Simple Chicken Rezaila

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken pieces
1 (6 oz.) tub Greek yogurt
2 jalapeno peppers, diced
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. garlic paste
2 medium onions, quartered, blanched & pureed
1 tsp. white pepper powder
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
½ tsp. Shah Jeera or cumin seeds
Salt to taste
¼ tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ghee
Deep fried onions

Grind to a powder:
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 star anise

Directions:
1. Marinate chicken pieces for 1 hour in 1 Tbsp. oil, onion, ginger, garlic pastes, diced jalapeno peppers, white pepper powder, salt and yogurt.
2. Heat oil over high heat and stir-fry cinnamon stick, star anise and cumin seeds.
3. Turn heat down to medium-low and add marinated chicken to the pan.
4. Stir gently, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.
5. Add ground garam masala powder, sugar, salt to taste and remove from heat.
6. Garnish with ghee and fried onions; serve with steamed rice, paratha or chapatis.

Note: Don't let the gravy come to a boil. The chicken must be cooked on low heat so that the yogurt does not separate.

Lentils with Salad Shrimp

Ingredients:
1 cup urad dal, washed and soaked in water for 1/2 hour
1 lb. salad shrimp
1/2 pkg. frozen peas
4 Tbsp. oil
1/4 tsp. Shah Jeera or cumin seeds
1 tej pata (bay leaf)
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. coriander powder
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
2 tsp. ginger paste
salt to taste & a pinch of turmeric
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ghee
handful cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced

Directions:
1. Cook lentils with salt and a pinch of turmeric and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan over high heat, sputter cumin seeds, bay leaf, coriander & cumin powders.
3. Add ginger paste and peppers and stir-fry until oil resurfaces.
4. Add shrimp to pan along with peas, stir-fry for a few minutes, then add cooked dal to the pan.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, add sugar, adjust salt, cover and cook dal for a few minutes.
6. Remove from heat, garnish with ghee, cilantro and sliced peppers.

Eggplant with Eggs - Deem Begun II

An adaptation of Rene's Deem Begun I, was made with Oriental eggplant which are long and slender. I peeled most the skin off because I didn't want it to be dark in colour. The skins were chopped up and added to the Shukto made on the same day. Also added green chillies to the mashed eggplants which was cooked until dry and started pulling away from the sides of the pan. It was delicious!

Ingredients:
4-5 Oriental eggplants, partially peeled, diced & tossed with 1/2 tsp. salt
2 green chilies, diced
1 large onion, diced
1/2 tsp. coriander powder
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
salt to taste
2 eggs, well beaten
1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Heat 3 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add coriander powder, followed by cumin powder and stir.
3. Add green chilies & onions and stir-fry until onions turn translucent.
4. Stir in ginger paste, followed by eggplants and cook until eggplants break down. 
5. Adjust salt to taste, mash everything in the pan and cook until oil resurfaces.
6. Make a well in the center, fill with remaining oil and scramble the eggs.
7. Stir eggs into mashed eggplants and continue cooking until it forms a ball and pulls away from the edges of the pan.
8. Transfer to a serving dish, mounding it in the center.
9. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with cooked rice or tortillas.

Eggplant with Egg - Deem Begun I

Deem Begun I
by Rene Chaudhuri

Boil/steam eggplant which has been cut into 2 lengthwise. Heat oil in pan. Add coriander, and then cumin powder to the oil. Then some ginger paste, stir for a few minutes, then add the mashed eggplant, and keep stirring over medium heat until the oil separates. Add some garam masala powder and then 2 well-beaten eggs. Continue stirring until all the egg is absorbed and the whole reaches the desired consistency. Garnish with cilantro.

Stir Fried Bitter Melon with 5 Vegetables - Shukto

Ingredients:
2 Chinese bitter melons or 3 ucchay, deseeded and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 russet potato, peeled and chopped
1 daikon radish, peeled and chopped
2 Oriental eggplants, chopped and tossed with salt

4 Tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. radhuni (wild celery seeds)
2 tej pata (bay leaves)
2 tsp. ginger paste
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. roasted panch phoron powder (Bengali 5-Spice)
ghee
sliced green chillies
1/4 tsp. sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pan and sputter radhuni and tej pata.
2. Add radish, sweet & russet potatoes, salt and ginger paste.
3. Stir well and cook over medium heat until vegetables are partly cooked.
4. Add karela and salted eggplant, stir well, cover and cook until vegetables are soft.
5. Make a slurry with the flour and milk. 
6. Add sugar & green chilies to vegetables along with the slurry and stir.
7. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and garnish with ghee and panch phoron powder.

