Indonesian Woman in Indian Kitchen

Take a Break

2007-08-30T16:24:00.000+05:30

Picture: Cenil (Indonesian Traditional Snack)

To all readers, if you didn't find any update in my blog this last 4 months, its because now we are on vacation in Jakarta (Indonesia). Hopefully we will back again in 2 - 3 months :)
Enjoy your visit here. And we will visit yours as soon as we get enough change.

Fried Wonton

2007-06-15T12:33:00.000+05:30

20 ready-made wonton sheets

oil for frying

filling:
150 grams minced chicken
100 grams minced prawn
1 tbsp green onion, finely chooped
2 garlic, grounded
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
2 tbsp tomato sauce
3 tbsp chili sauce
2 tbsp pineapple paste
1 tbsp salty soy sauce
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste

Steamed Brownies

2007-04-18T01:47:00.000+05:30

Have you tried streamed brownies? Or have you heard of it? If your answer is no, try this recipe. When I made it, it was a big hit here :-). This brownies is very rich and vary chocolate. Remember, when you decide to give it a shout, do not bother about your weight... hehehe. Just enjoy every bite of the brownies

Ingredients:

8 egg yolks

4 white eggs

225 grams granulated sugar

50 grams all purpose flour

50 grams cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

120 butter (margarine)

50 gram Dark Cooking Chocolate, chopped.

80 grams chocolate rice for layer (use grated Dark Cooking Chocolate instead)

1. Arrange a large steamer over boiling water. Make sure it is large enough to hold the baking pan and there is enough water to make a lot of steam

2. In a pan, heat some water. Put butter in a sauce pan (larger than the pan), then place it over the boiling water. When the butter start melting, add chopped cooking chocolate. Mix them until fully melted. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl beat together with an electric mixer : eggs, and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.

4. Sift together into the batter: flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix well.

5. Add the butter-chocolate mixture. Mix well

6. Pour half of the batter to a greased pan, Place the pan into the steamer. Cover the top of the steamer with a kitchen towel, and place the lid on top; the towel will absorb any steam that collects on top from dripping onto the cake. Steam for about 10 minute on medium flame. Then add chocolate rice (grated cooking chocolate) over the cake equally. Steam for 5 minutes.

7. Pour the remaining batter and then steam the whole cake for around 20 minutes.

Rainbow Layers Steamed Cake (Kue Lapis Kukus)

2007-04-08T12:19:00.000+05:30

This is my Mom's style of Layers Steamed Cake. Layers Steamed Cake is one of many popular snacks in Indonesia. And I love it when my Mother make it. I never make this cake as perfect as she does. I always have a problem with the layer's. It never be flat and smooth.. hahaha.

For the colors, red, white and green are always be the favorite. But you can use any other color of course. Brown color of chocolate is often use to replace the red layer. Even if you don't wish to use food color, just leave it. It will not give any differences with the taste. But you will not get the beautiful appearence and good aroma of the cake, of course.

This steamed cake doesn't need any butter or margarine. To make it soft, we use coconut milk instead. And if you don't have cake emulsifier in your kitchen, don't worry. Just leave it. You still can make the cake even without it.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

250 grams sugar

1 tsp cake emulsifier (optional)

200 -250 grams all purpose flour (approx)

2 glasses of thick coconut milk.

2 pandan leaves

1/2 tsp salt

red & green food colors

1. Arrange a large steamer over boiling water. Make sure it is large enough to hold the baking pan and there is enough water to make a lot of steam.

2. In a large bowl beat together with an electric mixer : eggs, sugar and cake emulsifier on high speed until light and fluffy (the mixture has increased about three times in volume)

3. Add the flour and coconut milk alternately in batches. Mix-well with a spatulla.

4. Divide the batter into 3, add each part with avalable food color. Mix well.

5. Pour one color batter to a greased pan, Place the pan into the steamer. Cover the top of the steamer with a kitchen towel, and place the lid on top; the towel will absorb any steam that collects on top from dripping onto the cake. Steam for about 5 minute, then pour over the first layer the next colored batter, and steam for another 5 minutes.

6. Pour the last layer and then steam the whole cake for around 20 - 25 minutes.

Adai

2007-03-28T11:28:00.000+05:30

Yes, I make Adai for our breakfast at home ;-p. I don't want to say that this is the original Adai since I knew this food only after I moved to Cochin. Well actually, I never found Adai in Cochin home for breakfast. Don't know why. The most common daily breakfast here are puttu, idli, dosa and appam.

The first time I taste this was when I stayed a couple of days in my brother-in-law's house in Madras. His wife made this delicious breakfast one morning, and we (me and my husband) enjoy it very much. Guess what, Adai is even new for my husband..!!!

We called it simply as Dosa. After we had our breakfast, my sister-in-law show me how to make it. She showed me the 4 different dals she use to prepare it. And I found it very easy to make and it doesn't need a fermentation at all. It's a perfect dish for breakfast...!

So here it is... The original recipe of Adai (I found out that this is called Adai, after I browse on the internet ;-p) by my sister in law.

