Tag: food

B’s Makhani Paneer

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I love indian food in restaurants.  Home indian food usually doesn’t appeal to me much as it doesn’t have that richness.  Subsequently, at home I prefer cooking healthy stir fries (Chinese/Thai/Japanese) or simple indian lentil soup (daal).  I don’t usually try rich creamy food at home. I guess the butter content screams FAT and echoes in my kitchen.  The voices in my head do not allow this.  🙂

However, last week I really wanted Makhani Panner (Butter Tomato Sauce with Cottage Cheese cubes).  This is often accompanied with Naan Bread in restaurants.  We always order this when we are out.  Somehow the calories don’t count when eat out.  The delusional side of me believes that 😉  Since it was a meal at home,  I made wheat chapattis – healthy alternative since the butter content was already alarming.

The butter was worth it.  It was creamy – yummy and easy to make.  My husband swore it tasted like the one in the restaurant.  I had searched for a few recipes online and kind of made it to my own liking.  It was delish!!!! The creamy texture was perfect.

First – you got to mix all the ingredients together.  Always remember – if B can make it, so can you. 🙂  My mom always felt I was too busy with friends and university to ever enter the kitchen.  And now,  I’m trying different dishes all the time! Also – don’t get too alarmed by the list of ingredients.  Most of it consist of indian spices which is pretty basic for indian cooking, and once you have it at home, you can cook anything. 🙂

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After all the cooking, you end up with mouth watering Makhani Paneer!

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I loved the color!  Yum.  Here’s the recipe 🙂  Happy Cooking!

B’s Makhani Paneer

Makes: Enough for 2-3 people

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 big onion – chopped up
  • 1 big tomato – chopped up
  • 1/3 cup cashewnuts
  • 2 whole dry kashmiri red chillies
  • 2 – 3 tbsp butter (oh my!)
  • 2 pieces of: cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamons
  • 1 bayleaf
  • 4 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tsp concentrated tomato puree
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp yoghurt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 cup paneer (indian cottage cheese cubes)

Method:

  1. Boil chopped tomatoes, onions, cashew nuts  chillies with 1 1/2 cup water for 10-15 minutes.  Stir constantly.
  2. Cool and blend it with a bit of concentrated tomato puree.  (just like my first picture on top!)
  3. Heat the butter – and dd the spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms) with the bay leaf.
  4. Add the tomato puree, garam masala and the red gravy and saute for a few minutes. Add salt.  Mix for another 2 minutes.
  5. Add yoghurt and continue mixing to avoid any form of curdling.
  6. Add the sugar.
  7. Add some water (1/2 cup) – depending on the desired thickness.  Add the paneer to mixture.
  8. TA-DA!  Serve with hot naan or chapattis.

Note:  Many people add cream to this mixture (a few tablespoons).  However,  for me the butter was more than enough.  And it tasted just fine!  🙂

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Foodie Fridays: B’s Mediterranean Lettuce Cups

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Hope everyones doing well.  It’s Friday so I’m sure the weekend makes everyone smile. 🙂

Foodie Fridays have been pretty fatty, should be called Fatty Fridays honestly.  Today was pretty healthy – I have to admit.  Well so far at least!  I had leftover hummus (the link will direct you to my recipe) from yesterday and thought I’d eat it differently.  Had Baby Gem Lettuce in the fridge which made me think of lettuce cups!  Baby Gem Lettuce are the best for lettuce cups as the shape holds very well as opposed to other types of lettuce – just FYI. I strongly recommend it!

hummus cups

Don’t they just look absolutely yummy?  They were better than good enough to eat, as far as the aphorism goes.  Very refreshing for a hot day in London (rare to have hot days here!).  Surprisingly, even my husband loved it for lunch.  For him it was more of a snack to be honest!

B’s Mediterranean Lettuce Cups

Makes: As many as your leftover hummus can fill!

