Coconut Cake ( Bibikkan)

Bibikkan is  a delicious, dark moist cake made of shredded coconut, jaggery,dry fruits and semolina. It has got a very distinct taste and savoured by most foodies  in my country.This wonderful sweet treat was apparently introduced to Sri Lanka during the Dutch/Portuguese  rule.It is very  popular during the festive season.Recently I took an effort to make  this delicious delight from scratch.Due to Diabetes  my husband and I need  to  keep our sugar levels  under control, hence it was   essential to make a few changes in the recipe.Therefore I  omitted the jaggery and used treacle and date paste and also left out the   sugary  ginger preserves winter melons and the candied peel, which the original recipe called  for and substituted with unsweetened  dry fruits and the zest of citrus to cater to our taste.Regardless it turned out fabulous.

 Ingredients

40 ml  bottle of treacle

2 cups shredded coconut

50 g semolina  slightly roasted 

50 gram whole wheat flour

1 cup dates  chopped  

½ teaspoon fennel  crushed

2-3  cardamom crushed

50 g cashew nuts

1  cup  dry friuts/prunes,raisins( (chopped)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon mixed lemon/orange zest

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Extra cashew nuts for decoration (optional)

Method

Mix the coconut with the treacle ( I also used  1/2 cup of date paste). Stir in the semolina, dates, fennel, cardamom, the dry fruits,lemon/orange zest, cashew nuts, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.

Separate the egg white and york. Beat it separately and fold into the mixture.Now pour the contents into  a greased baking tray(9 inch*12 inch).Decorate with cahew nuts (optional).Bake in a moderate oven (160°C ) for 2 hours.Cool completely and cut.

*If you are using jaggery ,melt the jaggery in 375 ml water in a pan, add the coconut and  set aside to cool and then mix in the rest of the ingredients.

This can be wrapped individually and  stored in an airtight container in the freezer for later use.

Please note-This particular coconut cake (Bibikkan) was prepared to suit a diabetic's palate,using,treacle,date paste and whole wheat flour.There is an original recipe for this specialty cake using a varied of ingredients.

My Nutella Story

Nutella is celebrating 50 years of sweetness.Share your story and win a Nutella® gift-box! It’s so easy to participate: share your best story with Nutella® - you can  submit a picture,a video or a written story.The Nutella®Team will choose their favourite story from the submissions and  chose it  to be the “Story of the week”.If you are that lucky winner, you will receive the gift-box and your story will be displayed on the Home page of Nutella during a whole week.  Hurry Up! Don't you want to share your delicious story with the rest of the world? Then why are you waiting ? Go  participate! 

Submit your story here. My Nutella story

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Chinese Spring Rolls

For the last many years,I have been trying to make  perfect spring rolls  from scratch  but have failed on many occasions.Recently my sister suggested to me  to improvise the batter preparation.So taking that advice into consideration, I decided to try my hands at making Chinese rolls,as it is commonly called in my native country,which is not all related to China.Don't ask me why it's known as the Chinese rolls,because honestly I don't know it either.Thank God,the new technique worked for me.They were not the perfect rolls but were deliciously good, as told by  the critics at home- my children.
Chinese rolls are  made with crepe/pancake batter and stuffed with some spicy filling,then  rolled and tossed in bread crumbs and deep fried.They are very popular at iftar,during Ramadan.They make lovely tea time snacks or  just  wonderful  at birthday parties and any other occasions.

Savoury Chicken Buns

This is an easy to make recipe.I have used chicken to stuff the buns but a meat of your choice or even  fish too could be used in the filling.You could also make the filling a day ahead and refrigerate.I know there's plenty of smiles in my home when  the aroma  of freshly  baked buns wafts through my kitchen door.

Ingredients for the buns

3 cups all purpose flour 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon powder milk  3 tablespoon oil  1 ½ cups lukewarm water

Method -In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients and then add the oil and water ( use the water little by little till you get the correct consistency) and knead it to a soft dough.It should feel smooth and elastic to the touch.If its too wet add a little flour and knead again.Grease another bowl and place the dough in it covering with cling film or cloth and leave it to activate in a warm place.When it doubles the size in 1-2 hours,Divide the dough into golf size balls .Flatten out each ball into a small tortilla/chapatti.Place approximately 1 and  ½  tablespoons of filling in one end ( edge ) of the tortilla/chapatti Roll over once, tuck in the sides, and then continue rolling. Seal the top.Leave to rise again for 15 minutes. Glaze the buns with egg yolks Then bake it in a pre heated oven at 350F for approximately 25 minutes

You can make a dozen or more  buns

For the filling ..