Ingredients:
1 glass of white rice
1/4 glass of Thuvara Parippu (Toor Dal / Red Gram)
1/4 glass of Uzhunnu Parippu (Urad Dal / Black Gram)
1/4 glass of Cheru Parippu (Moong Dal / Green Gram)
1/4 glass of Kadala Parippu (Chana Dal / Bengal Gram)
enough water to make a batter
salt
1/2 cup Muringakka leaves

Soak the grains and pulses for 4 hours or more. Later wash and grind them together by adding a little water. No need to ferment the batter. Add salt and Muringakka leaves. Mix well.

To make adai: heat a pan and pour little oil and then pour a ladle of the batter and with a spatula make it to a round shape. Cook only one side. Seve with coconut chutney.

American Style Fried Chicken

2007-03-01T12:35:00.000+05:30

Right, another Fried Chicken :-). But this time in different style. American Style. I don't want to claim that this is how americans usually do their fried chicken. I never live in US, though... hahaha. I named this posting American style only because we, Indonesians, first knew about this style of Fried Chicken by the booming of this kind of fast-food restaurants, started with KFC maybe around almost 20 years back. Now we have so many similiar restaurants, including McDonald almost everywhere.

As usual, everytime there is a new popular dish in town, people start to try to make the home-made one. After a lot of experiments on so many recipes of KFC style Fried Chicken, finally I can say that this is the best recipe so far. When I posted it in my Indonesian version Blog, there are several friends tried it, and they also satisfied with the result. The recipe is taken from Seri Memasak FEMINA magazine.

INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
5 eggs white, beaten

ground to form a paste:
3 cloves garlic
3 candlenuts, dry roast on a pan
1 teaspoon coriander, dry roast on a pan
1 cm ginger
3 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground pepper

Coating Mix:
200 grams all purpose flour
20 grams cornstarch
20 grams rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon powdered coriander
1/8 teaspoon powdered nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder

DIRECTIONS
1. Marinate chicken pieces in lime juice for about 30 minutes.
2. In a pan, heat 1 - 2 tbsp cooking oil, saute ground seasonings paste until fragrance and well cooked. Add in salt and sugar, stir well.
3. Add in chicken pieces, stir well. Cover the pan and cook chicken on low heat until done and the spice are fully absorbed. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
4. In another bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, rice flour, baking soda, coriander, nutmeg, salt, chilli powder and pepper.
5. Dip each piece of chicken into eggs white; then roll chicken in flour mixture until covered. Repeat this process once more. Store in an air-tight container. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
6. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and fry until golden brown turning both sides as needed.

In Indonesia (an also in India) normally people will enjoy this fried chicken as a side dish for rice. Fast food resstaurants in Indonesia will serve it with Steamed white rice while here in Cochin, they will serve with ghee rice. Of course there will be always another offers like French Fries and bun if you're not wish to eat it with rice.

Ayam Goreng Kuning (Fried Chicken)

2007-02-24T08:35:00.000+05:30

This is the traditional and the most common way of Indonesians preparing Fried Chicken. The main spices used in this style of fried chicken is garlic, ginger, candlenuts, coriander, pepper and of couse turmeric that will gives the yellow colour. You can go with only those spices I mentioned if you cannot find the other spices required in the real recipe.

There are two phrase of cooking the chicken. First is simmering the chicken along with the paste-spices and water. And the second one is the deep-frying. The simmering part make the chicken already cooked and tender. We just need a short deep frying to make it dry.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 piece of lemongrass, take only the white part, and crush it.

2 salam leaves (indonesian bay leaves)

salt

1 cup of water

oil for deep frying

Grounded spices:

6 garlics

5 candle nuts

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 inches fresh turmeric (1/2 tsp turmeric powder)

3 inches galangal

2 inches ginger

1 tsp white pepper

Marinate the chicken pieces in the pasted-spices for about 1 hour. In a pot, boil the chicken along with the spice paste with low heat. Add salt, lemon grass, salam leaves and water. Cook with a lid until all the water has gone in low heat.

Remove from stove and let it cool.

Heat enough cooking oil in a pan. Deep fried the cooked chicken pieces until golden yellow. Remove from oil, and drain it with kitchen towel.

The best way to enjoy this dish is with hot steamed white rice, accompanied with 'lalap' (fresh raw vegetables : cabbage, cucumber, kemangi leaves, and sliced tomato). And don't forget the hot red chilli Sambal (remember... Sambal not Sambar ;-p).

Cah Bok Choy (Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce)

2007-02-16T10:34:00.000+05:30

As I wrote in my previous post about Gobi Manchurian, there are some differences in taste between chinese dishes prepared in Indian hotels and the one that I knew in Indonesia. This in one of the most common taste of chinese dishes in Indonesia. You can find it everywhere from home-dinner table to the five stars hotel and restaurants.