Burmese Cool & Refreshing Coconut Beverage - Moh Let Saung

The Ingredients

Moh Let Saung

Moh Let Saung is a light, cool and refreshing beverage comprising coconut milk sweetened with Maple Syrup (in place of liquefied jaggery/gur), tapioca pearls, bits of coconut jello (Kyauk Kyaw) and coconut strings. It’s the perfect beverage for a hot and humid day.

I was so excited to see Silk Pure Coconut Milk among the milk alternatives in the dairy aisle of the grocery store and Moh Let Saung jumped to the forefront of my mind.  All kinds of delightful tid-bits can be added to this beverage, such as rehydrated basil seeds, white tapioca pearls, bean thread vermicelli and bits of jello.

Burmese Htamin Let Thoke - Rice & Noodle Hand-Mixed Salad

A rainbow salad of small quantities of left-overs
with rice, noodles, fish & tamarind sauces as
the main ingredients

Burmese Squash Cooked with Red Lentils

Select light green chayote squash which indicate they're still young and sweet. Chayote squash is also known as ‘Go Rar Kha Thee’ in Burmese and may be replaced with zucchini or bottle gourd.

Spicy Shrimp Balls Cooked with Cilantro Stems

Quick Stir-Fried Shrimp Balls 

Cooked in the Burmese Style

Burmese Sour & Spicy Meatball Stew

Burmese Dry Balachaung - Dried Shrimp Condiment

Dry Balachaung

Balachaung on Buttered Toast
My all-time favourite snack

This popular condiment is served as a part of any Burmese meal.  It imparts an "umami" flavour when sprinkled over buttered toast, plain rice & butter, lentils, et al. 

Make sure to open all the doors and windows in your home to expel the aroma of roasting dried shrimp, which to me is wonderful but to those who didn't grow up with it, is abhorrent!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

An assortment of fresh ingredients are wrapped in Bibb Lettuce cups and dipped in sweet chilli sauce   This is a great starter and so easy to assemble.

Ingredients:
2 heads Boston/Bibb lettuce
2 stalks green onions
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 bunch fresh mint
2 large carrots
1 handful fresh bean sprouts
3 lemons or limes
½ lb. large shrimp, shelled and deveined
¼ lb. mung bean vermicelli (aka glass noodles)
Sweet chilli sauce (recipe below)

Directions:
Separate leaves of lettuce.
Chop green onions and cilantro.
Remove stalks from mint.
Grate two large carrots.
Remove tails from bean sprouts.
Wash and drain each of the above thoroughly.
Cut lemons/limes into eighths.
Blanch shrimp in boiling, salted water just until they turn pink.
Blanch vermicelli in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain.
Serve everything in separate dishes and let each guest assemble his/her own lettuce wrap to taste.
Use sweet chilli sauce for dipping the lettuce wraps.

Serves: 6-8
Preparation Time: 15 mins.

Sweet Chili Sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup hot water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoon red chili paste, such as sambal oelek
1/2 carrot, finely shredded

In a blender, puree all ingredients, except carrot.
Add shredded carrot.
Pour into a small bowl and serve with Asian Lettuce Wraps.

Makes: 1 cup

I shared this recipe on:

Vanilla Amish Friendship Bread

Loaf on left is packaged and ready to be gifted

The other loaf is for us

This is the 3rd batch of starter batter for Amish Friendship Bread (AFB) that I have taken care of, through the 10 Day Regimen.  We were going to an American folk songs of the 60’s concert by Gemini last Friday with friends who invited us to dinner before the concert so I took one of these loaves for them to freeze.  For dinner she prepared a salad and Moussaka and for dessert we had some of the bread I made from the second batch of starter batter, Carrot Amish Friendship Bread and Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread.  That dinner and the concert afterwards made for a very enjoyable evening!