Ingredients:

  • Hummus (home-made) or store bought
  • Baby Gem Lettuce
  • Olives

Method:

  1. Wash lettuce with cold water and assemble in a plate.  Leave it in the fridge for 10 mins if you want it nice and chilled.
  2. Spread hummus on it.  Top it off with olives!
  3. Voila! Eat and enjoy 🙂

So simple.  Yet so delicious and pretty!

xx

B

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B’s Quick & Healthy Hummus Recipe

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Hello everyone!  I’ve restarted my gym regime which means just one thing: time to zip my mouth to everything tempting.  Hmmm… Or so you would think.  I’ve decided to try out healthy dips and snacks that are still tempting minus the high calorie count.  Today I tried out my very own hummus recipe.  Basically most recipes online for hummus incorporate a high level of olive oil.  Fair enough, in the restaurants it is served that way – but if I eat my carrot sticks in an oil based dip, what good is it really?

Mixing everything up to form a smooth creamy paste:

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And the final product:

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Here’s my recipe:

B’s Quick & Healthy Hummus Recipe

Makes: One bowl

Ingredients:

  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch of chilli flakes/paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 3-4 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Spoon chickpeas from the can instead of draining.  The liquid adds flavour!
  2. Add all ingredients and blend away 🙂

Note:  Adjust the consistency to your preference by adding more or less water.  Best served chilled – I refrigerated it for 15 mins. I couldn’t wait any longer! 🙂

Enjoy!!

xx

B

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Poha! – Flattened Rice

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Poha – an unusual name that reminds me of Po  (The Teletubbies). Eh-oh! Oh God, I feel as though I have come from a completely different era, at the thought of the song.  Yes, it is playing in my head right now.  What a drag.

Anyways,  today I tried a new dish and wanted to blog about it 🙂  I made Poha, a south-indian lunchtime dish made from flattened rice.

It’s easily available in Asian Supermarkets in the Indian section.  My sister mentioned this dish to me after her trip to South India (Kerela) and said it was very easy to make.  In addition, it’s nutritious which led me to giving it a go.  The recipe below is a rough guide as I made it up as I went along (kind of like how indian fried rice is made).  Feel free to adjust the flavours and quantities as you like.

B’s Simple Poha

Makes: Enough for 4 people

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium sized flakes Poha packet (300g or so)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 green chilli
  • 1 cup of okra
  • 1 big potato
  • 1 heaped tsp Ghee/butter/oil
  • Indian Spices: Cumin seeds, Curry powder, Red Chilli Powder, Cumin Powder, Garam Masala Powder, Turmeric Powder
  • Peanuts

Method:

  1. Preparation: Put Okra in the oven for 20 mins.  And par-boil the potato.
  2. Heat ghee in pan then add 1 tsp of cumin seeds for 1 minute. Then add chopped onions.  Saute on low fire for about 8 mins until onions are cooked.
  3. Add chopped tomatoes to the onions and saute.  Add a bit of water to cook the tomatoes.  Add 1 chopped green chilli to the mixture.
  4. Cook for about 5 minutes till a mixture forms (Steps 1-3 are the same for any indian cuisine FYI).
  5. Now add all the indian spices to taste.  Stir it, allowing mixture to absorb all the flavours.
  6. Cut both the okra and potato in bite-size pieces.  Add this to the mixture.
  7. Lastly, rinse the poha and drain it slightly.  Add to the pan and mix.  If it is a bit dry and some water while mixing as it tends to absorb water like rice.  Adjust flavours according to taste.
  8. Serve hot with peanuts on top for the extra crunch.

Note:  We had this with a side portion of cucumbers and yoghurt.  Also, I made daal (indian lentil soup) to supplement the meal.

Here’s a picture of my POHA! (Yes, I’m very much entertained by the name.  As I typed it in caps it reminded me of my ALOHA! post. 🙂  hahaha POHA!)

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Cheers to Poha! Let me know if you try it out.

xx

B

Foodie Fridays: B’s Quorn Teriyaki Steak Sushi

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I absolutely LOVE sushi.  I guess being brought up in Japan does have something to do with that.  Japanese food is definitely an acquired taste.  However, in recent years the growing exposure to different cuisines has played a huge role in people experimenting with different flavours.  Japanese food is now everywhere.  Being vegetarian, the variety of sushi is limited in restaurants. 😦  Anyways, when you have a creative mind and hands that are willing to get dirty (dirty with food is always ok, not with mud. There’s a difference! I’m not an outdoor-hiking-kind fyi) then there’s no limit!

Having a love for aesthetics, the food I eat has to look as good as it tastes.  The taste is always takes precedence though, I will never compromise on taste.  Saying that, I would compromise on it just if it is very unhealthy and I’ve just come back from cardio. The cliche aphorism works well for me – health is wealth.