Last week when I was shopping in one supermarket in Cochin, to my surprise I found Bok Choy on the vegetables racks. Yes, right. That was the first time for me to find it in Cochin for tha last 3 years I live in Cochin. Panicly, I bought all Bok Choy they had... I was so worry I could not find it next time (and it's true. I came to the same supermarket 3 times after that, and never find the same vegetables). So I guess that was my luck and make me able to post this entry.

Once I was told by my chinese friend about the main ingredients for making chinese dish you should have. First is of course Soy sauce. If you were in Indonesia, choose the Salty Soy Sauce, as we have another kind of Soy Sauce: Sweet Soy Sauce. The second one is Sesame Oil. This oil have a specific taste and aroma that will make the dish special.

Ingredients:
2 Bok Choy, clean and remove it's stalks
125 grams cleaned prawns (or squids, cut into small pieces)
1/2 Onion, finely minced
2 garlics, minced
1 cm ginger, crushed
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp corn flour
salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, powdered
200 ml water
1 tsp sesame oil

In a pan, bring to boil some water and a pinch of salt. Add Bok Choy and cook for 1 minute. Remove from pan and drain it. Put the cooked Bok Choy in a plate, set aside.

In a frying pan, heat a little oil. Add minced garlic, Onion and ginger. Stir fry them until the aroma comes. Add prawns and fry until they slightly pink in color.

In a bowl, mix together: Oyster sauce, corn flour, salt, black pepper, sesame oil and water. Pour the mixture to the frying pan. Bring to boil and cook until the gravy thicken. remove from pan and pour the sauce over the cooked Bok Choy. Serve hot.

Upma

2007-02-10T00:58:00.000+05:30

Since I learned to preapre this Upma, it always save me when I'm confused what to prepare for breakfast. This is the common type of Upma.

1 cup Rava

1 Onion (medium), finely chopped
2 Green Chillies, slit lengthwise

1/2 inch long Ginger, minced

1 medium size carrot, diced into smal cubes
1/2 tsp Salt
A few of Curry leaves
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
2 tspGhee
Coriander leaves

Dry roast the rava in a pan till it becomes light brown. Keep aside.
In another pan, heat ghee and fry the mustard seeds. Add curry leaves, chopped onions, chillies, minced ginger, carrot and coriander leaves to it and fry for 2 - 3 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 cups of water and salt. Let it boil. Last, add rava to the boiling water little by little, stirring the water properly. Cook until it is soft and lumpy.
Serve hot.

Simple Fried Rice

2007-02-02T17:36:00.000+05:30

Fried Rice is always be the favourite dish for most Indonesians. It's hardly to find someone who doesn't like it.

Since most of us make the dish in urgency hours or whenever we're lazy to cook a complete meal (well, not always like that but mostly.. ;-p), the simpler the method of preparation is the better.

Couple days ago I was chatting with my friend in Jakarta right after I had my breakfast. We had an intense conversation (funny, I don't even remember what was the topic ;-p) when finally I feel very hungry and I realize it's almost lunch time..!

So this is what she suggest me to get the instant but delicious lunch. The Fried Rice was a perfect one for me. It's simple and easy to make and the taste is excellent. You can add whatever you have in your refrigerator to the rice. Vegetables are always the best choice. But of course diced chicken, prawns or chooped meatballs will make the fried rice taste more delicious. Try this one.

Ingredients:

2 portion/plates of cooked white rice

2 garlic, smashed roughly

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 medium size carrot, dice into small cubes

1/2 cup frozen green peas

salt as you desire

white pepper powder

1 tbsp soy sauce ( you can use salty or sweet soy sauce, as you desire)

Heat a little oil in a pan, toss garlic until the aroma comes out. Add the beaten eggs and stir fast on high flame follow by vegetables and stir fry them for some times (if you like, no need to over-cooked the vegetables).

Add to the mixture salt and white pepper powder, mix well. Then pour in cooked rice, stir all and make sure there is no lumps of rice. Add soy sauce, mix well. Let it cook for few minutes without stirring. Remove from flame and serve hot.

If you wish to add diced chicken or prawn, and them after tossing garlic. Make sure they all cooked before you add the eggs. Enjoy...

Chicken Liver Masala

2007-01-29T22:30:00.000+05:30

I never prepare chicken liver dish in Indian way before. I just didn't know how, cause I found it very rare (never) in Kerala house. One day when I bought one package of chicken livers from nearest supermarket, I decided to give it a shot. So I just browsed around. And you know what, I found only one recipe from Pachakam.

The preparation a little bit 'confusing' if you follow the recipes though, hehehehe.... So, just use your feeling. That would be better. And I feel satisfied with the taste... For me, it's perfect with rice, but not with chapati as the recipe's owner suggested.

As only two of us in the house who will enjoy it, I adjust the ingredient according to our need and the ingredients available in our kitchen. My husband love it..

