SAGO ROSE

Hello again people! This is my second post about Nyonya Kuih. I forgot to explain to any of you who doesnt know about what “nyonya” food/ kuih is all about, the word “nyonya” is actually originated from the Portuguese word  “dona” which means “lady”. Kuih is the term given to various manners of bite-sized desserts but not always sweet and intricate creations. So the kuih on d picture is called Sago Rose, made from sago. I never thought sago pearls have other usage other than to make sago gula Melaka and honey dew desserts! J the texture is almost the same as Kuih Lapis Beras but the freshly grated coconut makes a lot of differences because i love coconut! Happy hunting for the kuih and have a good day! J

Anisa

55136

LAPIS BERAS

As the name implies, this rice layer cake is made from rice flour. The colour and number of colours for this cake is depending on the one who bake it just by using food colouring. It can be red, white, green or even anything! This is one of my favourite Nyonya Kuih. The taste is not so sweet and i like the soft jelly-ish texture. The fact that it is made from rice flour, it is not so fattening compared to those cupcakes or red velvet cake J this cake is a very good companion for tea as well. You can google the recipe or just buy it from the nearest nyonya restaurant! J

Anisa 

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Kuih Gulung

Kuih Gulung, which also known as Kuih Ketayap is one of the famous traditional desserts in Malaysia.  You can find easily at roadside stalls in Malaysia. I can say that Kuih Gulung is one of Malaysian’s favorite kuih. It looks like Popiah, but the ingredients and taste  are definitely not the same. It is a rolled up pandan flavoured pancake with gula melaka and coconut filling. Pandan gives the pancake a lovely and attractive light green color and wonderful fragrant flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups of wheat flour

½ cup of coconut milk

4 pandan leaves

½ shreded coconut

1 piece of  palm sugar

1 tea spoon of salt

1 large egg

Coconut Filling.

Put in the palm sugar into a pot. Put about 1 cup of water and pandan leaf.  Heat the mixture until it melt.  After that, put in the shredded coconut and mix it. Then add 1/2 tea spoon of salt. Blend it until the mixture is even and pour diluted wheat flour. Stir until it dries up.

Pancake.

Blend 3 pandan leaves with water.  Put the blended leaves onto a sieve and squash to get the abstract. Then stir the pandan leaves abstract together with wheat flour, egg, coconut milk and ½ tea spoon of salt. Add water and stir until the mixture is even and a bit diluted.  After that, heat a non stick cooking pan and pour the dough. Move the pan around to spread the dough evenly. Use the same technique as making crepes. Wait until it cooked. Remove from the pan and fill it with the coconut filling. Then, roll the pancake like a ‘ Popia ‘. Repeat the steps until you have used up all the dough.

My all time favorite kuih! 

I have tried my own style Kuih Gulung and yes homemade Kuih Gulung is always the best! We can put few drops of pandan essence to make it more delicious. We can put how many coconut filling we want. We can also make the size of the pancake either big or small. We can also make different shape instead of just roll it up. So why dont you give yourself a try to make your own Kuih Ketayap!

FARAH ATIQAH ZAWANI

0102848/57156

Soya Bean Jelly Longan!!!!

This Chinese dessert is a very famous dessert and quit a lot of people might have heard about it. This dessert is as simple as it can be. It is also for all those who want to make a dessert but do not have the time, this is a perfect dessert for you. This dessert is called soya bean jelly longan.

Basically what is in it is just jelly that is made out of soya bean or you could even use evaporated milk for those who dislike soya bean and then you just need a can of longan in syrup. The only time consuming part is the jelly that will take sometime to cool down and harden. Nevertheless I will share the recipe for this wonderful Chinese dessert that will b loved by many.

The ingredients you need is not that many just;

1.     I packet of jelly powder or you could use the string like jelly

2.     Water

3.     Sugar

4.     Soya bean milk

5.     Can(s) of king longan

6.     A place to store the jelly

*I did not write the amount of ingredients you need because all depends on you, how much you prefer for everything. Because basically is just like making normal jelly.

