Pancakes with Coconut Milk

I ate a lot of traditional pancakes in my youth; my mother used to make them for us. They were made from flour, eggs, sugar, milk, water and baking powder. This is the first time I have added coconut milk to my batter and the pancakes were delicious. They will certainly become a regular fixture in my breakfast menu.

Ingredients:

• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 35 g sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup santan
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

• Sieve all-purpose flour into a bowl.

• Add sugar and salt to the bowl. Mix well with a whisk.

• Break the egg into a bowl with santan and water. Stir.

• Add the egg mixture to the flour.

• Mix the ingredients into a smooth batter.

• Oil a non-stick pan with a piece of kitchen towel.

• Heat up the pan.

• Scoop a cup of batter into the centre of the pan.

• Swirl the pan in a circular manner to spread the batter.

• Cover the pan.

• When bubbles are seen on the batter, open the cover and flip the pancake to cook the other side.

• Transfer the pancake to a serving plate.

Cheese Brownies

We always make brownies as they are. Have you ever thought of combining them with something else like cream cheese or Nutella or peanut butter? Well, since I still have a big block of cream cheese left from previous bakings, I decided to add it to my fudgy brownie. I was sure that they are going to be delicious. I love cheese and I love chocolate. So what better combination that this would be. 

Ingredients:

Brownies:

• 450 g dark chocolate (either bar or coins)
• 150 g salted butter (if using unsalted butter, then add 1/4 tsp salt)
• 100 g brown sugar
• 3 grade A eggs
• 120 g all-purpose flour
• 20 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla essence, optional

Cream Cheese Topping:

• 225 g cream cheese
• 40 g castor sugar
• 1 grade A egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence, optional

Method:

• Take out your cream cheese from the refrigerator, weigh the required amount and let the latter soften and come to room temperature.

• Prepare a 7 inch x 7 inch pan (preferably with a removable base for easier removable of the brownie) - grease and line it with parchment paper. Set aside.

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.

• Add dark chocolate, salted butter and brown sugar to a bowl.

• Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water (bain marie) to melt the chocolate, butter and sugar.

• Remove the bowl from the pot of boiling water once these have melted.

• Set the bowl aside to let the chocolate mixture cool down.

• Meanwhile, add softened cream cheese to a bowl.

• Add castor sugar to the cream cheese and mix by hand with a spatula till the sugar has melted and the cream cheese is smooth.

• Break the egg into a small bowl. Slightly beat it.

• Add the beaten egg to the cream cheese mixture. Mix till they are well incorporated.

• Add vanilla essence (optional) and mix to incorporate it into the cream cheese mixture.

• Set the cream cheese mixture aside.

• Once the chocolate mixture has cooled down slightly (not necessary totally), beat the eggs slightly and add them to it. Mix till the eggs are incorporated.

• Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and instant coffee.

• Add them to the chocolate mixture in thirds, mixing well after each addition.

• Add the vanilla essence (optional) and mix.

• Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan.

• Scoop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture and place them randomly on top of the chocolate mixture.

• Use a chopstick or thin wooden skewer to swirl the cream cheese mixture to form patterns as creatively as possible.

• Bake the batter for 25-30 minutes or till it is cooked. (Test doneness by poking a wooden skewer into the brownie. It should come out clean.)

• Remove the brownie from the pan and let it cool down completely on a metal rack.

• Once it has cooled down, keep the brownie in the refrigerator before serving.

Hup To Soh

Hup To Soh is a very delicious biscuit. It was a very popular biscuit in my younger days. We always buy it from shops specialised in selling biscuits. Some were very crunchy while others melted in the mouth. Nowadays we can seldom find it. So we have to make it ourselves to enjoy it. It is very easy to make this biscuit. We just need flour, sugar, sesame seeds walnut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, peanut oil and eggs to make it. However, those sold in the shop do not contain walnuts and sesame seeds.

Ingredients:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g toasted sesame seeds
• 100 g toasted walnut and crushed
• 75 g sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 g butter, softened
• 125 g peanut oil
• 1 egg (for egg wash)

Method:

• Add flour, sesame seeds, walnut, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda to a mixing bowl. Stir to mix them up.

• Beat egg yolks and add to the flour mixture. Stir to mix them up.

• Add butter to the bowl. Stir to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture.

• Add peanut oil to the bowl. Stir.

• Mix up all the ingredients till you achieve a smooth dough.

• Line your baking tray with parchment paper.

• Take a dollop of the dough.

• Weigh it to get 25 g. (You can make it either smaller or bigger. Those sold in the shops are much bigger.)

• Roll it into a ball.

