Curry Leaf Rice

While I usually struggle to keep my fridge stocked with curry leaves, I suddenly have too much! Mum and Dad’s curry leaf trees have done well this winter, and a chap at work has an uncle who owns a farm!

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Madras Toasts

When we were kids, the only French Toast we had was mum’s. She made it spicy, with chilli powder and ginger garlic paste. It never occurred to me that the real French Toast was sweet (I figured they were called French Toasts because of the French Occupation of Pondicherry – French influence, South Indian Toasts..no?)

Kaya Pandan Layered Cake

Once all the batter is used up, turn off the grill and turn the oven on at 180 degrees. Bake the entire cake for about 5 minutes, to make sure it’s cooked through. Remove from tray, let cool, slice into small pieces and serve. Enjoy!

Kaima idli

I had this for the first time in Saravana Bhavan in Chennai. It was served with a sweet raita, and it was incredible!I have tried various recipes and have tweaked the recipes to suit what we have at home, and the idlies always turns out great. The idea really is to use a mix of spices, ready-made sauces, seasoning that suits You. Taste as you go, you want something spicy, fiery, sweet and sour. Well-balanced, but with a punch.

Tiramisu

If there is one thing the brother-in-law loves more than women a booze, it’s probably Tiramisu. I pity the girl he marries, I suspect she’ll be making Tiramisu every night for dinner. As it was his birthday, I thought I’d make a huge bowl of Tiramisu instead of cake.

Lemon Raspberry Surprise Cupcakes

Guess what? Yet another cake recipe! Mangy brought these to work for a friend of his, it was her birthday and it seems she loved them 🙂

My Favourite Things – Mini Silicone Spatula

I thought I might blog about my favourite kitchen appliances / tools. We’ll start with this mini silicone spatula (Threehats Mini Turner).

When I bought it, I simply wanted it for cuteness factor, but my word it’s turned out to be one of my most used kitchen tools.

The spatula scrapes bread dough and batters CLEAN from bowls, it’s also just the right weight for me to use for long periods of stirring without my arms aching.

They’re fantastic to remove idlies from hot pans, turn pancakes and pretty much anything else you can think of. The mini size is actually a benefit as I find it fits my small hands well and becomes an extension of my arm. So it’s easier to work with.

The spatula is available in most homeware stores, usually near the registers. They look a little gimmicky, as they’re available in half a dozen bright colours, I wanted a pink one, but figured the boys would laugh at me. So I settled for the blue J

Cream of Chicken Pie

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I am a kitchen appliance freak. However, one appliance I resisted purchasing for a long time was a pie-maker. I’ve never been fond of pies and didn’t see good value in buying a maker. That is until my mum bought one, and then I was hooked! I became desperate to buy a pie maker and would search through junk mail ads on a daily basis for cheap deals. 

Rasmalai

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Rasmalai is really the mother of all desserts. The pleasure never ends, both firm and soft at the same time, the spices are subtle, nothing overpowering but still bursting with exotic flavours. Usually served cold. This is difficult to do in our household though, rasmalai rarely makes it into the fridge for serving later. It isn’t difficult to make rasmalai, but it is time consuming. So be prepared to set aside a couple of hours. The final result is so worth it though. I have taken a couple of short cuts, but they haven’t affected the taste in anyway.

Stir Fried Asian Greens – Baby Buk Choy

 

Stir fried Asian Greens is the ideal vegetable dish for a week night meal. They’re also one of my favourite dishes and I hate to share my portion with anyone else. I figure they’re so easy to prepare, there’s no excuse not to and anyone who wants them, should really cook it up for themselves! So there.