2 tbsp oil for stir frying

1 Onion, chopped

5 cm cinnamon stick, break into pieces

1 potato (big size), cut intu small cubes

salt as required

a little water

2 tbsp oil for frying

3 garlic (minced)

2 tomatoes, chopped

250 grams chicken liver, cut into pieces

1/2 cup frozen green peas

2 green chilies, slit lengthwise

1/4 tsp garam masala

For the paste:

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Fry the onions and cinnamon, until the onions are soft. Add the potatoes, salt and stir-fry the potatoes for about 2 minutes. Add some water, cover the pan and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

Heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed wide pan. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 sec. Add the spice paste, lower the heat and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add half of the tomatoes, along with some of the juice, stir and cook for further 2-3 minutes, breaking the tomatoes with the spoon. When the mixture is fairly dry, add the liver and adjust heat to medium high. Stir-fry the liver for 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining tomatoes and the juice, stir-fry for 5-6 minutes. Cover the pan and simmer for about 8 minutes.

Add the potatoes, green peas, green chillies and the remaining salt and cook for a minute or two. Adjust heat to medium and cook uncovered for further 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala powder and remove from heat.

Original Recipe : Pachakam

Aloo Paratha

2007-01-25T10:57:00.000+05:30

Actually, this is my first time to cook Aloo Paratha in my own kitchen. And I found out that the process is not that difficult as I thought. I think I will make aloo paratha more often than before...

For the Dough:
2 cups Whole wheat flour (atta)
3/4 warm water for kneading (approx)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ghee or butter.

For Stuffing:
3 large boiled potatoes
1 onion, finely chooped (small size)
2 tbsp minced cilantro
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp red chili powder, or to taste

For the dough: Sieve the flour together with salt. Add warm water a little at a time, and knead to form a soft dough. Set aside

For the stuffing: Mash well the boiled potatoes. Add all the stuffing items to mashed potatoes and mix it properly.

Divide the dough into balls of equal portions and. Roll one ball to form of a small puri. Now put a small quantity of above mixture (potatoes) over it, close it from all sides. Apply some flour on both sides and roll it gently into a paratha. Heat a flat pan and cook paratha, by applying 1/2 - 1 tsp. oil on each side, until light brown and serve hot.

Bubur Sumsum

2007-01-19T00:59:00.000+05:30

Finally, I got the mood to write down the recipe of Bubur Sumsum, one of all-times favorite appetizer of many Indonesians. Well, actually I'm not quite sure this bubur is an appetizer. We usually don't eat appetizer, just straight to the Main Dish... !

Bubur is a term we use for 'Porridge'. The most common ingredient for making porridge in Indonesia is rice. Bubur sumsum is porridge made from combination of white rice powder and coconut milk, served with jaggery sauce. It has a very soft texture. Most children love to have it for their breakfast. I like it too ;-p. But believe it or not, even though it is not hard to prepare this dish, I never made my own Bubur Sumsum before. Don't blame me. Why should I spent time in kitchen to make this while I can buy it easily... hehehehe. Yes, we have an old lady who will bring the bubur in her basket and sell it door to door every evening.

Making this bubur is not diffcult thing to do in Kerala. We have all the ingredient here. However, Indonesia and Kerala share commons of food together. Rice powder and coconut milk is the main ingredients for both Idonesia and Kerala. So I think the taste will not be that strange for Kerala people. Lets start with the recipes....

for the porridge:

100 grams white rice powder

750 cc coconut milk

1 tsp salt

2 sheets of pandan leaves

For Sauce:

250 gram jagerry

1 cup of water

2 sheets of Pandan leaves.

In a Pan, mix together white rice powder, salt and coconut milk to form a very smooth batter. Tear the Pandan leaves then add to the batter. Cook the batter along with coconut leaves in medium hot flame. Stir continousely until it became thick and cooked.

For the sauce: Mix all the ingredients in a pan then bring them to boil and let the jaggery dissolved. Strain it and the sauce is ready to serve.

Put 2 - 3 ladle of bubur in a bowl then pour the sauce over it. Serve it hot... Yummy...

Gobi Manchurian

2007-01-15T18:27:00.000+05:30

I enjoy the taste of Chinese Cuisines served by Indian restaurants... ;-p. Chili Chicken, Chilli Gobi.. and Gobi Manchurian are my favorite. For me they don't taste like the chinese food I've known before. I always joke to my husband whenever we visit chinese restaurant in Cochin... "aaaah.. you mean, Indian Chinese food.." hehehe. They actually really new taste for me. I mean, I rarely find this kind in Chinese restaurant in Indonesia.

But I like it anyway. Especially when it served dry, not with gravy. I think most of Restaurant in Cochin serve them with gravy because most of people still enjoy them as a side dish for chappati or porrota... Hmmm, Nice combination of chinese and Indian then.. :-)

For the cauliflower:

250 grams cauliflower (1 medium size), cut into small florets

1/3 cup corn flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (maida)

1/3 cup water (approx)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper powder

Sauce:

1 medium size Onion, chopped

2 garlics, minced

1 inch ginger, minced

2 green chilies, chopped

1 tbsp soya sauce

4 tbsp hot and sweet sauce

1/2 tsp vinegar

1/4 tsp white pepper powder

salt as per taste

1 tbsp corn flour dissolve in 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup chopped green onion + green corriander

In a bowl mix maida, corn flour, salt and pepper by adding water to form a fine batter. Add the cauliflower into the batter and mix well. Heat oil in a pan, deep fry the cauliflower florets covered with batter until brown and cooked. Set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, add chooped Onion, green chilies, minced garlic and ginger. Saute in high flame for 5 minutes until they turn slightly tender. Add soy sauce, hot & sweet sauce and vinegar. Saute again for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper powder. Then add the corn flour mixture and cook until the sauce thicken. Add the fried cauliflower and mix them so all the florets is covered with the sauce. Remove from flame and garnish with chopped green onion and crriander leaves.