Ok, so you got the point.  The fact that the sushi looks impeccable and it is healthy makes it a winner.  Here’s a picture of the sushi I made:

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Please stare at it in awe as I did.  My husband thought it was very professional!  And I got tons of likes on Facebook and Instagram which boosted my ego.  Small things make me happy.  Happiness then leads to big things 🙂  So try being happy with small things in life, don’t just wait for the big things as they might not come and you’ll end up being a grumpy-old lady by then! I’ve met many, and boy are they unpleasant.

Back to Sushi –  just went slightly off tangent there.

B’s Quorn Teriyaki Steak Sushi Recipe

Makes: 3 rolls of Sushi (about 24 sushis – depending on the size) 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups Japanese Rice
  • 6 Tbsp Sushi Rice Seasoning
  • Teriyaki Sauce
  • 1 Cucumber, cut in strips
  • Quorn Steak Strips (half the packet)
  • 3 Nori Sheets

Method:

  1. Cook rice in a rice cooker.  Japanese rice takes less water than normal rice, so be sure to check the instructions. The ratio of the rice I use is 1 cup rice to 1 1/3 cup water. Let the rice cool down, don’t refrigerate it.
  2. In the meantime, pour a bit of teriyaki sauce in a pan and cook steak strips.  Add water as needed, but make sure the end result is sticky steak and not watery.
  3. Add seasoning to the rice.  If you like it more on the sour side, add more.
  4. Oil Sushezi a bit before putting the rice inside, and follow instructions.  See the video- that’s what I did as this was my first attempt!
  5. Put cucumber on one side of your rice mixture, and the Quorn Strips on the other.
  6. Place glossy side of Nori downwards, and you’re ready to roll.
  7. Use water as a glue for the end of the Nori.  Refrigerate the roll for a while, then cut the sushi.  And put the cut pieces back in the fridge.  Sushi is best served cold with Japanese ginger and Wasabi.

Note:  Hands might get sticky with rice.  Keep bowl of water nearby and dip your hands in often to remove stickiness.To remove stickiness of knife when cutting sushi,  I like dipping knife in water after each cut.  Keeps the sushi clean and pretty!

Enjoy! Itadakimasu (いただきます)!  Have I mentioned I speak/read/write Japanese?  Ok so I do.  Not as well as before though, as I don’t have much practice anymore!

The phrase above translates to Bon Appetite 🙂

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Foodie Fridays: Eggless Scones

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I’ve really been wanting to eat home-made scones so thought I’d make them.  Last I baked them was a year ago in a friends’ baking birthday party.  It was actually an afternoon party where we bake what we eat (very smart of the host and I should incorporate this idea into my party planning) 🙂

I got this recipe from BBC FOOD and did not alter it – as I liked how it turned out!

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Yes its on my Paprika App, in case you’re wondering! 🙂  To make them eggless, follow the recipe through and at the end brush the scones with milk before baking.  It’s that simple.  Scones are faster and easier to make than cookies.  So get baking!

This is my baking process and the yummy end result:

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I can’t decide if I prefer clotted cream then strawberry jam or the other way around.  So the next morning I had it in reverse.  Both were delish!  Dilemmas of a true foodie.

Another interesting way to eat it is with a spread of Nutella and Peanut Butter.  My husband is not a fan of cream + jam and has his scones topped that way.  Although,  I like my scones done traditionally – clotted cream with jam = heaven.  So the choice is yours!

Added Notes:

Recently, I’ve improved on my scones and created a new recipe which I absolutely love.  Check it out – Coconut Eggless Scones

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Foodie Fridays: Sugar Cookies

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My little sis baked for my husband sugar cookies for me to bring back for him. Heart warming gesture. He completely adores this 10-year-old from Singapore.

And so do I.  Baking with a kid just makes the experience so much more fun.  🙂

While baking the night before my flight – I snuck in bites of cookie dough.  I’ve always loved the dough more than the actual cookie.  Although, in this case – this recipe is quite debatable as the thought of both make my mouth water.

So we baked eggless sugar cookies that came out yummy.  She had found a recipe online and we modified it a bit.  Hope you enjoy them 🙂

Warning: Sugar High might be on a High!

