Lisa's Lemony Kitchen

Thosai or Dosa is definitely one of our favourite Indian cuisine. What is Thosai ? It is an Indian crepe or pancake-like made from rice and lentils. A typical  South Indian cuisine... most probably Kerala . Thosai can be eaten for breakfast or dinner or in Malaysia ... you can get Thosai anytime of the day from Indian restaurants. I have known Uma since 1990. And since then... almost every  Deepavali or Diwali , she would invite us to her house ...   Mr H and I  would feast on the good food cooked by her late mom... and thosai served with mutton curry... would be one of many delicious festival food... I had my first lesson in thosai making... when we visited Uma and her family in Queenstown, in 2007... she taught me how to make thosai.... the art of spreading batter over hot gridle...  Fantastic... I can make my own thosai... May not be as good ... but bette...

I will not ramble too much on this post... we were too busy with our gardening activities over the Anzac Day long weekend...  just planted rows and rows of leeks... my last count was 70 seedlings, pomegranate and blueberries....  just too exhausted to put on my 'thinking cap' ... This is another version of Chicken Cacciatore ... cooked with arborio rice. One pot meal has always been my ' favourite '... especially after a good work out in the garden.  3 cups of chicken stock 400g jar of tomato pasta sauce 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium brown onion - chopped 2 garlic cloves - chopped 100g of rashers - chopped 1 1/4 cup of arborio rice 2 teaspoon of fresh rosemary leaves - chopped 500g chicken thigh fillet - cubed Place stock and tomato pasta sauce in a saucepan and bring to boil... lower the heat to a simmer. Heat oil in the saucepan over medium heat and add rasher, onion and garlic. Stir until the onion has s...

During the last week of school holiday, Miss E said she felt like baking something...perhaps cookies.. something sweet. She flipped through most of my cooking magazines, cookbooks but still hasn't found what she's looking for. Then I tried suggesting that she try and bake cookies from one of my 'Foodblogger Mates' ~ My Cooking Hut .. ~ white chocolate and macadamia nuts... " nope" she said.. ( shucks... I wanted to try that!! ). She ransacked my pantry... my baking box...she found a bar of dark cooking chocolate..(we had previously bought some white and milk choc chips packets... its me trying to coax her to make Leemei 's cookies.. hmm another failed attempt on my part again...) Finally.. she settled for Janelle Bloom's Brownie...with slight modification...as we ran out of castor sugar ... oops .. hence icing sugar came in handy... and instead of some walnut... she wasn't keen of any type of nuts ~ afraid that pimples might popped ou...

Growing up in the Northern part of Malaysia  which has  common border with Thailand ... coupled with my paternal grandfather ~  of Thai descend, its no surprise that we developed the penchant for Thai food...especially Mr H Jr !! Panang Curry has always been on top of   Mr H Jr's  list whenever we feel like having Thai food... it is tasty, creamy and nutty. His favourite ingredients..all in one pot: beef, red curry paste, coconut milk and peanut butter...   hmmm .. not too encouraging for our well being ... bad for our ticky-ticker... the Heart . On the hindsight... it's easy to cook... not too hot for my little missy Miss E.  Therefore , ' indulging ' once in a blue moon and in moderation ... should be OK..  ;) . Recipe from Somi Anuntra ~ Thai Cooking Class . Mince beef - roll into a ball corn flour oil for frying Shape the beef into small round balls of 2.5cm in diame...

I have an ' Italian ' girl living in my house... who loves nothing but her pasta...  in any shapes & sizes  and tastes...She can have pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner... She learned how to whip up a quick meal using spaghetti, tomato sauce and tasty cheese ... I enjoy my pasta... but I need varieties ...can't have the tomato base sauce all the time...  This garlic, chilli and prawn spaghetti, is simple yet refreshing. A meal everyone can enjoy... I can have mine with chillies...and my little Italian girl aka Miss E .. can enjoy her spaghetti... minus the chilli of course!!. Its a win-win situation for us. 3 cloves of garlic - chopped 2 chilli - chopped (optional) 400g dried spaghetti 500g cooked prawn - deveined and leave tail intact olive oil Cooked spaghetti according to the packet. Drained and reserve about a bowl of the 'pasta' water. Saute the garlic and chilli in a 3 tablespoon of olive oil unt...