250 grams boiled chicken (shredded )

1  large potato boiled and mashed

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

2-3  cloves of garlic,/ a piece of ginger

2 green chillies chopped

*½  tsp back pepper powder,

*1 tsp curry powder

*¼  tsp cumminpowder

(* you can adjust the spices according to your preference)

2 tablespoon oil

A few coriander leaves chopped

A little  lemon juice to taste

salt to taste

Method -Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan and sauté the onions till light brown.Ad garlic/ginger green chillies and the spices and cook for few minutes. Add the chopped tomato.Cook till soft.Next stir in the shredded chicken and mix it well ( break the shredded chicken as you mix).Add salt according to take.Once cooled.Mix the mashed potato and the coriander leaves. (the filling has to be dry)

Okra Cooked Two Ways

Okra sambol 

Ingredients

500 g okra medium size

2 onion sliced

A piece of ginger chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 tomato chopped

A dessertspoon  mustard seeds.

A sprig of curry leaves

1 1/2  teaspoon chilly powder or chilly  flakes ( you can add more  or reduce the amount)

3-4 tablespoons  tomato paste.

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method

Wash the  okra, pat dry and fry them in oil. Drain them in a paper towel and set aside while you prepare the sambol.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan.Cook the onions till it turns pale in colour.Add the ginger, garlic,chilly and the rest of the ingredients( except for the tomato and the tomato paste) and cook for a further few minutes.Now you may add the chopped  tomato and cook it till soft.Now stir in the tomato paste and mix it well. Add the fried okra ,fold it well with the onion mixture.Enjoy with a plate of rice and curry.

Okra With Coconut Milk-Use the  same  ingredients as above  but instead of the tomato paste use 3/4 cup coconut milk,which you will add in the final process.

For more Okra recipe  -Okra in spicy coconut sauce

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Spicy Beef Curry

Spicy Beef Curry Without Coconut Milk-

Ingredients

1 pound beef washed and cut into cubes

1 big red onion sliced 

2 green chillies sliced

1 large tomato cut in small  chunks

4-5 cloves of garlic crushed 

1/2 inch ginger finely sliced

1-2 tablespoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

A  few curry leaves

A piece of lemon grass

2-3 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon cummin seed

1 cup water

2 tablespoon oil

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon vinegar

Juice of 1 Lime/lemon

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Brown the beef slightly. Remove and keep aside.In the same pan,add cumin seed and sauté  the onions,green chillies,garlic and the ginger until it turns pale in colour. Throw in the tomato chunks and cook it till soft.Add into it  the curry  leaves, turmeric powder  and curry powder.Stir it well.Now add the browned  beef,vinegar and water.Add salt to taste.Cook for another 5-10 minutes.Reduce  heat ,allow to simmer. Now mix in the  tomato paste and the lime/lemon juice.Keep the pan covered.It will take an hour depending on the quantity.Add more water if needed.Turn off heat.

Serve with steaming rice and a crunchy salad  or with a variety of vegetables.

Brinjal Sambol

Brinjal sambol

4 medium brinjals

2 onion sliced

A piece of ginger chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 tomato

A dessertspoon  mustard seeds.

A sprig of curry leaves

1 1/2  teaspoon chilly powder or chilly  flakes ( you can add more  or reduce the amount)

¼  teaspoon cinnamon powder (optional)

3-4 tablespoons  tomato paste.

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method 

Wash and cut the brinjals  lengthwise.( should be a little thick).Fry them in oil.Drain them in paper towel and set aside while you prepare the sambol

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan.Cook the onions till it turns pale in colour.Add the ginger, garlic,chilly and the rest of the ingredients and cook for a further few minutes. Add the fried brinjals ,fold it with the onion sambol/mixture  and  leave it covered .Enjoy with a plate of rice and curry. 

How To Make Tuna Fish Cutlet

After frying

Before frying

You will need

4 (100 gm) canned tuna fish

2 medium potatoes( boiled and cooled )

3 big onions chopped

3 green chilies

3 cloves of garlic chopped

A piece of ginger chopped

A tsp cumin seed

1 tsp pepper seed

1 tsp curry powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

A few coriander leaves

1 carrot chopped

Juice of one small lemon/lime

Salt to taste.