Eggless Sugar Cookies

Bakes 30-35 cookies (depending on size) 

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg = 1/4 cup carnation milk + 1 tsp custard powder
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a bowl, mix together butter and sugar using a beater.  Beat in egg replacement.
  3. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour and baking powder.
  4. Refrigerate dough for an hour.
  5. Mix dough up again – as it might be a bit dry.  Make into small balls and flatten.
  6. Bake for 8-10mins on a cookie sheet (I always use cookie sheets – no greasing needed!)  Take cookies out when a bit golden on the top.  Do not over bake as it’s best when its neither not too soft and not too crisp.

Note:  Cookie does not spread, so you can bake many at one go.  With this recipe I noticed  that two trays were suffice.

*Baby Sis wanted to call them Smurf cookies – so she added blue colouring to some of the dough 😉

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Travel Thursdays: Singapore

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Best to know about a country from a local-cum- tourist, someone like – well me. 🙂 Being Singaporean I can’t help but feel a sense of pride for my country.  Frankly, I don’t know where I belong due to my history, but it’s safe to say I am Singaporean.  Travelling has its perks, but it definitely comes with a price to pay.  An individual’s sense of belonging is lost – and for me, I find my belonging to any country questionable.

I predominantly love the radiant multicultural aura that Singapore has.  Everyone feels welcomed in a country like that.  Although, I’ve always come across negative comments about the country being a concrete jungle.  There is truth to this, as land is scarce and population is growing.  Thus, to counter this problem the government built high rise buildings.  Large sky scrapers surround the country which is a distinctive feature of the country as opposed to countries like Australia and USA which have an abundance of land.

A question of whether the weather plays a role in your holiday is an important one.  Singapore is located on slightly north of the equator which makes it a hot country!  Being an island the level of humidity is pretty high as well. I guess geography lessons paid off somewhat.  Tropical countries make a good holiday though.  You can bring out your summer dresses, flip-flops and sunnies and start your day exploring.

If you love a fast-paced city life, Singapore is a holiday destination that is perfect for you!

Shopping malls are open till very late at night and 24-hour food joints are found in every corner.  Do try ROTI PRATA (flour based bread) which is an Asian Indian speciality.  It’s typically served with fish curry but there are vegetarian options and dessert options too.  I can’t believe I went without mentioning food for an entire paragraph. Maybe my diet is working and my brain is avoiding topics related to food. 🙂

Anyways, I love shopping and window shopping (it’s a cheaper option to be honest though the level of satisfaction is questionable) .

So here are a few tips on shopping in Singapore from a shopping expert (myself of course!)

Malls I recommend (click on the links to see store listing): 

– Ion Mall: new mall that has recently opened

– Vivocity: huge mall with a cinema as well

– Somerset 313 – shops and one of my favourite restaurants : Marche

Do try a Rosti! It’s delicious! After eating it there years ago, I’ve tried making it at home too!

 Cheap shopping of souvenirs and clothes:

-Bugis Street (opposite Bugis Junction Mall) You can reach there by MRT- alight at Bugis station.

Sight-seeing

–Sentosa – the luge ride is fun! Stay for the fountain show too

–Supertrees (new addition to Singapore.  I went last week at night and was mesmerised by it.  It’s located in Gardens by the bay)

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Took a few pictures for my blog!  The beauty encapsulated in the picture is a fraction of the beauty it exudes in real life.  Breathtaking.

–Marina Bay Sands – A hotel that is recently made.  It has a gondola rides in it that replicate Venice.  It’s also beautiful to make your way up to Kudeta restaurant which overlooks Singapore’s city.  I’d recommend for you to make a trip up there at night as the night-view is spectacular.

 Mode of transport:

-MRT – the train system is fantastic. It’s fast,convenient and punctual.  The tube system should learn from Singapore! It’s cheap too.

-Taxis: the flag down rate is $3.20 which is very reasonable compared to most countries.

If you are making a trip there and need further advice, feel free to contact me!

Bon voyage.

X

B

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Aloha! Mom’s 50th Birthday Pineapple Fried Rice

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Just a little hello from Hawaii. Ok not quite. I’m back home in London.

