Roasted Cauliflower And Quinoa Salad

I am completely hooked on quinoa at the moment. Though I have always enjoyed dishes with quinoa when dinning out, I have never cooked it at home until a few weeks ago. 

We bought a box of quinoa and guess what? There is a recipe on the back of the package by Cath Claringbold, a Melbourne chef renowned for her Middle Eastern cooking. I tweaked the recipe a little and it is now a favourite at the Tummies'!

Give it a try if you are a lover of quinoa or a late convert like us. Serve it as it is or as a side dish when you next roast a chook.

Happy cooking and have a wonderful weekend!

P.S The original recipe asks for pomegranate seeds. When the fruit is in season, make sure you add 1 cup of the ruby coloured seeds to brighten up the dish. 

recipe adapted from Cath Claringbold's

serve 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

you'll need;

1/2 a cauliflower, sliced 

160 g of white quinoa, cooked and cooled

500 ml of vegetable stock

1/4 cup of slivered almonds, lightly roasted

1/4 cup of sultanas, roughly chopped

1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley, shredded

1/2 bunch of coriander, shredded

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 red onion, sliced and caramelised

for the dressing;

3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs of sherry vinegar

1 tbs of pomegranate molasses

sea salt to taste

crushed black pepper to taste

Place sliced cauliflower in a roasting pan, drizzle with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring from time to time to ensure even browning. Remove and allow to cool.

To cook the quinoa - place quinoa in a pot, wash and drain well then add stock to the pot simmer on low heat and cook until the quinoa is tender and the stock has evaporated. Remove from pot and allow to cool.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients and set aside.

I have added caramelised onion to the salad which works wonder to the already delicious salad.

Place all ingredients in a salad bowl, drizzle with the dressing and toss well. Serve it as a light vegetarian meal.

Or as a side dish with roast chicken or grilled fish.

Parippu, South Indian Spiced Red Lentil And An Important Announcement

First I must apologise for the lack of post update for the past 2 weeks and I promise I'll make it up to you in the days ahead.

Growing up with many Indians friends resulted in me being very familiar with this everyday Indian dish. "An Indian meal is somehow incomplete without a dish with some kind os pulses in it" (or words to that effect), as many of my Indian friends have proclaimed over the years, so it is only fitting that I conclude our very brief culinary trip to Indian with this delicious lentil dish.

It isn't much of a looker but the wonderful aromas and the distinctive south Indian flavours of curry leaves, coconut milk, mustard seeds and cumin will have you coming back for more.

Before I proceed to the recipe, I have an important announcement to make - I officially left my previous job on the 10th of August 2013 having spent almost 10 months cooking the food that I know and love best. Unfortunately the lack of support from skilled staff and the management's direction (or the lack of it)  for the restaurant have made my position untenable and it was time for me to move on.

Life is a lot less stressful now as my new job does not required me to work on nights or weekends and it is only a 10 minute bike ride from home, leaving me plenty of time to read, write, make arts,  cook and  blog regularly again!

serves 4 to 6 as part of Indian meal
you'll need;
250 g of red lentils, washed and drained well
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup of coconut milk
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

for the tarka (final seasoning);
2 tbs of oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 onion finely chopped
12 curry leaves

Prepare the ingredients and set aside.

Ingredients for the tarka - onion, curry leaves, black mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

Place the red lentils in a pot with 2 cups of water and add in the rest of the ingredients (except those for tarka) and stil to mix well. 

When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook slowly for 20 to 25 minutes or until the lentils are turned into a soft mush. 

Next prepare the tarka or final seasoning - heat oil in a pan over low heat, add mustard and cumin seeds, cover and allow the seeds to pop. Remove lid and add in the onion and curry leaves, fry over low heat until the onion is golden brown.

Pour the tarka into the pot of lentil and mix well. Season well with sea salt and cook for a further 5 minutes before serving.

Serve as part of an Indian meal with plenty of steamed basmati rice or roti.