Oil for frying

For coating the cutlets

*Make a batter with a little flour,water and 2 eggs.Beat it well. The batter should not be thin.

*breadcrumbs

Method for preparing:

Transfer the canned tuna into a bowl. ( discard the liquid).

Pound the garlic,ginger,cumin and black pepper seeds ,set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a nonstick pan.

Cook the onions till tender.

Stir in all the pounded ingredients and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the green chilly and the chopped carrot.Saute for another minute.

Stir in  the turmeric and curry powder

Now add the tuna, separate the pieces gently and mash with a spatula. Add the lemon juice and salt and mix the coriander leaves. 

Transfer this curried mixture into a big bowl and set aside to cool.

Next, mash the boiled potatoes and add to the curried tuna .Mix well

Tuna mixed with  all the ingredients

Now follow this  instructions  

Using fingers,make  medium sized round patties.Place in the refrigerator for ½ hour.

For Coating the cutlets - Remove the cutlets from fridge.Beat the eggs.Dip cutlets  in batter and coat with breadcrumbs.Fry in hot oil till golden brown.Makes about 20-25 cutlets.( depends on the size)

A Healthy Alternative To Frying

No more spills and splatters

   

Made the juiciest and crispiest chicken 

Cooking with Tefal actifryer  is a better alternative to fry your food.With only a spoon of oil you can make the crispiest food that you have ever imagined.What's more it’s a lot more easier and less messier.No more spills and splatters when you deep fry your food. The actifryer is an awesome  appliance that fries your food with only a push of a button and once it’s done it will beep to say its ready for the table.I must admit,I was a bit hesitant at the beginning when  a friend suggested that I use one.After giving it a hard thought I decided to go for it.However after  my husband purchased one  for me I was pondering whether it was  a wise choice. Untouched ,I left this appliance to idle in the box.Whenever my husband, children and friends asked me when I was going to make use of it. I gave them many excuses and  left it at that. In an unfortunate twist of fate, my husband fell ill and was  advised to a strict diet with less oil .This left me with no option but to go ahead and use the air fryer.I am glad I did .With only a spoon or sometimes with no oil ,the food has always come out delicious and my husband and the whole family is relishing every bit of the   food that is  being served on their plates.Moreover they are absolutely healthy. And I am one proud and happy housewife who has wholeheartedly accepted and embraced the Tefal actifryer into my kitchen.

Mushroom Soup

I love mushroom soup but I have never taken the trouble of making it from scratch.When the need arises to indulge in a delicious soup,I immediately go for the  ready mix packet that I keep stored in my shelf  for quick a  preparation.However I add a little bit of extra ingredients into it  to make it  scrumptious and have a home made effect.

I open a can  of mushrooms and  drain off  the liquid in it.Then heat  some butter in  pan and saute  sliced onions and garlic and ginger.Once it is cooked,a  little  pepper is added and kept aside till I prepare the broth.In another pan I stir the ready mix packet with water, the amount of water to be used is given in the packet instructions.When it is boiling,I throw the cooked mushroom mixture into it.Then I keep stirring  constantly and lastly  season it with salt.That’s my version of home made mushroom soup with the help of the ready mix packet.

The other day when we went to a restaurant for dinner I ordered mushroom soup.It was outrageously delicious.

Orange Lemon Cake

Thanks to Betty Crocker’s  cake mix which made it possible for me to   bake a cake for my daughter who turned seventeen yesterday. As I am not an expert in cake making,I find baking easy with the cake mixes that are found in shelves at the supermarket.I simply followed  the instructions in the packet but added  a twist to it.Since I was baking an orange cake,I threw in some fresh orange zest to the mixture.My daughter was not too keen  to glaze the cake with icing so I covered the cake  with lemon frosting and did a little decoration with some colourful smarties. 

Multicultural Food

Today was my second daughter’s birthday and to celebrate the  happy occasion the whole family went to Classic  restaurant to lunch.The restaurant was  located in the busy King Fahad Street.Once we stepped  inside we were amazed at the  interior  settings,it was simply awesome.We got a  table by the corner.There were a range of delectable dishes to choose from the menu card.As a matter of fact,intially it was definitely purely Indian flavours that was  going to pamper our taste buds but then we decided to go multicultural.And guess what! We had  Indian flavoured,Chinese fried rice, Hong kong chicken and  Russian salad. How about that?