I just got back from Singapore yesterday.  Surprisingly, I missed blogging. It’s weird as I’m still a new member of this blogging community. 🙂

I had a heart-warming trip back home – meeting close family and friends as we celebrated my Mom’s 50th birthday!  We threw a Hawaiian-themed party.  My mom’s favourite holiday destination has always been Hawaii. We have been there 8 times together as a family when we lived in Japan (pretty awesome, huh?) Honestly, as a child exploring Hawaii was nothing less than a fairy tale.  Beautiful beaches, hotels, luas, and culture.  I vividly remember swimming with dolphins in Waikoloa Hilton! I was just 11 years-old and was in exuberance.  Hawaii is a must-see.  Add it to your bucket list if its not there yet 🙂

I love beautiful decor. I love aesthetics. I love all things bright and beautiful! So I enjoyed shopping for decor thoroughly.  I’m thinking of having an e-shop for decor, so will let you guys know if that idea falls through.  As having family business we have access to a whole sale shop – thus the price I buy at, is much much cheaper than a normal retail shop.  So if I do sell to individual people online, whilst I’d be making a marginal profit – the consumer still pays much less than retail price! It’s a win-win!

Some pictures to illustrate our theme:

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We attempted to make pineapple fried rice – which turned out pretty exotic.  However, the one that I ate in Hua Hin was still better! I am in desperate need to find the secret ingredient!  I googled a few recipes and some suggest adding curry powder, so I may try that in the future.  My sister created this recipe FYI!

A quick overview of the recipe – nothing was actually measured, so go with the flow!

 Pineapple Fried Rice (Quick and Easy for a Party!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion
  • Some veggies (your choice!)
  • Cooked rice
  • Oil
  • A full pineapple
  • Seasonings: salt, pepper, chilli powder, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce , curry powder

Method:

1) Sauté some onions with oil.  Add your choice of finely chopped vegetables

2) Add salt, pepper, soya sauce, chilli powder to the mixture

3) After vegetables are cooked well and flavoured to taste (I’d suggest curry powder as well) add cooked rice and mix well.

4) Cut pineapple in half and scoop out the filling neatly.  Cut pineapple into desired size and throw in the fried rice and mix.

5)  Serve the fried rice in the pineapple half!

Here’s the picture of her result:

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I was very impressed with the presentation of this dish!  It really added to the

mise-en-scene of the party for sure.  Let me know how it goes if you try it out!

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Pad Thai

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Hello everyone!

In the midst of packing – I made a scrumptious Thai meal (Vegetarian Pad Thai).  Easy to whip up for busy days.  Thought I’d share it before going since my flight is pretty late at night anyways.  I made extra so my husband can have it for lunch tomorrow.  I’m nice like that. 🙂 So- voila!

photo (3)It’s actually just a rice-noodle stir fry with Thai flavours infused in it.  Very popular in Thailand 🙂

So here’s how I made it – hope you like it too!  I actually don’t have it on Paprika since I don’t use a recipe for it.  It’s my own version. 🙂

YUMMY-VEGETARIAN PAD THAI (for 2)

Ingredients:

  • Rice noodles (1/2 packet)
  • Tofu (1/2 packet)
  • Bean sprouts
  • Chives – cut into small pieces
  • Roasted peanuts – grind
  • Seasoning: Red chilli powder, Light Soya Sauce, Dark Soya Sauce, Brown Sugar, Salt, Lemon Juice, Cut Red Chilli

Method:

  • Soak rice stick noodles in hot water for about 10-15 minutes until they are soft.  Rise off.
  • Pan-fry the tofu in big squares.  Cut them up into little pieces after and keep aside.
  • Put some oil in the pan, throw in all the ingredients except for peanuts.
  • Stir fry everything together and add the seasoning.
  • Season to taste
  • Guidelines of my seasoning to my taste (lol):  About 1 tsp red chilli, you can cut some red chilli on the side too.  Around 2 tsp of light soya sauce and a bit more of dark to give it a nice color. Keep trying as you go along as there are different brands which have a distinct flavour.  I put about 3 tbsp of brown sugar (quite a lot!)  And I just put a tiny bit of salt (since soya sauce is salty).  I put about 2-3 tsp of lemon juice.
  • Lastly, add peanuts and garnish with cut red chili.  Enjoy!

**Basically my tip with seasoning would be to keep trying as you go along till you are happy with the taste.  I personally do not take too much spice. It’s meant to have a sweet-salty-spicy flavour!

Good luck and happy cooking!

XX

B