and roll to a bun with no cracks. Place the filled buns over cut foil paper squares.
Heat a steaming pot with water. Place the stuffed buns with the foil paper below and steam for 10-12 minutes.
Remove and serve hot,warm or cold.

Notes :

These buns can be filled with savory filling of choice too.

Butter scotch pudding

Preparation time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes + setting in the refrigerator over night
Serves : 8 members

Description:

This pudding recipe that was shared to me by my father-in-laws younger brothers wife sara amma and it is one among the first few recipes,I learnt to make as a new bride. My first few trials were a flop as the custard part always went wrong with me getting lumps and other few times i did not beat the egg whites to stiff which ended up in a mess. My trial and errors sure did help me learn more about making perfect desserts which requires you to be precise with the ingredients used,following the method religiously and having all the required ingredients at room temperature or as mentioned in the recipe. Making a dessert is not like our every day cooking of mixing and matching ingredients together. It’s technically sound and you need a lot of patience to see and taste the final product too. It’s a snap to master. I love the textures in this pudding of its soft and smooth bottom and the crunchy crispy caramelised butter scotch nuts on top. I always end up adding more nuts on top that results in an explosion of different textures. Get ready to experience absolute luxury that’s scrumptious.

Ingredients for the pudding:

Ingredients	Quantity
Butter	1 teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Milk	2 tins measured with the condensed milk tin
Condensed milk	1 tin
Eggs	2
Vanilla essence	few drops

Method:

Heat a pan adding butter. Once butter melts,add sugar and caramelize to a golden color. Remove the pan from heat.
Add the milk and mix well. Replace it over heat again and bring to boil for five minutes.
Add the condensed milk and boil further for two minutes. Remove the pan from heat.
Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. Beat the yolks to creamy texture.
Add the beaten yolks to the milk mixture and mix well. Then replace it over low flame and keep stirring until it gets to a creamy custard consistency with no lumps.
Add vanilla essence and mix well. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Beat the egg whites to stiff in a clean bowl with the help of an electric egg beater. Add the stiff egg whites in batches to the cooked milk mixture and combine well.
Pour the pudding mixture into desired pudding tray or bowls. Place in the refrigerator for six hours or over night to set.

Ingredients for butter scotch nuts :

Ingredients	Quantity
Sugar	1/4 cup
Cashew nuts	4 tablespoons
Almonds	4 tablespoons

Method :

Caramelize sugar in a hot pan to golden in color.
Add the nuts and mix well. Pour over a butter greased flat plate. Cool completely for 15 minutes to set.
Break the set butter scotch nuts and crush them coarsely.

How to proceed :

Sprinkle the coarse butter scotch powder generously over the set pudding just before serving. serve chilled.

Devilled eggs

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

Every second person I come across asks me how do you cook like this non – stop. Don’t you get fed up ? Well to me, my kitchen is my play ground. Where I get to play with food experimenting over and over again. The joy when I see others eat and enjoy the food cooked by me is the best reward ever. This devilled eggs were done to bring in some fun element into a dinner feast spread. It did work wonders as every one from kids to adults had their eyes popping out with a smile the minute they saw these beauties. I ended up getting nothing as it was all over before I could start my dinner. I had doubts about these having an eggy smell. I cleared the doubt asking all those who got to taste it and their verdict was no way.. it’s yum. Another easy to make, yummy dish ticked from my playground.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Boiled eggs	6
Mustard powder	a pinch
Mayonnaise	1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Lime juice	1/4 teaspoon
White Pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
Chilli sauce	1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves	chopped few
Salt	to taste

Method

Cut the boiled eggs bottom a little so that the boiled eggs can stand still. Cut 1/4 inch of from the sharp top and keep aside that’s to b used as a cap later.
Carefully remove the yolk from the boiled eggs making sure not to break the egg whites.
Mix egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard powder, salt, white pepper, lime juice and chilli sauce together. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Fill the yolk mix into a piping bag. Pipe down a little into the egg white dent making sure it looks like a round ball 1/4 inch above the yolk dent.
Place two pepper corns as eggs and a small “v” shaped carrot bit as nose. Place the 1/4 inch cup sharp edge part of the egg white on top as a cap.
Place in the refrigerator until to be served. Serve chilled garnished with coriander leaves.