Apom Balik is a type of pancake... sprinkled with grounded peanuts, creamed sweetcorn and sugar... cooked on a griddle then folded in half. There are 2 types of Apom Balik ~ thick and 'meaty'   or thin and crispy . I prefer the later... Apom Balik used to be one of the must have's Sunday breakfast... when we were living in Kuala Lumpur. Kids have been craving for Malaysian food  and had been asking for Apom Balik (and many other food request too!!). I made Apom Balik once (about 4 years ago)... before my blog was born  ... using a small non-stick frying pan. It tasted OK but couldn't perfected it to the vendor's 'thin and crispy' Apom Balik . So on my visit to my hometown... last April, I bought an Apom Balik mould (pic above)... made of brass (tembaga )...it's quite heavy and suppose to maintain and distribute the heat evenly.   This basic recipe is ransacked from...

There are many  Laksa  varieties in Malaysia. Almost every States has their own version of laksa. This laksa is a signature dish from Southern part of Malaysia,  Johor . I had my first taste of Laksa Johor when I was in Derby, UK.  My friend and housemate, Azi , ... cooked us Laksa Johor .  At that time.. many thousands kilometers away from home... we would make do with whatever ingredients that we can get to make a nice Laksa Johor . She taught me the arts of  'twirling' the spaghetti and to cut the cucumber and so forth.  I grew up with   Asam Laksa , ...hence  I find Laksa Johor  fascinating     .... the gravy is rich ... fishy, creamy (using coconut milk)  ...and  fresh herbs like basil ... creates a fresh and flavoursome taste ... I have not had a home cooked Laksa Johor  for quite a long time until l...

We are into our second week of autumn school break... And when kids are at home... they are reluctant to have bread..(who wouldn't... if most school days, they have been having sandwiches, wrap etc for lunch!!). A loaf of bread will last us for at least 5 days during school break, whereby, school days... a loaf a day!! These snails are great for quick snack and also great for lunch boxes too ... when school starts next week!!! :) 1 1/2 cups self raising flour 80g cold butter- chopped 2 tablespoon brown sugar 1/2 cup milk Preheat the oven 200C (fan forced) with the baking tray on the centre shelf. Place flour, butter and sugar in a food processors, process until mixture resemble crumbs. Add milk and process until dough comes together. turn dough onto a lightly flored surface, knead until smooth. Roll the pastry to a 30x20cm rectangle. Spread either with nutella and sprinkle the almond meal or spread the tomato paste, sprinkle some mixed herbs, rashers and cheese...

We love our curries.... and this is a good meal to 'clean out' the crisper before going to market for the fresh vegetables stock-up. Any kind of vegetables will do...(may be not the leafy ones like spinach, pak choy etc). Serve with either steam rice,  mantou  or even roti canai .  A nice winter warmer.... cauliflower - florets cabbage - cut into 1 inch french beans - 2cm in length carrots - cut into sticks aubergine - cut into chunk 1/4 cup curry powder -mix with 1/2 cup water to make paste 1/2 cup of dried shrimps - chopped a little bit of belacan (prawn paste) 400 ml of lite coconut milk 1 brown onion - roughly chopped deep fried beancurds (from Asian grocer) / taupok 1 stalk lemongrass Stir fry the chopped dried prawns until fragrant. Then add in the onion. Saute until onion is soft. Stir in the curry paste and lemongrass....cook until fragrant. Add in carrots, cabbage and cauliflower and cook until its tender t...

It was a long awaited.... long weekend for us... Mr H ~ he was up to his nose with work... kids ~ looking forward to 'sleeping in' and me ... no more morning and evening mad rush too... well at least for the next 2 weeks... phew... We had list of things to do over the Easter long weekend... give kitchen and family area floor ~ a good scrub and polish, some work in the garden ...dig out here and there to make pathways and planting succulents, to grow garlics and other autumn vegetables (possible leeks..), clean the alfresco and the list goes on and on and on.... Work is still in progress... but managed to finish cleaning and polishing floor, dug out dirt for pathways...planted garlics.... With all the great plans instore and to save time... we had BBQ (again!) ... with lots of sausages and other meat too... the leftovers are great for a quick meal the next day... like  Toad-in-a- Hole . 16 beef chipolatas sausages or B...

Nasi Dagang is a signature dish from  Terengganu . My thanks to my dearest friend, Uja, for this recipe... She has painstakingly typed and emailed me (her mom's recipe) nearly 2 years ago.. when I requested for one... Sorry Uja!!... it took me this long to cook it... :)