Mixed Veggies Pilau & Shredded Meat

 Mixed Veggies Pilau & Shredded Meat 

 Mixed Veggies Pilau & Shredded Meat 

INGREDIENTS

300gm rice (1 and a half cups), washed 2-3 times then soaked for half an hour.

On a small saucer, keep these spices ready:

1 level tbsp. whole cumin
½ tsp. whole pepper
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 cloves
2 cardamom

Also, you will need:

½ cup shredded boiled meat (I used lamb)
2 onions, chopped
½ tsp. turmeric powder
½ tsp. cumin/coriander powder
½ tsp. freshly ground roasted cumin powder
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. oil
½ tsp. garlic paste
a bit of chopped coriander
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
¾ cup half-boiled mixed vegetables (I used a combination of peas, carrots, sweet corn and capsicum)
1 green chilli, chopped finely
water or stock, warm (for every cup of rice, you will need 1 and quarter cups of water)

TIP: Boil the meat in water with a bit of salt and pepper powder, garlic and ginger paste until tender, then drain and shred. Use the leftover stock/soup to cook your pilau with. You can adjust the deficit with water if needed.

INSTRUCTIONS

Take a pan and put it on your stove. Remember that the rice will double after cooking and the meat, veggies and potatoes will go in there too so you will need to have enough space in the pan. Turn on the heat and once the pan is hot, add the oil and butter.

Then add the spices you had placed on the saucer. Cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, cloves.

Once they splutter in the oil, add your chopped onions. Fry them until they are translucent, stirring with a wooden spoon. Then add the turmeric and cumin/coriander powder.

Let these fry for a few minutes, then add the garlic paste and potato cubes. Fry together for a couple of minutes, then add the shredded meat and veggies. Stir for a couple of minutes then add the stock/water and some salt. Let the stock simmer and taste for the salt. You should be able to feel the saltiness. If it feels just right, it means you have too little. Remember that the rice will need some salt too, so let the salt be enough that you can taste it to be a bit more than you would want. Not too much of course!

As soon as the the water starts boiling, drain your rice (which should have been pre-soaked for about half an hour) and add this rice to the stock. Sprinkle a bit of coriander on this, and stir a little. Let this cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring now and then, then reduce the heat to medium and keep cooking it whilst covered until the water diminishes, giving it a stir every now and then to make sure all the rice is cooked evenly and perfectly.

When you find there is very little water left in the rice, reduce the heat to the lowest point possible. Seal your pan by using a tight lid or wetting a kitchen towel and placing it over the pan then placing a lid on top of it.

Leave the rice to continue steaming on very low heat for a good 10 mins. Switch off, and serve with accompaniments of your choice!

Sources by fauzia kitchen fun

Chocolate Cornets

Chocolate Cornets

Chocolate Cornets

Nutty Chocolate Custard Recipe:


INGREDIENTS

2 egg yolks at room temperature
2 ½ tbsp. Sugar
1 tbsp. flour (plain all purpose)
1 ½ tbsp. corn flour/cornstarch
1 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. crushed nuts (I used hazelnuts)
30g Chocolate of your choice

INSTRUCTIONS

Please click on link for step by step instructions on how to make and shape cones

Warm the milk and set it aside. Put the yolks in a bowl, add the sugar and 2 tbsp. of the warm milk. Whisk using a hand whisk until they are combined, then sift all the dry ingredients together (flour, corn flour and cocoa powder) and then add them to the yolks. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Then slowly and gradually add the warm milk whilst whisking until all is combined.

Sieve this mixture into a pot, place the pot over medium to low heat and cook the custard whilst whisking the whole time. Do not stop whisking, keep at it until the mixture is quite thick. It should take about 5 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and immediately add the butter, chocolate and nuts. Whisk together until the butter and chocolate melt and combine. Now pour this thick custard into a bowl and cover with cling film to prevent the custard from forming a skin as it cools. Place the custard in the fridge or over a bowl of ice to help it thicken faster. Proceed with making the cornets.

For the dough

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup milk, warmed slightly
1 tbsp. milk powder
some water, warmed slightly (if needed)
2 tbsp. slightly beaten egg (you can reserve the rest for applying on the cornets before baking as an egg wash)
1½ tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. instant yeast
½ tsp. salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Sieve the flour, then add milk powder, sugar, yeast and salt. Then add the oil and butter and the egg, and mix together. Now add all the warm milk. Start kneading together and gradually add the warm water a little at a time. You might not need it all, so add it sparingly until your dough is nice and soft. Knead for a good 8-10 minutes. The more you knead it the softer the buns will be.

Touch a bit of oil with your fingertips and apply all over the ball of dough. Cover and let it rest for an hour until it doubles in size.

Cut the dough into 5 or 7 pieces depending on the size you want your cones. Make sure they are all about the same size. Shape them into balls, then cover and set them aside to rest for 15 minutes.

Roll each piece of dough into a rope. Roll the dough ropes around the greased cone mold tubes, then cover and let the cones double in size.

Brush with the egg glaze. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 18 minutes or till golden brown. Place onto a wire rack and allow to cool for a couple minutes before removing the tubes.

Fill the cones with chocolate custard and enjoy!! 


(I picked this Recipe from fauzias kitchen fun because i like it.)

Home-Made Cone Molds

Home-Made Cone Molds

Home-Made Cone Molds
image credit FAuzia's Kitchen Fun

All you need is some manila paper or any semi-hard paper. Cut into rectangles and roll them up into cones, you can then staple them to maintain the conical shape. Then cut up a piece of foil and wrap it around the cone to prevent the paper from burning in the oven. Tuck the foil from the top opening of the cone to hold it in place, but you don't have to line the inside of the paper cones, just the outsides.

You can then re-use these cone-molds a couple of times, you will just need to change out the foils and use new ones for the next batch.

Before baking using them, you will need to grease the molds preferably with butter to make sure your bread does not stick to the molds.

To shape the bread, roll pieces of dough into long ropes. Starting from the bottom tip of the cone mold, start rolling the 'rope' round and round keeping the spirals close to each other. Then bake as per the recipe.