White Chocolate Muffins

2007-01-12T18:56:00.000+05:30

What more can I say about this muffins...? You know I love muffins. This recipe is taken from "Le Cordon Bleu Home Edition, MUFFIN". One of my Indonesian food blogger friend posted it in her blog. Never skip the Lemon rind ingredient, otherwise you will miss the sensation of the good aroma...

375 g (12 oz) self-raising flour

125 g (4 oz) caster sugar

200 g (6 ½ oz) white chocolate, chopped

2 eggs

375 mil (12 fl oz) milk

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

160 g (5 ¼ oz) unsalted butter, melted

45 g (1 ½ oz) flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to hot 210°C (415°F/Gas 6-7). Brush a 6-hole (250ml/8 fl oz capacity) muffin tin with melted butter or oil. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, stir in the sugar and chocolate and make a well in the centre

2. Whisk the eggs, milk and lemon rind together in a jug, and pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Add the butter, and stir with a metal spoon until the mixture is just combined. Do not over mix – the mixture should be lumpy.

3. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin, filling each hole to about three-quarters full. Sprinkle flaked almonds on top of the mixture and gently press them on. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of a muffin. Leave the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool

Chocolate-Nuts Muffin

2007-01-12T11:03:00.000+05:30

Yes. Another Muffins. I always love muffins. And I love chocolate too. The combination of both makes a perfect snack for tea time. Just like this Brownies-looked-like Muffins.

The original recipe is Chocolate-Cherry Muffins from William Sonoma's Kitchen. For the usual reason (difficult to get the ingredient mentioned), I used Cashew Nuts instead of Dried Cherries.

When adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix them in quickly, just enough to form a rough, lumpy batter. If the batter is overbeaten, the muffins will be tough.

Ingredients:
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat an oven to 325ºF. Grease a 6-well heart-shaped muffin baking pan.

In a small heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over but not touching simmering water in a small saucepan and melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally, until smooth and blended. Let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar and vanilla until light in color and doubled in volume. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the flour mixture just until combined. Stir in the dried cherries.

Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the prepared pan and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and set on the rack. Serve warm. Makes 6 muffins.

Kue Lapis Tepung Beras

2006-12-27T18:22:00.000+05:30

Kue in Indonesia is a word given to a lot of variety of food such as cakes, breads, cookies, puddings, savoury snacks etc. This Kue Lapis means Layers Cake. But it is not a baked cake. Most common method to prepare traditional snacks and appetizers in Indonesia are steam and fry. Just like this Kue Lapis.

There are 2 kinds of traditional Kue Lapis. First is the one made from rice flour (Kue Lapis Tepung Beras) and the other is made from Sagoo flour (Kue Pepe). Both Kue lapis have the same method of cooking.

This Kue Lapis I post here is my mother's recipe. Normally, she will use fresh Pandan Leaves and Suji Leaves to get the green color and the aroma. But we can use Pandan Pasta instead. Because it's kind a difficult to find the leaves here in India. If Pandan pasta is not available, replace it with green food color (or any color you like) and a little vanilla ekstract to get the good aroma.

Ingredients:
3 glass rice flour
1 1/2 glass sagoo flour
1 1/2 glass white sugar
6 glass coconut milk from 1 big size of coconut
Pandan Leaves, torn and knotted
1/2 tsp salt
few drops Pandan Pasta (or food color)

Combine sugar, coconut milk, salt and pandan leaves in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir constantly to dissolve the sugar. Strain and set aside until it become lukewarm.

Put rice flour and sagoo flour into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the coconut milk gradually and mix well. Strain the batter if needed to make sure there are no lumps in the batter.

Divide the batter into 2 Add few drops Pandan Pasta (or food color) to the half part of the batter and leave the other part white (I divide it into 1/3 part green and 2/3 part white).

Heat an oil greased 25 x 25 cm pan inside a hot steamer for 5 minutes. Pour 50 ml (1 ladle) of white batter into the pan. Cover the steamer and steam for 5 minutes until it getting firm. Open the steamer and pour 50 ml (1 ladle) green batter over the white, and steam for 5 minutes.

Repeat the procedure, alternating white and green batter until all the batter is used up. After the final layer is set, steam for a further 20 minutes. Remove from steamer and let it cool. Serve by cutting the kue with an oil greased knife.

Fish Biriyani

2006-12-26T00:44:00.000+05:30

Since I never make chicken biriyani with the perfect taste, This Fish Biriyani always become my favorite thing to serve for our guest at home. We love it from the first time we tried this recipe. If you like, you can try it also..

