Lemon Semolina Cake

Bonjour,

I made a lemon semolina cake not long ago and have made a few time since then. I have tried with orange as well and both tastes great. This recipe was sourced from Nigella kitchen and the real recipe used fine polenta and I used fine semolina instead.

Normally, mon mari does not like semolina but when I made this lemon or orange semolina cake, it turns out that he do like it. This recipe is pretty simple, so give it a try then..

LEMON SEMOLINA CAKE

Ingredients;

200g butter, soften
200g sugar
150g almond flour
150g fine semolina
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
Zest of 1 or 2 lemon (reserve the juice)

For the syrup;

Juice of lemons
100g icing sugar

METHOD;

- Preheat oven 180° and prepare baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar until pale with wooden spoon or stand mixer.
- Meanwhile, mix together almonds, semolina and baking powder.
- Alternate dry ingredients and egg into the butter mixture. Beating all the while.
- Add in lemon zest, mix well and pour the mixture into prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.
- Prepare the syrup by boiling the lemon juice and icing sugar just until the sugar dissolved.
- Prick the top of the cake with skewer and pour warm syrup over the cake. Leave to cool before taking it out of the pan.

Enjoy baking!

Aloo Chana Masala

Namaste,

Chickpea and potato curry or aloo chana masala is one of the popular dish in Indian restaurants. We like to order this dish together with naan or roti paratha. It was a tasty and delicious dish until I decided to give it a try at home.

For me personally, there's nothing bad about Indian food even some claim that Indian food is fatty and unhealthy. Once in a while, it's good to have a tasty food and discover the vibrant flavours of spices from India.

ALOO CHANA MASALA

Ingredients;

1 can of chickpeas
2 potatoes, peel and cut into cubes
2 tomatoes, cut into cubes
1 onion, chopped
2cm ginger, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt and sugar to taste
Oil

METHOD;

- Heat up some oil in a saucepan and fry onion and ginger until fragrant.
- Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
- Add all the spices powder and mix well.
- Add in potatoes and chickpeas and a cup of water and simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes.
- Season with salt and sugar and cook for another few minutes until the potatoes are tender. Add more water if needed.
- Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with naan bread or plain rice.

Bon appétit!

Sambal Tumis Udang

Salut,

Prawns generally can be prepared and cooked in many way. This sambal tumis udang means fried chilli prawns is one of the specialties in Malaysian cooking. If Indians love spices, Malaysians love spicy and most Malaysian peoples eat spicy food on a daily basis. For these fried chilli prawns, the taste suppose to be equally spicy, sweet, salty and a bit sour.

Dried chillies are not always hot, and there are a few types of dried chillies out there. For those who don't eat spicy food, buy the dried guajillo chilli pepper because of their mild heat and these dried chillies are normally large in size. Avoid to buy chipotle chilli, which are small in size, leathery, wrinkle and light brown colour because this chilli are extremely hot.

SAMBAL TUMIS UDANG

Ingredients;

300g prawns
10-15 dried chilli, deseeded and soak with hot water or boil until soften
4 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon tamarind paste (mix with 1/2 cup water)
Salt and sugar to taste
Oil for frying

METHOD;

- Heat up some oil, about 1/2 cup in a saucepan or wok and fry prawn until golden brown, set aside.
- In a blender, blend shallot and garlic into a fine paste. Set aside.
- Blend the soften chilli with little bit of water until it become a fine paste.
- Heat up the oil (I used the same oil from the fried prawns) and fry the shallot garlic paste until fragrant.
- Add the chilli paste and cook for 10-15 minutes on the low heat and stirring frequently until the chilli are slightly dry.
- Add tamarind juice, salt and sugar, simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until the colour has turned to dark red.
- Add fried prawns and stir gently and cook for another few minutes.

Enjoy the sambal tumis udang!

Sweet Buns

Bonsoir,

Time goes by so fast and I can't believe it's already April. Spring is here, flowers are everywhere and how I wish this spring could last forever.. Anyway, let's talk about homemade bread now and since I begin making my own bread at home last few months, I found that baking homemade bread was truly easy and simple. There is no need to have a fancy equipment or special ingredients to make a good breads or buns.

One thing I like to make a homemade bread or sweet bun because with this sweet bun basic recipe, the dough also can be formed into other shape of buns, doughnuts or even filled with sweet or savory or even spicy and salty filling like tuna and cheese.

SWEET BUNS

Ingredients;

300g flour
2 tablespoon vegetable oil/ melted butter
7g dry yeast
2 tablespoon sugar
150ml warm milk
A pinch of salt

METHOD;

- Place warm milk in a small bowl and dissolve yeast. Add sugar and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, mix flour, oil and salt.
- Gradually add yeast mixture and knead for a few minutes until the dough is getting firmer and won't stick. Add more flour if needed.
- Place the dough in a lightly oil bowl, cover and let it rest in warm place for 1 hour or until double in size.
- Punch the dough down and knead for 1 minute.
- Form the dough into small balls and place in prepare baking pan.
- For the stuffed buns, flatten the balls and fill with the favourite filling like tuna and reshape back into a ball.
- Arrange them in a baking sheet and let them rest for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven 180°.
- Before baking the buns, brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds or grated cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minute or until golden brown.

Happy baking!