To make the jelly; mix the jelly powder in the water until it is fully dissolves then add the amount of sugar you desire and bring the jelly mixture to a boil. Then you and in your soya bean milk or for those who don’t take soya bean add in your evaporated milk and stir well. Make sure to not over boil it. Once that is done put it a side to cool down then put it into a bowl or something that you desire and place in the fridge to harden. Then when that is done, and it is time to serve your jelly. Remove it from the fridge, if you wish to cute it then go ahead or you could just leave in the bowl. Then you take your can of king logan, open it and just pour the whole content over your jelly. If you like you could at a few ice cubes to make it cold. And there you go, your very own infamous Chinese dessert.  I really like this dessert because firstly it is very easy to make and it does taste delicious. So find out how it taste like make sure u try it one day.

            yummmmyyyy !!! And delicious. !



Yunisha Lahre
57127 

Jalebi's!!

Jalebi is a well-known Indian sweet. But it  is more famous with Punjabi people. You can find them anywhere. Sikhs often use them as sweets for weddings and many other special occasions.

As you see above is very good example of a jalebi. Its color will always be this bright orange no matter where you purchase them from; it is due to the saffron that they use in the ingredients and also a bit of coloring that helps the color to strengthen.  The ingredients of these wonderful sweets are as below.

1.     2 cups self raising flour

2.     1/2 tsp baking powder

3.     1 cup yogurt

4.     Vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil for deep frying (or sometimes they even use ghee)

5.     1 cup sugar

6.     Few strands of saffron

7.     1/4 tsp cardamom.

8.      2 drops orange food color

9.     2 tbsps rose water

The method for this delicious sweet is also not that hard. I will explain it  for all those who wish to learn.  Firstly  mix the flour, baking powder, and yogurt into a batter and keep aside for 24 hours to ferment. When that is done pour the batter into a ketchup dispensing bottle. To make the sugar syrup that is use to soak the jalebi in, you need to melt the sugar with the rose water and boil to get a one thread consistency. To check for this consistency, carefully dip the tip of your index finger into the syrup, touch your finger and thumb together and gently tease part. If one thread is formed then the syrup is done. Then immediately turn off the fire and straight away add the saffron strands and cardamom and stir well. Then get ready a reasonable size wok-like dish and began by heating oil in it. To test for the right temperature, drop a small amount of batter into the oil. It is also a believe told to me by my aunty that it is good to throw in a small amount of batter for anything that you intend to fry before frying the real thing, this will make your effort worth while. Then once you have done then, and it sizzles then you are all ready to go. Keep the flame on medium at all times to ensure all round cooking of the jalebis. To make the pattern of the jalebi, hold the keichup dispenser over the hot oil and squeeze the batter into the oil into a wiggly and random coiled circle . Do this repeatedly for a few times. Fry your jalebi until it is light golden in color and then remove and put directly into the sugar syrup that you have done earlier.  Allow your jalebi to soak for 2-3 miniutes and then remove.

But I would not guaranty  a fantastic result the first time round. Because even now, not all shops that sells jalebi are nicely. The one that I always go to is at Kuala Lumpur. For me personally the jalebi is not that bad. But the best jalebi I have had is at India. I visited Indian in the year 2009. I went to Delhi. The amount of sweet shops there will make all sweet tooth’s go insane. So happened when I entered this particular shop that they were making hot, fresh jalebis, and it tasted out of this world. So to those of you would have the same experience as I did, go to India, find all this places and you will find yourself in heaven.

Yunisha Lahre
57127

Bubur Cha-Cha

Bubur Cha Cha is one of the most popular sweet coconut based desserts in Malaysia. If you ask any Malaysians on the street, they know what is this sweet dessert It is a Nyonya dish that is made with different colors of sweet potatoes, yam and tapioca, which also known as Sago pearls and coconut milk.

Ingredients

1 each of orange, yellow and purple sweet potatoes (medium sized one will do) - Cubed.
1small sized yam (Chinese taro) - Cubed.
3-4 table spoon of sugar.
6-7 cups of water (depends on the coconut milk thickness preferred).
Dash of salt.
4-6 pandan leaves - folded.
1-2 cups of fresh coconut milk (or any instant coconut milk brand will do).
1/3 cup of tapioca pearls (which also known as Sago pearls).

