Kuih Kapit

Traditional Kuih Kapit Mould. Different design
on each side of mould

A few years ago I had made some Kuih Kapit quite successfully on my outdoor gas barbecue grill. This time I decided to stay indoor - the weather was a bit nippy. I decide I would only make a small amount of cookies instead of my usual ambitious attempts. I decided to heat the kuih kapit moulds over my gas stove. Probably, not the most economical but I was making a small amount of cookies. It worked out fine but I think I have to find or fashion a satay style grill for future. I used the recipe from Nonya Flavors.

Chapati and Dal

What to eat, what to eat? After arriving home after our annual binge feast in Malaysia, our stomachs were caught in gastronomical jet lag.... Hunger struck at odd hours. At times, we knew we had to eat but were not hungry. Once night, the solution was a simple Chapati and Dal. Luckily, I had a bag of atta flour in the fridge but the bottle of ghee from my pantry that I opened smelt rancid. I substituted unsalted butter which surprisingly resulted in a richer, more tasty chapati.

Some might say that this is a recipe for Paratha........ it appears that there is a general confusion as to what constitute a chapati or a paratha. Generally, chapati are thinner than paratha. Parathas tend to be more flaky because of the folding of dough. In the past, I had just rolled out the dough ball to circles and cooked them - chapati. This time I folded the dough to form more layers - parathas. Either way, plain good eats!

Basic Dal

Ingredients
2 cups mansoor dal (orange/ red lentil)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 pieces tamarind slices
1 tomato, roughly chopped
2 dried chilies
water to cover

oil to fry
1 teaspoon sliced ginger
1 teaspoon shredded ginger
1/2 onion chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon black mustard seed
2 springs curry leaves (optional)

Method
Rinse dal in a few changes of water. Place dal in a pot with enough water to cover. Add turmeric powder, tamarind slices and chilies. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered for 25 minutes. Add tomatoes last 10 minutes.

Heat up a pan and add oil. Fry garlic, ginger, onion and curry leaves if used, until aromatic. Add turmeric powder and black mustard seeds. Cook until mustard seed starts to pop. Add the sauteed spice to the simmering dal and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

I just had the most delicious, moist chocolate muffin this morning. WHERE you ask? In Malaysia. To be more precise at the home of my gracious sister in law K. Late last night while I was lounging in the tv room, watching a movie, with her kids and mine ( and falling asleep and snoring in between) she discovered some bananas that had been overlooked and was now too ripe for good eating. Before you know it, she was whipping up these banana chocolate muffins. The very thoughtful person she is, she used a vegan recipe so that a staff member in the pre- school she runs, who is vegan could enjoy them too. THEY ARE DELICIOUS! I highly recommend them. There is no need for labels like vegan, vegetarian etc - they are just fabulous muffins. I think whoever came up with adding ice water to the mix was a genius. Simple addition which adds so much moisture to the muffins without adding more fat. Needless to say, I will be making them when I get home.

It is not quite Cherry Pie

Sigh! I am on the top rung of the ladder harvesting plump, juicy, deliciously looking cherries but NOT! All I can think about is that I wish these were cherries because then I would be popping those babies in my mouth and be enjoying them with red stained fingers. Instead, these beautiful fruits are olives. They are bitter off the tree. Sigh, sigh, sigh.........

Don't get me wrong, I have been excited since I saw the 3 olive trees on the grounds of our new home. Visions of bottles of olive oil and olives in my pantry filled my mind. It has been quite exciting these past few months, watching the olives getting color. First green, then a slight blush, then reddish, maroon and finally a deep almost grape color. I  research how to preserve olives and produce olive oil. Now, reality hits! Instant gratification is out of the question. A ready to eat olive takes a minimum of 2-3 months, maybe longer depending on what method you use. Hence, my love hate relationship with my olive trees. At the end of the long wait, I may have a batch of bad tasting olives.

Moorish (Tortilla) Afghan Update

The heat wave this week has kept me out of the garden. I was forced to sit under the fan and clear up long overdue paperwork. Glad that it done. On the plus side, I finally joined  the beautiful Moorish motifs (Tortilla) to make the Afghan. It was exciting to see it come together.


I started by using the main color to join the pieces together per the instructions but did not like the look of it. It was too contrasting.Whip stitching the pieces together made it a tedious process to undo placement mistake. Prowling through the CrochetMe blog, I found others were slip stitching the pieces together using the dominant color between the motifs. I used this method. Any placement mistake was easily 'unzip' by pulling the thread, undoing the chain of the slip stitches. I also like how using dominant color between the tiles made it flow better- like using the right color grout between tiles. To make it easier I color up the motif chart to make it easier to keep track that of the motifs I was joining. 

The finished product is beautiful, soft and cozy. However, I think it is a bit small than I like. I currently cozy up to a gorgeous quilt my good friend C made for my 50th. Birthday. I want to make it closer to that size.  I ordered more yarn and I am in the process of making more of the Moorish tiles motifs to enlarge the afghan. Will update again.

Deciding which color to use to join motif

Color up chart to make placement easier

Keeping track of diamond motifs

All motifs used up

Way smaller than the gorgeous birthday quilt my friend C made for me

Tomato, Artichoke and White Bean Penne

This one of our favorite pasta dish, the one that makes my son ask with a smile on his face -"Is it the one I eat a ton of ?" Literally, he would have eaten 4 bowls before I ask if he is having seconds! I made it this week for my daughter as part of  her count down Must Eat before College dish. It is something she can easily make in her new apartment.


I make it a lot in the summer with tomatoes from my garden and also at other time of the year with just pantry staples. It is best with fresh tomatoes but canned whole tomatoes will work too. As long as you have cans of whole tomatoes,white bean and artichoke hearts in the pantry and pancetta or bacon in the fridge, you are on your way. It is a dish that you can easily substitute with items you have on hand. I think italian sausage in place of the pancetta or bacon and asparagus in place of the artichoke will work well too. Just experiment!