You can make your own starter batter or save a whole lot of time if you get it from a friend. However, if you wish to give your friends some of your starter batter, you will have to nurse it through the 10 Day Regimen.

To make 2 loaves of this bread, you will need 1 cup of starter batter.

Ingredients:

Wet -

1 cup AFB starter batter

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup Canola oil

½ cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Dry -                      

2 cups flour

1 large (5.9 oz.) pkg. instant Vanilla pudding

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

For Dusting -

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon powder

Optional -

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F.

2. Mix Dusting ingredients together.  

3. Grease or butter 2 large loaf pans and dust with half the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

4. Beat Wet ingredients together until sugar dissolves.

5. Sift Dry ingredients and work into batter until well combined.

6. Stir in the Optional ingredients, if using.

7. Pour batter into pans and sprinkle top with remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture.

8. Bake for 50–60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

9. Cool on a wire rack until bread loosens from sides of pan before slicing.

Note: This bread freezes well if packaged in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.

10 Day Regimen for Amish Friendship Bread Starter

Add caption

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter batter that you will need to make Amish Friendship Bread.  Adding a cup of starter batter, after it has maturedfor ten days, to any sweet bread recipe makes it yeasty and delicious. The texture of the resulting bread is unbelievable!

At the end of 10 days you will have 5 cups of starter batter, enough for 4 friends, along with a cup of extra batter for making 2 loaves of sweet bread for yourself. If you keep a bag of starter batter for yourself (and give the other 3 away), you will be making 2 loaves of sweet bread every 10 days. What a treat! 

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when handling the Amish Friendship Bread Starter (AFBS) batter:

1.  Make sure the Ziploc bag of starter batter is dated. This is Day 1 of 10 of the fermentation process. You may find it helpful to mark this date on your calendar as AFBS Day 1, along with AFBS Day 5 with a note to add ingredients to the bag, and AFBS Day 10 with a note to make bread.

2.  Avoid using metal utensils or containers. It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when handling the starter batter.

3.  Do not refrigerate the starter batter at any time during the ten days of fermentation. Leave it at room temperature so that it can mature.

4.  It is natural for the starter batter to rise and bubble as it matures.  Work the air away from the batter towards the lip of the Ziploc bag and unzip it to remove any built-up air in the bag. Make sure to zip up the bag to prevent the batter from leaking out.

5.  When the Ziploc bag is opened to release the air, the batter should smell sweet and yeasty. If it is at all malodorous and/or the batter is at all discolored at any time during the ten days, throw the bag and its contents in the garbage.  Start the process over by making your own starter batter and don’t, under any circumstances, try to salvage the spoiled batter.

6.  Prior to Day 10, read through all the ingredients for making the bread of your choice and make sure you have all the necessary ingredients. It’s most annoying to have to go shopping on Day 10 because it’s going to be a busy day!

7.  Make sure you have enough 1 gallon Ziploc bags on hand for dividing your starter batter. Even though there isn’t a lot of batter in there on Day 1, by Day 10 the 5 cups of starter batter pretty much fills up a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.

8.  It is possible to freeze the starter batter.  When you’re ready to start the 10 Day Regimen, mark the date and day (1 or 2 or 3…) on the bag and make sure to mark the new dates for Day 1, Day 5 and Day 10 on your calendar.       

The 10 Day Regimen

Day 1:   Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 2:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 3:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 4:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 5:   

Add 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup milk to the bag.
Release all the air from the bag and make sure to zip up the bag.

Squash and mix the bag of starter batter until sugar dissolves.

Day 6:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 7:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 8:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 9:    Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Day 10:

Add 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup milk to the bag.

Squash and mix the bag of starter batter.

Pour entire contents of bag into a large glass or plastic bowl.

Measure 1 cup into each of 4 (1 gallon) Ziploc bags.

Set aside the remaining cup of batter in bowl to make 2 loaves of Amish Friendship Bread for yourself.

Keep one bag for yourself and give the other 3 to friends.

Make sure to date each bag and to include a copy of this 10 Day Regimen, along with the recipes for Vanilla Amish Friendship Bread and its variations. 