Ingredients:
For Fish Masala:
500 grams King Fish
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 - 2 tsp chili powder (as required)
1/2 tsp salt

3 Onions (big size), finely sliced
1 big tomato, chopped
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
2 tbsp curd
1 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
salt as required

For the Rice
3 cups of Basmati rice
6 cups of water
1 Onion, chopped
2 tbsp ghee
5 cardamom pods, Crushed
3 sticks of cinnamon
3 cloves
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt (as required)

Roasted Cashew Nuts and Yellow raisins..

Preparing the fish:
Clean and wash the fish pieces, drain it well. Marinate them in turmeric powder, chili powder and salt for about 1/2 - 1 hour. Heat oil in a pan, then fry the marinated fish. Keep aside

Preparing the masala:
Heat a small amount of oil in pan. Add sliced onions and fry on a low flame, till it becomes slightly brown. On medium flame, add ginger-garlic-green chilly paste and tomato, stir it until it become paste around 5 minutes. Add garam masala powder,curd, coconut milk, coriander leaves and salt and stir it for 5 min. Add fried fish pieces and reduce the flame and cook till it starts to boil. Keep a side.

Preparing the rice:
Heat ghee in a pan.Add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and onions and fry till onion turn slightly brown. Add rice and stir for another 5 minutes. In a pressure cooker put water along with salt and let it boil. Pour the rice into the boiling water then close the cooker with the lid and cook until one wistle. Turn off the flame.

Preparing the biriyani:
Take a deep bottom vessel and layer rice and fish masala. Pour 2 tbsp of ghee and tightly cover with a lid. Keep it on a very low flame for 10 min.Garnish with roasted nuts and raisins.

Onde-onde Ketawa

2006-12-25T18:55:00.000+05:30

Onde-onde ketawa. It means Laughing Onde-onde (!?). No, better not to translate it to English.... ;-p. It sounds better if we call it just like it should be : Onde-onde Ketawa.

I'm not quite sure from which part of Indonesia this food is originally come. But when I lived in Bumiayu, a small city in Central Java, this food can be found easily. So lets say, it's Central Java...

Actually, Onde-onde is an Indonesian snacks made from white glutious (sticky) rice powder with sweet moong dal paste as filling. The differences between the real Onde onde I mention above and this Onde-Onde ketawa is that the latest one is made from all purpose flour instead of glutinous rice powder. And it doesn't have anything as filling. It makes Onde onde ketawa taste more crunchy and not sticky like the other one.

The cooking method is quite easier. It doesn't take much time to make the batter. But we have to be carefull with the frying method. Use a lof of oil with medium heat only. The balls should be deep-fry in medium hot oil to let them bloom (sorry, I still cant find the right world to decribe it... ;-p) perfectly.

Ingredients:
100 ml water
175 grams white sugar (I used only 150 grams)
1 egg
2 tbsp cooking oil
300 grams all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp soda powder
100 gram white sesame seeds
oil for frying

Boil water and sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolved. Let it cool. Beat cooking oil together with egg in a low speed mixer until well combined (2 -3 minutes). Add sugar syrup little by little and beat them for another 1 minute. Sift together flour, baking powder and soda powder into the sugar mixture. Mix well with a spatula.

Make balls (10 grams each) from the batter. Drop it into water, then roll it over a bowl of sesame seeds. Deep fry the balls in medium hot oil with medium flame until golden brown. Remove from pan. Drain it with kitchen towel.

Cireng

2006-12-23T19:54:00.000+05:30

Cireng is a short name of Aci Goreng, which means Fried Aci (Kanji). Actually I'm still a little bit confused which one Aci (Kanji) is. Is it Tapioca or Sagoo starch. In this recipe, I used Tapioca for 2 reasons. First is because actually both starch are similiar. And second one is because that's the only starch I have in my kitchen... ;-p

In Indonesia, we can find this fried snacks easily in 'Tukang Gorengan' (I dont know how to translate it to English, sorry ;-p). Thats how we call someone who sells Fried Snacks in Indonesia. If you want to know the taste of this Cireng... well, just imagine how it will be when you bite a rubber... ;-p. I mean, the food is very elastic, especially when it is alerday cold. So eat them when they are stilll hot... By the way, I really enjoy chewing it when it's cold.. hehehe

100 grams Aci (kanji) --> Tapioca Starch

1 tbsp all purpose flour

75 ml water

1/2 tsp white pepper powder

1 tsp salt

1 garlic clove, pasted

30 grams soya beans, soak in water until tender

1 stick of spring onion, finely chopped.

Mix all the ingredients until well-combined. Heat oil in a pan. Deep fry 1 tbsp of the batter until become golden yellow and dry. Do it to the remaining batter. Remove from oil.

Enjoy it when it is still warm.

Recipe Source: Dapur Bunda

Onion Uthappam

2006-12-19T10:22:00.000+05:30

I like Uthappam better than dosa. For me, the taste of the fried onions give a good combination to the sour taste of the batter.