First step of making Bubur Cha-Cha is, place the tapioca pearls in a sieve and wash it under the running water. Cook the pearls in a pot of water till it turn transparent (normally it takes about 5-8 minutes). Then, rinse the cooked tapioca pearls under running water again and set aside. Steam the sweet potatoes and yam to almost 95% cooked. Set aside. Add in water to a large pot along with the folded pandan leaves to a boil. Next, put the steamed sweet potatoes and yam into the pot and let it boil for 10 minutes and add in sugar to taste. Stir occasionally. Add in tapioca pearls. Lastly, add in coconut milk. Stay at medium heat for 5 minutes and keep stirring. Season with a dash of salt. Take out the pandan leaves and remove the pot from fire. Ready to serve hot or chilled it to serve cold.

I will never say NO to Bubur Cha-Cha!


What I love the most about this traditional dessert is its colorful presentation. The taste is wonderful because it is made using sweet coconut milk and not to mention the colorful sweet potatoes and tapioca pearls which adds to the deliciousness of it all. However, some Malaysians like to add in banana into this dessert as well. Bubur Cha-Cha can be served either hot or cold. But for me, I would prefer to enjoy this wonderful dessert when it is warm!

Farah Atiqah Zawani
0102848/57156

KERALA BLACK HALWA.

The name of this Indian dessert is called Kerala’s Black Halwa or as we Malayalee’s call it, Karutha Aluva and also Karuppu Halwa. The Ingredients includes 500gm of raw rice, 2 nos of Coconut, 1 kg of Sugar, 500gm of Ghee, 6 nos of Cardamom which is powdered, 50 gm of Cashew Nuts and 1 teaspoon of Vanilla essence which is optional. This recipe ingredient is made for 4 Adults

The method of making the Kerala Black Halwa is by soaking the raw rice in water for about 30min and as it dries completely, grinds it into fine powder. As it dries, extract first, second and third milk from the grated coconuts. From the 3 extracts of milk, it should up to 1 glass of thick milk and the should come to about 9 glasses. Place the sugar in a clay pot as it is on flame and dissolve it in very little water and strain it to get rid of the sediments. Combine all the 9 glasses of the second and third extract. Combine the sugar , milk, raw rice and mix it well and make sure there is no lumps are formed. Stir it continuously as starts to thicken slowly pour the ghee and the thick or first coconut milk alternately while stirring continuously. When it get thicker you can test it by your hand and if it doesn't get sticky then add cashew nuts, powdered cardamoms and vanilla essence, after mixing everything grease a flat plate with ghee and pour the hot mixture into the greased plate and allow it to cool down, and it is ready. 

Give this recipe a try too and let me know how it goes.

Until then,

Sharanya Johnson

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SWEET CENDOLS!

Cendol is a Malaysian dessert, the main ingredient is coconut milk with a wormy like jelly made from rice flour and extract from a pandan leaf to give the green color  shaved ice and sugar syrup,red beans, glutinous rice, grass jelly, creamed corn. It is mostly sold by the roadside stalls or hawker stalls. It is a perfect dessert to have, especially during a hot day.

To start making the blend mix 60gm of rice flour, 300ml of water and 1 teaspoon, blend it well till a smooth mixture comes out. Cook mixture over medium heat, stir all the time until the mixture thickens and turns translucent. Fill a basin with ice and cold water and set the cendol mold over it, use a wooden spoon to press cooked dough, a little at a time, through the perforations into the cold water . Drain the cendol in a colander and set aside. To serve, spoon 2 tablespoon of cendol into a bowl, top with shaved ice, chilled coconut milk and 1 or 2 tablespoon of gula Melaka syrup. Use ready squeezed coconut milk, add a pinch of salt and chill in a refrigerator.

I hope you try this recipe and surrender to the sweet taste of the cendol pulut! 

Until then,

Sharanya Johnson

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PONGAL RICE

On my recent arrivals to Ipoh, my grandmother surprised me with the all time classic Indian dessert, pongal rice. Pongal is a sweet rice pudding which is popular in Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states and the term simply means to boil over or spill over. It is made from rice (main ingredient), milk and jaggery which is an 'unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar'. The jaggery gives the pongal a brown color to it. However, there has been many variations of the classic pongal rice. Some prefer adding coconut to their pongal rice, where as some like adding a little spice by using pepper and moong daals. So you see, pongal rice is not always sweet, it can be savory. 