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter recipe that you will need to make Amish Friendship Bread.  It is ideal if you receive the starter batter from a friend because it will save you a lot of time – 10 days, to be exact! That is, if you are going to use it to bake your 2 loaves right away.  If you want to share your starter batter with friends, then you will have to go through the 10 Day Regimen yourself. Adding a cup of starter batter after it has matured for ten days, to any sweet bread recipe makes it yeasty and delicious. The texture of the resulting bread is unbelievable! 

After making this Starter batter, follow the instructions in the 10 Day Regimen.  At the end of 10 days you will have enough starter batter for 4 friends, along with extra batter for making 2 loaves of sweet bread for yourself. If you keep a bag of starter batter for yourself (and give the other 3 away), you will be making 2 loaves of sweet bread every 10 days. What a treat!

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when handling the starter batter:

1. Avoid using metal utensils and containers. It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers.

2. Do not refrigerate the starter batter at any time during the ten days. Leave it at room temperature so that it can mature.

3. It is natural for the batter to bubble and rise as it matures.  Work the air away from the batter towards the lip of the Ziploc bag and unzip it to remove the build-up of air in the bag.

4. When the Ziploc bag is opened to release the air, the batter should smell sweet and yeasty. If it is at all malodorous or if the batter is at all discolored at any time during the ten days, throw the bag and its contents in the garbage.  Start the process over and don’t try to salvage the spoiled batter.

Ingredients:

1 (¼ oz.) pkg. Fleishmann’s active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1.    In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water for 10 minutes and stir.

2.    Sift flour and sugar into a 2-quart glass or plastic container.

3.    Slowly stir in the warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture.

4.    Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap until bubbly.

Consider this Day 1 of the 10-day cycle. For the next 10 days, handle starter batter following the 10 Day Regimen.

Lentils Cooked with Fenugreek Greens

Kacha Moong Dal with Methi Saag

Fenugreek greens are sometimes available at the local Indian grocery stores. They come in bunches with roots intact. After getting rid of the roots, the rest of the greens are chopped and washed in several changes of water to remove the grittiness caused by the residual soil in the roots. I usually place the chopped greens in a colander and set it in a larger pot of water so that the soil settles in the bottom of the water. Make sure to empty the water with the soil in your garden to avoid clogging the drainage system in the sink.

Ingredients:

1 cup moong dal, washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes
1 bunch fenugreek greens, chopped, washed and drained
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp. asafoetida powder (hing)
2 tsp. ginger paste
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 tsp. sugar
Salt to taste
1 tsp. ghee or melted butter
2–3 green chilies, sliced

Directions:

1. Wash lentils until water runs clear and soak in hot water for half an hour.
2. Boil lentils in 2cups water with salt and turmeric until lentils are cooked.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds & hing and stir-fry for a minute.
4. When cumin seeds start to sizzle, add ginger paste and tomatoes.
5. Stir-fry until tomatoes break down and add fenugreek greens.
6. Cover and cook the greens for 2 minutes, then add cooked lentils & sugar.
7. Bring lentils to a boil, adjust salt to taste and remove from heat.
8. Garnish with ghee and chilies.
Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed rice or tortillas.

Tapioca Pilaf - Sabudana Upma

This dish is eaten for breakfast all over India and is most commonly referred to as Sabudana Khichdi or Tapioca cooked with Vegetables. It begins with large tapioca pearls that are washed and then soaked in water overnight. A variety of vegetables and herbs are chopped, diced, sliced and stir-fried along with the softened tapioca pearls to arrive at this delicious and nutritious pilaf. Just before serving, the dish is garnished with a twist of lime and roasted nuts to give it a tang and crunch.

Ingredients:
1½ cups large tapioca pearls

1 cup water

Tempering:

6 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/8 tsp. fenugreek seeds

1/8 tsp. black mustard seeds

1 sprig (7-8) curry leaves

Vegetables:
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno or hot green chilies, diced

1” piece of ginger, peeled and diced

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 kaffir lime leaf, julienned

Salt to taste

½ tsp. sugar

Garnish:

Juice of half lime

Handful roasted cashew nuts

Handful cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1.    Rinse tapioca pearls in tap water three times, drain and soak in 1 cup water overnight.