• Place the dough ball onto the baking tray.

• Press dough ball down to flatten it and to have some nice cracks along the sides.

• Repeat till all the dough has been used up. I manage to get 30 pieces out of the above ingredients.

• Immediately heat up your oven to 170 deg C for 10 minutes.

• Egg wash your flattened dough.

• Bake them in the oven for 30 minutes to get a nice golden colour for your biscuits. Shorten your baking time if you would like a lighter colour.

• Wait for your biscuits to completely cool down before you store them in a bottle.

Cheesey & Spicy Paratha

  

     

 

I learnt to make plain Paratha by watching lots of videos on YouTube.  Although you can eat these Indian flatbread as they are, they go best with curry. As I was not going to make curry so early in the morning, I decided to add fillings to them, thus, my Cheesey and Spicy Paratha. I have added Mozzarella cheese, onions, coriander and chilies as my fillings. However, you may add garlic, green onions and what have you as yours. Making Paratha is easy and it took less time than baking bread. Thus, when you have nothing in the kitchen for breakfast, you can make them provided you have an important ingredient in your pantry - whole wheat flour (atta flour).

Ingredients:

• 125 g whole wheat Atta flour
• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 5 g salt
• 25 g corn oil
• 150 g water (+ / - 10 g)
• Filling:
• 100 g Mozzarella
• 15 g coriander
• 75 g red onion
• 5 pieces bird's eyes chilies
• 3 cloves garlic, optional
• 1 g salt

Method:

• Add whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and corn oil to a mixing bowl.

• Add water to the bowl.

• Knead the flours in the bowl to form a soft dough ball. (If the dough is too dry, add more water, a tablespoon at a time till you achieve a soft dough bowl.)

• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes to let the gluten form.

• Meanwhile, prepare the fillings.
• Grate the Mozzarella cheese into a bowl.
• Chop the coriander and add them to the bowl with the grated Mozzarella cheese.
• Chop the red onion and add them to the bowl.
• Cut the chilies into tiny pieces and add them to the bowl.
• Mince the garlic and add them to the bowl.
• Mix up all these ingredients and set the bowl aside.

• Flour your counter-top well and transfer the dough onto it.

• Divide the dough into the number of pieces of Paratha that you want; if you prefer a large Paratha, then divide it into 6 pieces. And 8 pieces if you prefer smaller pieces.

• Roll each piece into smaller dough balls. Cover the dough balls to prevent them from drying out.

• Flour your rolling pin and counter-top.

• Take a dough ball and use the rolling pin to flatten it as thin as possible.

• Repeat this until all the dough balls have been flattened. Cover the flattened dough to prevent them from drying out.

• Take a piece of flattened dough. Spoon the cheese mixture onto the centre of the dough.

• Bring the edges together and seal them into a ball.

• Repeat these last 2 steps till all the dough have been filled.

• Again flour your rolling pin and counter-top.

• Use your rolling pin to gently flatten the dough ball with fillings (seamside down). You have to be gentle as you would not want to puncture the dough.

• Repeat this step until you have flattened all the dough with fillings.

• Heat up a non-stick pan and fry each piece till it is cooked on both sides.

• Serve.

Paruppu Vadai

 

   

I love eating Paruppu Vadai but it has been a long time since I ate them. I used to buy them in my hometown from Indian stalls when they were just out from the oven. They are hard to find where I am staying now. They are delicious with the different tastes coming from the dhal, curry leaves, onions, dried and green chilies, jintan putih (cumin) and salt. Fried till golden brown, the vadai are crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Now that I know how to make them, I am definitely going to make them very often. The process is easy. It is only that we have wait for the dhal to be softened; I soaked them overnight so that they are easy to grind.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dhal
• 1 big onion, chopped into small pieces
• 3 sprigs of curry leaves, sliced finely
• 3 dried chilies, cut into small pieces
• 2 green chilies, cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp jintan putih, washed
• 1 tsp salt
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Wash the dhal and soak it overnight.

• The next day, remove and set aside 2-3 tbsp dhal.

• Grind the rest of the dhal till they are fine.  (If you have a powerful grinder, you need not add water to the dhal. If you are using a blender, add some water to make it easier to blend the dhal. However, you need to sieve the blended dhal to remove the water.)

• Transfer the ground/blended dhal to a bowl.

• Add the onion, curry leaves, dried and green chilies, jintan putih and salt to the bowl.

• Heat up a kuali or pan with cooking oil.

• Shape the batter round and flat and drop it into the hot oil. (Do not move it initially; instead let it cook to hold its shape.)

