Paruppu Vadai

 

   

I love eating Paruppu Vadai but it has been a long time since I ate them. I used to buy them in my hometown from Indian stalls when they were just out from the oven. They are hard to find where I am staying now. They are delicious with the different tastes coming from the dhal, curry leaves, onions, dried and green chilies, jintan putih (cumin) and salt. Fried till golden brown, the vadai are crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Now that I know how to make them, I am definitely going to make them very often. The process is easy. It is only that we have wait for the dhal to be softened; I soaked them overnight so that they are easy to grind.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dhal
• 1 big onion, chopped into small pieces
• 3 sprigs of curry leaves, sliced finely
• 3 dried chilies, cut into small pieces
• 2 green chilies, cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp jintan putih, washed
• 1 tsp salt
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Wash the dhal and soak it overnight.

• The next day, remove and set aside 2-3 tbsp dhal.

• Grind the rest of the dhal till they are fine.  (If you have a powerful grinder, you need not add water to the dhal. If you are using a blender, add some water to make it easier to blend the dhal. However, you need to sieve the blended dhal to remove the water.)

• Transfer the ground/blended dhal to a bowl.

• Add the onion, curry leaves, dried and green chilies, jintan putih and salt to the bowl.

• Heat up a kuali or pan with cooking oil.

• Shape the batter round and flat and drop it into the hot oil. (Do not move it initially; instead let it cook to hold its shape.)

• Once the bottom has turned golden brown, flip it over to deep fry the other side till it turns golden brown.

• Scoop out the vadai onto kitchen towel to soak up excess oil.

• Repeat the process till all the batter has been used up.

• Best served hot.

Thosai

 

    

Thosai is a savoury Indian pancake or crepe. It is made from fermented batter consisting of dhal (lentils), rice (cooked and uncooked), salt and water. It which is usually served with dhal curry.  My husband loves thosai as it is a healthy food.

I watched many videos on YouTube to find out the ingredients needed and the method to make them. These videos showed the same amount and type of ingredients and the method. However, this is my first time making them. So, I halved all the ingredients. Using my 24 cm non-stick pan I managed to cook up 12 pieces of thosai.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of uncooked rice
• 0.5 cup of dhal (kacang thosai or urid dhal or ulunthu dhal
• 1 tsp halba / fenugreek
• 0.5 cup cooked rice
• Water as required
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Add uncooked rice, dhal and halba to a pot. Washed them.

• Soak the ingredients overnight.

• Add cooked rice to the soaked ingredients the next day.

• Add 1/4 of the ingredients to a blender.

• Add enough water to cover these ingredients.

• Blend till the batter is smooth.

• Transfer the batter into a pot.

• Repeat till all the ingredients are blended.

• Add salt to the batter.

• Use your hand to mix the salt into the batter in a circular motion. (This is important for the batter to ferment.)

• Cover the pot and let the batter ferment for at least 10 hours.

• Lightly grease a non-stick pan with a silicon brush or a piece of cloth tied up into a ball.

• Scoop 2 scoops of batter into the pan.

• Use the base of your scoop to swirl the batter in a circular motion making rings on it.

• Cover the pan to cook the crepe.

• When you see bubbles on the surface of the crepe, it means that it is cooked.

• Fold 1/2 of the crepe onto the other half using a spatula.

• Transfer the crepe onto a serving plate.

• Serve with your curry. It can also be eaten with butter and sugar.

Butter Buns and Sugar Butter Buns

 

I set out to bake the softest Butter Buns possible. Thus, after 3 trials, modifying my ingredients after each bake I managed to accomplish it. I usually activate my yeast first to ensure that they are still good to use. And I mix my ingredients in a stand mixer till they come together before I unload the dough onto my counter top. I then slap and fold it till window pane is reached. However, you may do the whole process in your stand mixer.

Ingredients:

• 270 g warm milk
• 45 g sugar
• 7 g yeast
• 450 g bread flour
• 3 g salt
• 70 g butter
• 1 egg
• Egg wash - 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk

Method:

• Activate the yeast by mixing warm milk and sugar in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast on top.

• Once bubbles have formed add bread flour, salt and egg to the mixer.

• Knead the dough till a ball is formed.

• Add butter and continue to knead till window pane is reached.

• Proof the dough till double in size.

• Punch down the dough and divide it into the number of buns you desire. (I made 4 pieces of 85g plain butter buns plus 9 pieces of 70g sugar butter buns. You may want to make 12 pieces of plain butter buns or sugar butter buns by dividing the weight of dough by 12.)

• Shape the dough according to your preference - either round or long for plain Butter Buns but normally round for Sugar Butter Buns. Place the dough onto a greased (and lined with parchment paper) 8 inch x 8 inch baking pan.

• Let them proof till double in size.

• Egg wash the buns gently.

• For Sugar Butter Buns, use a pair of scissors to cut a slot on the top of the buns. Push a piece of butter roughly 2.5 cm x 2 cm x 0.3 cm into the slot.

• Bake the dough in a pre-heated oven at 175 deg. C for 18 min.

• Remove the buns from the baking tray to a metal rack to be cooled down.

• For Sugar Butter Buns, sprinkle the top of the buns with powdered sugar using a sieve once the buns have completely cooled down. Otherwise, the sugar will melt and become invisible.