Pongal rice is often made on the Pongal festival, also known as the harvest festival which is dedicated to the Sun God, Surya. On this festive day, a usual Tamilian's home will be adorned with banana and mango leaves and the floors will be embellished with ornate patterns drawn using rice flour. The peak of this festival however is the ritual itself. All family members present will gather around a clay pot which the pongal rice is cooked in and wait for it to boil and spill over. When it does, together they will shout out, 'Pongalo pongal'. At the end of the rituals, family members get to enjoy the pongal they had successfully made as a piece of offering to the Sun God. Pongal rice can also be obtained in temples during non-festive days.

A one hour trip to the temple resulted in my grandma bringing home packets and packets of pongal rice. I was lucky enough to grab the last packet as my vulture-like brothers attacked it the minute we arrived. For me, i see pongal rice (other than being an offering to the deity), a dessert. Desserts are usually sweet delicacies we indulge in to complete our meal or to just satisfy sweet cravings. Hence, pongal rice is a dessert because it is sweet and not to mention delicious. 

The last packet of pongal rice i managed to grab and it was DELICIOUS!

I find pongal rice that are made and offered in the temple are more delicious than the ones made at home. There's just this satisfied feeling of eating temple food because you know it's blessed. As superficial as it may sound, it's true. I certainly enjoyed my experience of eating temple-made pongal rice thoroughly. 

The sweet rice with chunks of cashew nuts and raisins was a mouth full sugary goodness. The texture of the rice is extremely soft, there's almost no chewing except for when the cashews and the raisins come in. The cashew nuts gives the soft rice pudding an extra texture. It's fun mixing something really soft and something crunchy at the same time. You can eat it by itself or if it was me, i like to spread it something we call, 'vaadai', which is a doughnut or a round disc shaped dough made from dal, lentils, gram flour or potatoes. It gives that extra taste to the whole dish.

Well, before i make you or myself hungry any further, i am going to stop here. My dessert experience has been nothing but sweet! But always remember, sometimes too much sweet can be sour! Keep the sugar levels on control and you can indulge whenever and whatever you like. 

Shajni Nair

0102866/57205

GULAB JAMUN'S!

If you are looking to sink your teeth in soft, sweet, caramelized, round dough, then Gulab Jamun is a must try! It is a traditional Indian dessert and is popular in Indian subcontinent countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

The term Gulab originates from the Persian word gulab which means rose water. The syrup that the dough's sits in is known as the rose water syrup. Jamun on the other hand is a Hindustani word and it refers to a South Asian fruit which has the similar shape and size to the dough above. Gulab Jamun is a dough traditionally made from thickened milk or reduced milk and it is the soaked into the rose water syrup.

During Indian festivals or prayers of any sort, it is a must to have sweet delicacies at the alter. It is an offering and also a tradition that has been practiced for many years. As an Indian myself, sometimes i do get a little overwhelmed by the varieties of desserts we have. Nevertheless, Gulab Jamun has always been my favorite.

Two weeks ago, a relative of mine held a prayer ceremony for their youngest daughter coming of age. It is tradition to hold a prayer when a young girl comes of age in an Indian culture. As per tradition, the girls close relatives would attend the prayers with trays and trays of sweet delicacies as part of an offering. My mother, being one of the close relatives did a little sweet shopping herself. She bought Tupperware's of Gulab Jamuns from Asoka Restaurant on Jalan Tengku Kelana situated in Klang. 

It was a memorable experience as i got to indulge in sweet goodness. It is literally one of those desserts that melts in your mouth.

 The texture of the dough is soft and soggy because it is soaked in the rose water syrup. The dough absorbs the sweetness from the rose water syrup. Each bite is pure goodness. It is definitely a dessert that would please almost everyone, in my opinion. It is also a dessert that is easily consumed because its soft, especially for those with brittle teeth. 

I would say that the Gulab Jamun from Asoka's Restaurant in Klang is definitely the best one I've tasted

so far. It is addictive and delicious. Though, this dessert might not be recommended for those who are diabetic. For those who are free of diabetes, it would be best to indulge in desserts like this on ocassion, cause you don't want to ruin those sweet tooth's now, do you?

This has been my experience so far with my Indian dessert. Be sure to check out my next sweet-venture!

-Gulab Jamun.-
-Jalan Tengku Kelana.-

Shajni Nair

0102866/57205