• Once the bottom has turned golden brown, flip it over to deep fry the other side till it turns golden brown.

• Scoop out the vadai onto kitchen towel to soak up excess oil.

• Repeat the process till all the batter has been used up.

• Best served hot.

Thosai

 

    

Thosai is a savoury Indian pancake or crepe. It is made from fermented batter consisting of dhal (lentils), rice (cooked and uncooked), salt and water. It which is usually served with dhal curry.  My husband loves thosai as it is a healthy food.

I watched many videos on YouTube to find out the ingredients needed and the method to make them. These videos showed the same amount and type of ingredients and the method. However, this is my first time making them. So, I halved all the ingredients. Using my 24 cm non-stick pan I managed to cook up 12 pieces of thosai.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of uncooked rice
• 0.5 cup of dhal (kacang thosai or urid dhal or ulunthu dhal
• 1 tsp halba / fenugreek
• 0.5 cup cooked rice
• Water as required
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Add uncooked rice, dhal and halba to a pot. Washed them.

• Soak the ingredients overnight.

• Add cooked rice to the soaked ingredients the next day.

• Add 1/4 of the ingredients to a blender.

• Add enough water to cover these ingredients.

• Blend till the batter is smooth.

• Transfer the batter into a pot.

• Repeat till all the ingredients are blended.

• Add salt to the batter.

• Use your hand to mix the salt into the batter in a circular motion. (This is important for the batter to ferment.)

• Cover the pot and let the batter ferment for at least 10 hours.

• Lightly grease a non-stick pan with a silicon brush or a piece of cloth tied up into a ball.

• Scoop 2 scoops of batter into the pan.

• Use the base of your scoop to swirl the batter in a circular motion making rings on it.

• Cover the pan to cook the crepe.

• When you see bubbles on the surface of the crepe, it means that it is cooked.

• Fold 1/2 of the crepe onto the other half using a spatula.

• Transfer the crepe onto a serving plate.

• Serve with your curry. It can also be eaten with butter and sugar.

Cheesey Savoury Pancake

  

When you find yourself with nothing to eat at all at home for breakfast - no cakes, no bread, no biscuits, no nothing - this is the recipe to go to for a quick fix. This cheesey savoury pancake is super easy to make; it can be done in less than half an hour as minimal work is involved. It can be eaten on its own or, if you like, with chili sauce. If you do not like coriander you can substitute it with chives or green onions.

I used a 24-cm non-stick wok and the recipe yields 5 pieces of pancake. You can increase the recipe by 2 or any number of times depending on the number of people.

Ingredients:

• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 3 g salt
• 3 g chili flakes
• 30 g coriander, chopped
• 10 g garlic chopped
• 30 g dried prawns, toasted and pounded (optional)
• 20 g melted butter and more for frying
• 1 egg
• 3 g baking powder
• 30 g grated Mozzarella cheese
• 235 g water

Method:

• Add all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

• Mix them up till they are well-combined.

• Heat up a non-stick pan with a dollop of butter.

• Let the butter melt.

• Scoop some of the batter into the centre of the pan and use the bottom of the scoop to spread it out in a circle.

• Let it fry till it is golden brown.

• Flip the pancake over to the other side to cook it.

• Once this side has turned golden brown, remove it from the pan.

• Serve.

Cheesey Green Onion Chinese Pancake

Cheesey Green Onion Chinese Pancake is an extension of the Green Onion Chinese Pancake I made earlier. I added dried prawns which had been toasted and ground and chili flakes to make it savoury with a slight tinge of spiciness. I also added cheese as I love it. Lastly, I shaped it differently to get a more crispy pancake on the outside.

Ingredients：

• A. Dough:
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 125 g water
• 1 tsp salt

• B. Filling:
• 100 g green onions
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 40 g softened butter
• 30 g dried prawns, toast and grind
• 1 tsp black pepper (very peppery. Can be reduced according to taste.)
• 1 tsp chili flakes/paprika, optional
• 60 g grated Mozzarella cheese

• C. For rolling the dough
• 30 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g corn flour

• D. Oil for Frying

Method:

• Add all the ingredients in (A) into a mixing bowl.
• Knead the ingredients till a smooth dough is formed.
• Cover the bowl with a wet towel and let the dough rest for 1/2 an hour.

• Wash the green onions.  Let the water runs off the green onions so that they are as dry as possible. Cut them into small pieces of about 0.5 cm long.
• Add the green onions into a bowl.
• Add the all-purpose flour, black pepper, chili flakes and oil.
• Mix them up well.