Chinese Fried Rice

Russian Salad

Hong Kong Chicken

Fancy Fruit Cake Dessert

I made fruit cake using  Betty Crocker's chocolate cake mix as the base.It came out delicious as excitedly vouched by my family.I threw in a lot of dried fruits and a combination of nuts.I had made extra as I had planned to join some friends for a potluck but unfortunately had to cancel our get together due to unavoidable circumstances. Suddenly I was left with too much of cake.I was wondering what to do with the additional which was now neatly tucked away in an airtight container in the refrigerator.After  a few days wrecking my brains what to do, I decided to make use of it in a new dessert. Previously I  had made a  dessert using  crumbled cookies as the base of the pudding.This time I used the cake and topped  it with a  thick creamy custard. It was heavenly. Every bit was deliciously savored.

I used almost the same ingredients that I had used for my semolina custard pudding but instead of crumbled cookies I used  the cake.

I used the fruit cake as the base of my pudding

 

My son digging into the dessert.

Making Kothu At Home

Kothu roti ,meaning chopped roti ,is a Sri Lankan dish made from Godhamba roti  ( wheat roti). Kothu can be found in  restaurants  in  all parts of Sri Lanka and is usually eaten for dinner.It is relished among the young especially during parties. You can enjoy  a variety of kothus with ingredients like beef and chicken  added according to your taste. Even vegetarians,like my second daughter gets  to indulge in the vegetable kothu ,with vegetables like spring onions,carrots and cabbages added.  In recent times, Cheese kothu also has been introduced in the menu  by  kothu enthusiasts.

Routinely the kothu is made  on a large hot iron surface ,exclusively  used  for  mixing  the various ingredients to assemble  the  kothu .Even from a distance ,you will know that the kothu is being prepared because of the unique sound the metal blades make, when cutting and mixing all the ingredients together.

Kothu can be made from scratch ie you make the rotis at home and then make the kothu or simply buy the  parathas  from the shop and assemble the kothu with the  other ingredients.I was wondering what to do with the  left over parathas( roti) from last nights dinner.So it was a good idea when  my husband asked me to make some kothu for dinner.The rest of the ingredients I had at home so it did n’t take much time to get the dinner fixed. Next time you have some left over parathas, don't hesitate to  try out this recipe and impress everyone at home, like I just did.

Preparing Kothu at home

4  parathas ( roti)  ( shredded)

1 big onion

2-3  green chillies

1 tsp  fennel seeds

1 tbspoon ginger slices

1 tbspoon garlic crushed

1 tomato chopped

½ tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin powder

3-4  pieces of cooked chicken ( shredded)  with  gravy.( 1/2 cup)

2 eggs

A handful coriander leaves ( cilantro) chopped

Salt to taste

2 tablespoon oil.

Method

Heat oil in a tawa.Add fennel seeds .Then  add  the chopped  onion and cook until translucent. Next add ginger and  green chilies and cook for 1 minute, add the crushed garlic. Mix in  the curry powder, cumin powder  and the  tomatoe and cook  until soft. Add shredded Parathas  and cook until  the heat penetrates  all the way through. At this stage add the  shredded chicken and the gravy. Break the Eggs into the mixture and continuously  keep mixing till the eggs are completely cooked. Add salt to taste.

Toss the  Cilantro in and give it a final mix .Cover with a lid. Turn off the heat. Serve hot.( serves 3-4 persons)

Welcome Home

A rousing welcome To Hubby!

Semolina Custard Pudding

This pudding is solely my creation.I have not borrowed any ideas from other recipes.My aim was to prepare a custard pudding but then  I decided to play around with some other ingredients too and thus emerged this delicious dish.

Ingredients

1 litre milk

1/4 cup slightly roasted semolina

½ cup sweened condensed milk

¾   cup custard powder-(mix into ¼ cup of water and make a thin paste)

Sugar according  to taste

1 tablespoon Orange zest

¼ cup fresh orange juice

A pinch of salt

1 tsp Vanilla essense

8 coconut  cookies ( or any of your favourite)

Method

Crumble the cookies coarsely and spread it evenly Into  a medium sized pudding dish. Pour the orange juice over it and keep aside.