Punjabi Spiced Cabbage

We continue our culinary journey through India; from the deep south to the far north state of Punjub.

Not much I can say about this popular everyday punjabi vegetarian dish except it is so delicious I serve it with all my Indian meals at home.

It makes a great side dish to go with any meat or fish dishes, or you might want to team it up with a few other vegetarian dishes and have a very satisfying vegetarian feast instead.

recipe from The Food Of India
serves 4 to 6 as part of an Indian meal
you'll need;
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, bashed
3 cm knob of ginger, roughly chopped
2 green chillies, seeded and chopped
4 tbs of oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
hafl a cabbage (~500g), finely shredded
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 tsp of chili powder
20 g unsalted butter

Finely shred the cabbage and set aside.

Finely blend onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a food processor.

Heat up the oil in a wok and saute the blended ingredients over low heat until soften, be careful not to burn or brown the mixture, add the cumin seeds and turmeric powder and continue to saute for a further minute.

Mix in the cabbage and stir thoroughly until cabbage is well coated with the yellow mixture.

Season with salt and pepper, cumin powder, coriander powder, and chili powder, stir to mix and cook for 10 minutes with the wok partially covered, stirring from time to time until the cabbage is soft. If the cabbage becomes too dry, sprinkle a little water. Finally stir the butter through and check for seasonings.

Serve the simple but delicious dish as part of an Indian meal.

Spicy Kerela Eggplant

I am a doer not a talker, so I really resent wasting my time with endless, meaningless chats or meetings. I say let the action do the talking, instead of sitting around idly waiting for the elusive pot of gold or in this case a beautiful pot of eggplant to appear.... no it won't!

After my opening rant, I am not going to write a long post about this favourite vegetarian dish of ours except it is bloody delicious! If you are an eggplant lover, you might want to try making it at this very moment.

Happy cooking and have a marvelous Sunday!

recipe adapted from The Food Of India
serves 4 to 6 as part of an Indian meal
you'll need;
2 large eggplants (~1kg), cut into wedges
400g tin chopped tomatoes
4 cm knob of ginger, chopped
8 garlic cloves
1.5 tsp of fennel seeds
1/2 tsp of nigella seeds
1 tbs of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of crushed black pepper
salt to taste
oil for frying

Soak eggplant for 20 minutes and drain well.

Blend ginger and garlic with half of the chopped tomatoes until fine.

Nigella seeds and fennel seeds. Crush the fennel seeds lightly if you are not a fan of bitting into whole spice.

Fry eggplant in batches until golden brown, remove and drain off excess oil.

Add 4 tbs of oil to a large pan or pot and add in the whole seeds. Cover and allow the seeds to pop for a few seconds. Add the blended ingredients, the rest of the chopped tomatoes and spices and cook until the mixture becomes thick and oil starts to 'split'.

Return the fried eggplant to the pot and gently mix through the sauce, cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Season well with sea salt before serving.

I served this beautiful dish with chicken masala, punjabi cabbage (recipe up next) and plenty of steamed basmati rice on the side.

Tamanegi No Furitta 玉ねぎのフリッター Onion Fritters

As promised a quick post on how to turn the excess batter from my previous post (panko crumbed chicken cutlet with Nagoya miso sauce) into the most delicious onion fritters in minutes. However please don't wait until you have leftover batter to try this recipe, all you need is an extra minute to prepare the simple batter from scratch.

I love onions! In fact I love all vegetables and herbs from the allium family; the different varieties of  garlics, chives, leeks, shallots, spring onions and the list goes on. I love the pungent, slightly spicy raw onion in salads and salsas. I also love onion when it is cooked down to sheer sweetness, thickening and adding depth to stews, chutney, curries and soups. In this case, soft sweet onion pieces are encrusted in the light and crisp savoury batter, one small bite and you'll be immediately seduced by the contrasting textures and flavours...... words failed me really!