• Divide dough into number of pieces of pancakes desired, either 4 big ones or 6 smaller ones.
• Flour the work surface and the rolling pin with the all-purpose & cornflour mixture.
• Take 1 pc of dough and sprinkle the flour mixture on it.
• Roll it out into a rectangle, square or circle as thin as possible so that the pancake will be crispy.
• Brush the dough with the butter.
• Spread the fillings - green onions mixture, dried prawns and cheese on top.
• Take the right side of dough and fold it onto the centre.
• Take the left side of the dough and fold it onto the centre (over the left side).
• Fold the top followed by the bottom (overlapping) to the centre. You will get a rectangular or square dough

• Heat up a non-stick pan with a little cooking oil. Fry the dough till each side is golden brown.

Chives Pancakes

 

I bought so much chives - to fry with kueh teow, to stirfry with bean sprouts, to make chive omelette and to stirfry with taukwa. After all these, there was still some left. Usually, chives do not keep for long. So I had to think of ways to make something out of them rather than binning them later. Secondly, my family had been having lots of bread and the traditional sweet pancakes and kuih for breakfast. So, it was good to give them a change and to reduce the sweet food they had been having. That was when the idea of Chives Pancakes came in.

Since this was my first time making these pancakes, I weighed, washed, cut, mixed and wrote down the ingredients as I went through the process of making them so that I can use these measurements to make them again later.

Ingredients:

• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 75 g chives
• 10 g dried prawns
• 25 g carrot
• 25 g mushroom (1 medium sized mushroom)
• 20 g red chili (1 pc of chili)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 300 g water

Method:

• Add flour to a mixing bowl.

• Wash, drain and cut the chives to about 1.5 cm long.

• Wash and pound the dried prawns.

• Wash, peel and grate the carrot and then chopped them up.

• Wash and soak the mushroom and then cut them into tiny pieces when they have softened.

• Wash, de-seed the red chili and chop it up.

• Add the chives, dried prawns, carrot, mushroom and red chili to the mixing bowl with flour.

• Break 1 egg into it.

• Add seasonings of sesame oil, pepper, salt and light soy sauce to the mixing bowl.

• Add water to the bowl and stir to mix up all the ingredients. Note: If the batter is too thick, the pancake will be hard. It should be a bit runny so that the pancake will be thin and soft.

• Oil a non-stick pan (24-cm) with a very thin layer of oil.

• Scoop a ladle of batter into the pan.

• Swirl the pan so that the batter cover the whole pan.

• Cover the pan.

• Once the bottom of the batter is cooked, flip it over.

• Remove the pancake once the bottom is cooked.

• Repeat till all the batter is finished.

• You can serve it on its own or with ketchup or chili sauce.

Fried Potato Pancake

    

  

Potatoes are edible tubers, available all over the world and at all times as the potato plants are perrenials. When we think of potatoes we always think of them as being a high carb food. As a result many people have lost interest in the potatoes as they prefer low carb food. But due to its carbohydrate content, potatoes are more energy packed than any other popular vegetables. Its fiber, vitamins (for example, vitamin C) and minerals (especially potassium) contents enable us human beings to perform at our best. Potatoes rank highest for potassium content among the top 20 most frequently consumed raw vegetables and the top 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits (www. potatogoodness.com). One important benefit of potassium is that it helps in maintaining our blood pressure as it helps in widening our blood vessels. Potatoes also help in our bone and heart health and many more. 

Potatoes can be cooked in many ways; according to finedininglovers.com, 63 ways!!! The most common are mashed, fried, baked and roasted. I have fried potato pancakes as breakfast cum snack for my family.

Ingredients:

• 325 g potatoes
• 25 g rice flour
• 10 g corn starch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk green onions, cut into 1-cm length
• 1 red chili, chopped
• 1 egg
• Water
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Remove potato skin, wash and cube them into very small pieces and place them into a pot of boiling water.

• Cook them over high heat for 20 minutes. Potato cubes should be soft but not broken up.

• When they are done, transfer them to a mixing bowl.

• Add rice flour, cornstarch, salt, black pepper, minced garlic, green onions, red chili and egg to the bowl.

• Mix the ingredients till they are well combined. Add some water if the mixture is too thick.

• Heat up cooking oil in a wok/pan.

• Place egg rings in the wok/pan.

• When the oil is hot, scoop the potato mixture into the egg ring.

• When the mixture has firmed up, remove the egg ring. Alternatively, if you do not possess any egg rings, scoop the mixture onto a cling wrap and mould it into an oval shape.

• Fry the potato mixture till they are golden brown.

• Remove the potato pancakes onto a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

• Arrange the pancakes on a serving plate.