Earlier, we can eat uthappam only when we had breakfast in hotel (breakfast in hotel..!!?? ;-p). But since I knew that uthappam is made using the same batter as idli and dosa, I'll make my own uthappam whenever I have left-over idli/dosa batter.

Enjoy hot Onion Uthappam with Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:
3 cups Idli/Dosa batter
salt as required
2 Onions ( or as required), finely chopped
3 green chilies, finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped corriander leaves (green cilantro)
1/2 tsp minced ginger (optional)

Mix together all the ingredients except the batter in a bowl, set aside.

Add a little salt to the batter, mix well.

Heat a dosa pan and spead a little oil over the pan. When it becomes hot enough, place a laddle of the batter and spread it (it should be thick than a normal dosa). Sprinkle onion mixture on top of the batter evently and cook for about 1 minute.

When it is cokked on one side, turn over, add a tsp of oil all over its edge and remove when fully cooked.

Lemet (Ketimus)

2006-12-15T17:59:00.000+05:30

The third and also will be the last entry for "Proyek Cinta untuk Bunda Inong" is this recipe below. Bunda Inong called it as Lemet, but I knew it as Ketimus. This is one of Indonesian Traditional Snacks. Normally, it contains of tapioca, coconut and jaggery. But in this recipe modified by late Bunda Inong, using banana as filling.

Ingredients:
500 grams tapioca, finely grated (or make a paste of tapioca)
100 grams fresh grated coconut
200 grams jaggery, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla powder (optional)
2 - 3 banana, cut into long pieces
banana leaves as required

Mix all the ingredients until well-combined. Take one sheet of banana leaf. Put one tablespoon of tapioca mixture and add one piece of banana. Wrap them by rolling the banana leaf and fold in both end of the leaf. Repeat wrapping process to the remaning mixture. Put all the wrapped lemet into a hot steamer, and steam for 40 - 50 minutes. Let it cool before serve.

Tips:
- To make the work easier with the banana leaves, heat the surface of the leaves over a small flame. It will make it more soft and easy to fold without breaking it.
- To make the tapioca paste, you can cut them to small pieces and put it in a blender (food processor) instead of grate it.

Recipe Source: Lemet Pisang a la Bunda

Potato Donuts

2006-12-12T16:49:00.000+05:30

My next entry for "Proyek Cinta untuk Bunda Inong" : Donat Kentang (Potato Donuts) . These Donuts are very soft and delicious. Enjoy it with Donut Dusting or powdered sugar for the best taste. For the recipe click here.

Chocolate Pudding with Biscuits

2006-12-10T14:28:00.000+05:30

This is one of my entries for "Proyek Cinta untuk Bunda Inong". I submited the original version, because the project does not allow any modification. Well, actually I did not make modification in this recipe except adding vanilla sauce since the pudding has 'a moderate' sweet taste...

For recipe please visit DapurBunda or click here

Masala Chai

2006-12-04T12:44:00.000+05:30

I was in a trip to Hyderabad a couple years ago when the first time I tried this kind of tea. Normally, I make an ordinary type of tea. Simply boil some water and add tea powder in it. Sometimes I pour in milk or just let it plain without milk and sugar. Even enjoying tea with milk is quite a new thing for me. I just knew it after my marriage with my husband, and learn about tea time tradition in India.

This Masala Chai tastes excellent. I fell in love with it instantly. When I reached back to my home in Cochin, I started to make my own masala chai. Well, it takes more time for me to get the best taste I expected. But this recipe below is perfect. At least for me and my husband. So enjoy your tea...

Ingredients:
2 cups of water
3 tsp tea leaves/ 2 tsp powdered tea
1 piece of Dry Ginger, crushed
4 cardamom seeds, crushed
4 cloves
1 piece cinnamon stick
4 black pepercorn
1 cup of whole milk
sugar as you desire

In a medium pot, bring water to boil, add tea leaves/powdered tea to it. Boil again until the liquid darken. Add all the masala to the tea. And let it simmer for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not over-boil because it will make the tea taste too strong. Remove the tea from the heat. Strain and pour the tea to 3 cups equally. Add milk and sugar as desired. Your Masala Chai are ready to serve.

There is a very easy way to make the Chai in a minute. Go to a big Supemarket and get yourself an Instant Masala Tea Powder in a box .. ;-p

You don't need to add anything to it, except milk of course. Just boil it with water and the Chai is ready. I brought some of these Instant Masala Tea to Jakarta early this year when I go home to visit my parents and family. It's so easy to make...

Well, I got to go now... Want to enjoy my tea... :-)

Carrot Cupcake

2006-11-30T00:28:00.000+05:30

These are another cupcakes I made for the birthday. I found the recipes in AYAHBUNDA magazine. Too bad I didn't have a chance to taste it cause there was nothing left in the kitchen. My husband packed and brought them all to his office.

