Palate Pleaser

Masala Eggs

This is really a palate pleaser . You keep popping them into your mouth and can easily finish a whole platter. That's what I noticed whenever I served them at dinner parties or as a snack to hungry kids. You can never have enough of them. Best of all, this is one easy recipe that suits any occasion. Bring them on!

The Recipe:

6 eggs; 1 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp oil; salt to taste; corriander leaves for decoration.

Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Place in cold water for another ten minutes until cooled. Boil and shell them. Heat oil in a pan and add the salt and curry powder. Turn off the heat immediately and pour over the eggs. Serve at once.

Malaysian Dosai

Roti Jala

This has to be one of the most fascinating things I have learnt in Malaysia. The first time I saw it being made, I was intrigued and decided to try it out at home. Roti Jala means "bread net" and the finished product beautiful and delicate; it is hard to eat such a creative endeavour. Like a dosai, it is yellow, very thin and barely a mouthful, made using a mould ( metal or plastic) that could be bought at the store or made at home using an empty tin or unused plastic cup(just ask your husband to bore holes in the base for the batter to flow through). Children love it and so do adults. Definitely a favourite in our household.

The Recipe

1 cup maida; 1 cup coconut milk; 1/2 cup water; 1 egg; salt to taste; 1/4 tsp haldi; 1 tsp rice flour (this is my secret ingredient for crispiness).

Beat all ingredients together with a wire whisk until a thin, smooth batter is formed. Grease and heat the dosai tawa. Pour a spoonful of the batter into the mould and quickly move the cup over the tawa allowing the batter to drip and form a lovely net pattern. When set (one or two minutes), transfer to plate and gently fold into triangles or rolls. Serve hot with fish or chicken curry. I prefer the chicken.

A Delectable Date

Date And Almond Cake

When the phone suddenly rang late one night, my heart started hammering. Who could it be? I passed the phone to Nehru and it turned out to be his friend who would be visiting Malaysia with his family. I heaved a sigh of relief and forgot all about it. When they arrived, they gave us some delectable date honey. Was wondering what to do with it when I came across an old, old recipe that I had not made for some time. Made a few changes and the cake turned out, moist, aromatic and absolutely delectable. Let the recipe speak for itself.

The Recipe

1/2 cup milk; 1 cup date honey; 1 cup maida/flour; 1/2 cup salted butter; 1 tsp baking soda; few almond flakes to scatter on top; 1tbsp.almond nibs for mixing in cake.

Beat the milk and date honey together. Add butter and mix. to a smooth consistency. Sieve flour and baking powder.Gently fold in the flour, 1 tbsp at a time. Stir in the almond nibs. Scatter almond flakes on top.Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the cake in a greased and lined 8 '' square pan for 35-40min (or till a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean). Serve for tea or as a mid morning snack. A Delectable Date indeed!

One For The Gals

Ranita's Choice


Ranita and I had a delicious time last month when Nehru went to Bangalore for a wedding. A lazy and relaxing week. Since we both love bread, we had it for every meal and threw in some simple recipes to accompany it. Got an early Deepavalli gift from dear Vicki in the form of luscious seafood and decided to indulge our laziness (translated to mean a super quick recipe). I can't believe we polished off the whole lot.

The Recipe
28 giant prawns, shelled, deveined, washed and ready for cooking; 1 green capsicum, cubed for garnish; 1/8 cup chicken stock; 1 tbsp light soya sauce; 1/4 tsp white pepper; 1 tbsp oil.

Marinade the prawns for 15 minutes in the stock, soya sauce, pepper and oil. Heat a non stick frying pan until smoking and throw in the prawns, marinade and all. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes only and add in the capsicum. Stir fry for a minute until the capsicum is glazed and crunchy and the prawns turn pink. Serve immediately with toasted bread and butter. Relax and watch a movie. Burp!