Saturday, October 23, 2010

Lamb Pilau

LAMB PILAU

Ingredients

Lamb (obviously!)
Onions (thinly sliced; quantity- gram to gram with lamb)
Basmathi rice (get the best u can)
Skinned and chopped ripen tomatoes (use the canned ones or failing to get it, scald the fresh ones in boiling water, the skin will come off quite easily)
Coriander seeds (lightly crush in lesung batu)
Black peppercorn (ditto)
A piece of cinnamon bark
A couple of black cardamom (if using the white ones, tambah skit)
Green chillies (cut up)
Ginger (lightly pound)
Cilantro (its daun ketumbar,lots of them, roughly chop)
Salt and water ( water and rice quantity must be in equal ratio)
Cooking oil

How to go about it:
Heat up the oil, add onions. Let it fried until very brown. Just one degree away from burnt state. (This is important, as it will give the colour to the dish, we dont want a pale pilau,okay)

Add some water. Cover for a minute to sweat out the colour and sweetness from the onions. Add lamb. Put the lid back on until u see the meat has absorbed the brown colour of the onions.Add tomatoes and garlic, cover for 5 min.

Add all dry spices and salt, cover and let it simmer until the lamb is tender. Add ginger, chillies and cilantro, turn off heat and let it be at least for a couple of hours ( this is optional, just to let the meat absorbs the spices etc. U cud just go to nx process)

My style is; roughly one hour before serving, add more water to the pot ( remember to take away the amount u already added). Bring it to boil and add washed and drained basmathi. Cook till the rice is fluffy.

Serve with salad,pappadom and raita.

Good luck

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That's about it....
I found these;

salad of diced tomatoes,cucumber and shredded iceberg lettuce. Dressed with homemade vinaigrette. (3 parts olive oil to 1 part of malt vinegar,salt and pepper)

When I cook large portion like this, I will finish them off in the oven ( after most of liquid has evaporated) to avoid burning at the bottom


Raita (Just plain yoghurt with mint sauce or chopped cilantro. Salt and sugar to taste.)

Friday, October 1, 2010

coffee + donuts cupcakes

Coffee + Donuts Cupcakes

coffee-and-donuts-cupcakes-trio

All the coffee lovers in the house say HEY…HO! I LOVE coffee. I thought it’d be cute to make Coffee+Donuts Cupcakes, using the coffee cupcake and frosting as a nice flavorful base. I know not everyone has a Mini Donut Maker, so here’s just the recipe for the cupcakes. They are really excellent on their own.

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/8 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

(coffee frosting recipe, below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Combine the coffee and milk, set aside.

Alternate the flour and the coffee mixture into the butter mixture, beating until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.

The cakes become more coffee-vescent the longer they sit. These make a really nice cake as is. The coffee frosting is just a nice touch.

Coffee Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-1/2 Tablespoons coffee
1 Tablespoon milk (as needed)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream butter, carefully adding the sugar, coffee, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. Add a little of the milk at a time to get the right consistency. Turn the mixer up to high and beat well.

Quite obviously, if you have a donut maker OR a tiny sous chef to help sprinkle the donuts: top these with a donut to make coffee+donut cupcakes. Or just buy mini donuts from the store, they make a really cute presentation.

mini-donut-machine

mini-donut-prep

Then you can just top these with a donut to make coffee+donut cupcakes. Or just buy mini donuts from the store, they make a really cute presentation.

coffee-n-donuts-cupcakes