2.    Separate softened pearls between fingers to prevent clumping and set aside.

3.    Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and sputter tempering ingredients.

4.    Add diced onions, jalapeno and ginger & stir-fry until onions turn translucent.

5.    Turn heat down to medium and add tapioca, potatoes, tomatoes and kaffir lime leaf.

6.    Stir well, adjust salt to taste, cover and cook until potatoes soften, stirring occasionally.

7.    Add sugar and stir.

8.    Garnish with a twist of lime, cilantro and chopped cashew nuts before serving.

Burmese Hsan Pyoke With Meatballs (Congee or Rice Porridge)

Yield: Serves 6   

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Total Time: 30minutes 

Hsan Pyoke (English translation is Rice Boiled) is a recuperative comfort food for wet/cold weather or when someone is recovering from an illness. I used day-old short-grained, steamed white rice which I've used to make fried rice, as well. This is a quick version of the same soup I made a short while ago, except this time I had all the vegetables on hand, the soup was made in under half an hour, the minced chicken was replaced with meatballs and the soup base was made with a teaspoon of Ajinomoto instead of dried shrimp.

Ingredients

2 cups rice

5 cups water

2 Tbsp. dried shrimp (or scallops), diced

   or 1 tsp. Ajinomoto

10-12 meatballs, quartered

1 heaped Tbsp. ginger, julienned or paste

2 cups diced carrots, celery, onions and peas

Salt to taste

Garnish:

Cilantro, chopped

Deep fried onions & garlic
Coarse Salt*

Lime or lemon juice

                                                                                          

Directions:

1. Cook rice and water until rice is very soft.
2. Add dried shrimp or Ajinomoto, salt and vegetables.
3. Stir well and simmer until vegetables are very soft.
4. Add meatballs & ginger; simmer uncovered to gruel consistency.
5. Adjust salt to taste, remove from heat and pour into serving bowls.
6. Garnish with cilantro, fried onions & garlic, coarse salt, sesame oil & a squeeze of lime.

** Coarse Salt, or Muoi Tom in Vietnamese, is a garnish that contains the following ingredients: Salt, Chilli, Dried Shrimp and Garlic. It tastes great sprinkled on soups, noodles, rice & butter/ghee, lentils or on buttered toast.

Vietnamese Coarse Salt and Ingredients

Oatmeal Cookies - Sugar and Fat Free

1st attempt

2nd attempt

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found on Don Colbert's Facebook page and it appealed to me because I'm always looking for a 'good' snack around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  It was so fast and easy to prepare and was done in under an hour. The difference between the 1st and 2nd attempts was the first batch was baked almost immediately after mixing the ingredients together. The second batch was set aside for 30 minutes in the refrigerator so that the oats absorbed the moisture from the wet ingredients. The first batch was a little dry whereas the second batch made for a much more moist cookie that reminded me of banana fritters.

Ingredients: (makes approx. 15 cookies)

2 cups Quaker Old Fashioned Oats

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

1 (4 oz.) tub apple sauce with cinnamon

1/4 cup milk or coconut milk

1/2 cup golden raisins and/or dried cranberries

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Combine all ingredients and set aside for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes.
5. Cool on a wire rack.

How to Make an Omelette

My husband who does his best to stay out of the kitchen except at meal times, makes an excellent omelette. He taught me to make it and his trick for avoiding brown spots on the outside which is caused by burnt butter is to cook the eggs on the lowest possible heat. So this takes patience, and I've found that if the skillet is covered right after the eggs are poured in, they set faster.

1. Beat two eggs with diced Thai red chilies, salt & pepper.
2. Dice 6-8 plum tomatoes & 1/2 a small onion.
3. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a small iron frying pan.
4. Cook onions and tomatoes in melted butter until onions turn translucent. Do not brown the onions.
5. Turn heat down to low, pour whipped eggs into pan and swirl until it covers the bottom of the pan.
6. When eggs set, fold one side to the middle, fold two adjacent sides over, then the last side.
7. Flip over and cook the folded side for a minute.
8. Meanwhile, in another pan, cook a potato patty until golden brown.
9. Place omelette on one side of a toasted muffin and the potato patty on the other half and serve with sweet chili sauce.

Goes great with a piping hot mug of coffee or tea!