Ingredients:
180 grams all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
125 grams granulated sugar

50 grams palm sugar

2 tsp pineapple jam
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1 tsp spekoek powder (mixed of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (I used only 1/2 tsp)
150 grams carrot, shreded
125 ml vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line standard 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. Sift all-purpose flour together with baking powser, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together: eggs, granulated sugar, palm sugar, pineapple jam, salt, vanilla powder, spekoek powder, and cinnamon powder until it become light in colour.
Add to the batter one by one: flour mixture, shredded carrot and vegetable oil. Beat on low speed until well-combine.
Divided batter evently among the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool slightly. Frost cupcakes with buttercream

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcake

2006-11-25T20:53:00.000+05:30

I made these cupcakes for my daughter's 2nd Birthday. There wasn't a party, but distribute some small sweets to our neighbours sound very nice :-) Since I don't make Indian Sweets - well I mean I have never tried to make some, maybe later - baking a cake is the most possible thing for me to do. And small cake is just perfect for a small girl's birthday.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 large whole eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 standard 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners.Into the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Attact bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add the eggs and yolk, the milk, oil, vanilla and warm water. Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divided batter evently among the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake come out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool slightly. Invert cupcakes onto the rack; then reinvert and let them cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with buttercream, swirling to cover and garnish with chocolate curls.

Recipe Source: Vania's Blog taken from Martha Stewart 's BAKING HANDBOOK

Homemade Donuts

2006-10-13T23:18:00.000+05:30

I got this Donuts recipe from book of Variety of Donuts owned by my friend in Madras. I have made it so many times, so I don't need to look at the measurement of the ingredients every time I want to make it. The taste is good, even my daughter can eat 2 in once ;-p. Well, actually I made them in small size.... :D

For myself, I like it plain. Without chocolate topping, sprinkles, or some powdered sugar. But when you have time, and like to see them in pretty look... just dress them with anything you desire. Crushed roasted peanuts work the best for me. My daughter loves the chocolate, and my husband will eat anything I give him on his plate... ;-p

Ingredients:

500 grams bread flour (I used all purpose flour instead)
100 grams granulated sugar
11 grams instant yeast
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
100 grams butter
250 ml fresh milk

Directions:

1. Mix together in large bowl: wheat flour, granulated sugar, yeast instant, Baking Powder and salt. Stir them until well-combined
2. Add the egg yolk, and followed by butter. Knead until well-blended.
3. Pour in the cold milk in batches. Mix to form a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 1/2 an hour (if you use hands), until the dough become smooth, light and elastic.
4. Form the dough into a ball, place it in a large bowl and cover it with wet and clean cloth. Set aside for 1 hour.
5. Divide the dough into equal size small balls. Make wholes on the balls using your finger. You can use Donuts shaped cutter if it's available.
6. Deep dry it in hot oil with low-medium flame until it's golden brown and rise.

Tips:

- If you use Active Dry Yeast, dissolve it first in 50 ml warm water before you mix it with the flour. Don't forget to reduce the milk until 200 ml
- Use a wooden chopstick to spin the donuts while you fry it. It will helps you to keep the shape of the whole.
- Let them cool before decorate them with chocolate and sugar

Cocoa Banana Oatmeal Muffins

2006-10-12T21:07:00.000+05:30

I got this recipe from Quaker Oatmeals website. When I have too many oats in my kitchen, I decided to try it. The muffin is very delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 small)
1/2 cup fat-free milk
5 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
2 egg whites or 1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 400°F. Line thirty-six miniature muffin cups with paper baking cups or spray bottoms only with cooking spray.
In large bowl, combine flour, oats, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda; mix well. In medium bowl, combine bananas, milk, margarine, egg whites and vanilla; blend well. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not overmix.)
Fill muffin cups almost full. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Store tightly covered.

Orange Muffins

2006-10-03T19:02:00.000+05:30

Since I live in India, preparing breakfast become a new routine. When I was in Indonesia, we (and I think most of Indonesians) didn't cook breakfast. We bought it. There's some reasons for that. One of them is because school (and also office) hour begin so early there. Most schools in Indonesia will start at 07.00 AM... It makes most of Moms don't have enough time to prepare during hectic hours in the morning. And another reason is because there are so many people sell food for breakfast... with so many options.

But things are going different here in India.... And now I'm getting used to make breakfast with the local taste... Idli, Dosa, Poori and Appam are the most common food for breakfast. But one day, we tried this recipe for breakfast... ;-p Like what western people eat for breakfast.. hehehe. But we are asian though..... Even the muffins taste so great, we still prefer dosa or idli. So I think next time I will make it for some other purpose.. maybe for tea time snacks...

I got this tasty muffin recipe from one of my favorite baking blog: Vania's Recipes

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine melted
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 eggsgrated rind of 1 orange

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, and blend well.
Melt butter. Take off heat and stir in orange juice, eggs and orange rind. Beat.
Stir liquid into dry mixture and blend just until moistened.
Spoon into greased muffin cups and soak 1 sugar cube in orange juice and place on top of batter.
Bake 375 F for 15-20 minutes or until done.
A handful of coconut or raisins added to this batter would also be delicious.

Recipe Source: 'Muffin Mania' by Cathy Prange & Joan Pauli.