In a pan add the milk, condensed milk, semolina ,sugar, salt and the custard  powder paste and bring to a boil stirring all the time.Reduce heat and keep stirring .Once it starts to thicken,add the vanilla essense and the orange zest and mix it well.Remove from heat and pour over the layered  cookie .Serve it at  room temperature  or  refrigerate if you prefer to eat it cool.

Soft Crusty Bread

During the recent Eid holidays I had a lot of time on my hands and the children asked me to bake bread.Bread making needs a warm temperature in order to activate the yeast so that the dough is properly risen,almost double the original size.Only then the end results will be effective.Even though it was not the right temperature that day, my kitchen had a little warmth to cope with the bread making procedures and to keep the yeast moving.Once you learn the basic techniques of bread making,you will find the recipe very easy to handle.Moreover you don't have to go through a  hassle finding the ingredients because they are found right in your kitchen.
Here's the recipe for a loaf of bread weighing 750 grams.Go ahead and try.

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 teaspoon  salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoon oil

1 ½  cup  lukewarm water

The Bread Making Technique

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients and then add the oil and water ( use the water little by little till you get the correct consistency) and knead it to a soft dough.It should feel smooth and elastic to the touch.If its too wet add a little flour and knead again.Grease another bowl  and  place the dough in it covering  with cling film or cloth and leave it to activate in a warm place.When it doubles the size in 1-2 hours,shape it out like a rectangle log and put  it in a well greased  loaf pan. Leave it to rise for another hour and  then bake it in a pre heated oven at 350F for approximately 40-45 minutes.

Before baking-Don’t forget to slit a few times on top of the bread and brush with olive oil.

Pre- heat -the oven with a bowl of water in the lower rack of the oven so that the steam will enable the bread to get a lovely crust.

Add caption

Remove  the loaf from  pan and cool it on a wire rack.Once it's completely cooled,cut into thick slices and enjoy with garlic butter, jam or any other accompaniments  that go well with  bread.  

Chicken 65 With A Twist

Chicken 65-

Sometimes the children get exasperated eating chicken prepared in the same cooking style. At that juncture I turn to the internet,hoping desperately to find an easy recipe to satiate their taste buds. However one particular day my eldest daughter came home from college and said that her Indian classmate had brought some snacks for the them to relish during their break time.As she had really enjoyed every bite of it,she was very  eager to try making it at home. She was however told to refer the internet for assistance.The recipe was too complicated for her to comprehend fully. And  she passed  the task over to me .Nevertheless I took up the challenge  to recreate  this dish. But then again, to start with,I  had to do a Google search to  get an idea how it looked like .Eventually  I found an appealing one  that caught my attention and inevitably was drawn toward the recipe.The instructions were quite simple and everything else fell into place .This recipe is sans gravy and could be eaten as a snack. In my first attempt,I made it according to the instructions.Thereafter I decided to put my own  twist to it.I added much more than what was called for in the recipe .

I marinated  and fried the chicken according to the recipe -chicken 65  in the video via you tube.Once that was done I started playing with my senses to prepare the gravy.I sautéed  an onion in a little oil, added ginger/garlic and cooked till the aroma was released.Then mixed in some spices like,curry powder and garam ( about ½ teaspoon each).Next step was to  add  a diced tomato and  about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and cook further.Finally a  cup of yoghurt was stirred in to get a thick consistency of gravy.

Let me stop blabbering  and lead you to the recipe courtesy of you tube. Chicken 65-

the dish may look appealing but doesn't it sound intriguing ?? 

I made this for a potluck gathering with friends

Made with great labour of love

Healthy Start

                                     Life is a combination of magic and pasta - Federico Fellini

Delicious Finger Foods

The savouries,better known  as short eats or finger foods  have  become the central  itinerary at large and small parties.They  are included  in every menu and  at every occasion.Savouries can be served hot or cold and usually served as starters.We give prominence to them at  tea parties,birthday parties ,family get to-gethers and picnics.Whenever my children invite their friends over,they prefer to serve savouries to them. And I am one happy mom ,who enjoys making them.The most popular at home are cutlets,pastries,buns and sandwiches.

savouries served at a recent get together  at home

Savouries I prepared for my son's birthday

Served during the festive season

Maalu paan or fish buns

My savoury recipes can be found here;

Tuna fish and potato cutlet

Savoury rounds