This is a great snack that will go down well with a cold Kirin beer or two but do double the quantity as these delicious fritters do fly out the windows rather quickly.

P.S use vegetarian dashi powder for a vegetarian version instead.

based on Hiro Fannings's recipe
serves 2 as a light snack

you'll need;

1 onion, peeled and sliced

leftover batter from katsu crumbing

2 tbs of corn flour

2 tsp of instant dashi powder

if you are making the batter from scratch;

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbs of water

5 tbs of self rising flour

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of sugar

3 tsp of instant dashi powder

3 tbs of corn flour

If you are using the leftover batter, add in dashi powder and corn flour and mix well. if you are preparing the batter from scratch, mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Slice onion into manageable pieces and mix into the batter.

Deep fry 1 heaped tbs of the onion mixture (in batches) until golden and crispy, drain well on absorbent paper.

Drizzle a little katsu sauce over and serve as a hot snack, preferably with a cold Kirin.

Vegetable Pakora - "Malaysian Monday 83"

I made a batch of vegetable fritters for my very homesick friend G when she came for a visit over the weekend. It was a perfect snack for a beautiful afternoon filled with chatter, laughter and one too many drinks.

I grew up in Cameron Highlands which has a high percentage of population of South Indian origin so this has always been known to me as bajji  but for a Punjabi girl from K.L she prefers to call it pakora instead which is perfectly fine with me.

I very much just used what was in my fridge but eggplant, cauliflower can also be used. For all the meat lovers out there do remember to check out my chicken and vegetables bajji.

P.S Please check out the latest Muhibbah Malaysian Roundup if you haven't already done so.

makes 12 to 16
you'll need;
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, cut into chunks
150 g of green beans, cut into 1.5 cm pieces
1 can of corn kernels, drained
1 cup of besan flour*
3/4 cup of water
1.5 tbs of chili powder
1.5 tbs of cumin powder
1 tbs of coriander powder
1/2 tbs of garam masala
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
** besan flour or chickpea flour can be bought from south Asian grocers

Cutting and dicing of the chosen vegetables and place them in a large bowl.

Mix besan flour, water and spices in a separate bowl.

Mix the besan flour mixture with the diced vegetables and season generously with salt and pepper.

Fry pakora in batches until golden brown. (1.5 heap tbs of batter/fritter)

I served them with Lingham chili sauce, another cure for homesick Malaysians.

My friend Sharon from Test With Skewer will be hosting this month's event, please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To learn more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.

Fried Egg Noodles With Superior Soy 豉油王炒麵

This Cantonese classic often served during yumcha is also one of those easy to prepare standby dishes loved by so many busy mothers in Hong Kong. I learnt this simple but addictively delicious dish from Aunty K during my short stay in Hong Kong.

It is the Cantonese version of our beloved economical fried noodles, serve it with other dishes such as fried wanton or spring rolls to make it a more substantial meal. 

recipe from Aunty K
serves 2 to 3
you'll need;
2 tbs of cooking oil
2 spring onions (white parts only) chopped
A bunch of yellow chives or 4 spring onions cut into 5 cm lengths
1.5 cups of bean sprouts, topped and tailed
3 dried egg noodles, cooked until al dente, drained and refreshed
3 tbs superior light soy
2 tbs dark soy
1 tbs of oyster sauce or mushroom sauce
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tbs castor sugar
3 tbs of toasted sesame seeds

Prepare the spring onions, sesame seeds, mix soy, oyster sauce, sesame oil and castor sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Cook noodles in a large pot of water until al dente, drain, refresh under running cold water and drain well.

Saute spring onions with a little oil for 10 seconds then add in the noodles and mix well.
a little tip - a pair of chopsticks together with the spatula works magic.

Add bean sprouts and spring onion or chives and mix well.

Pour in the sauce and mix well. Continue to fry for a minute or two r until the vegetables are slightly wilted.

Serve with some chili sauce or Cantonese chili oil on the side.