Roti Canai/Paratha Bread - Step by Step Recipes

One of the things I miss most here in the USA is the Mamak stalls. We like to go there for breakfast or for teh tarik (pull tea) in the evening. My friends and I can just sit there and talk till the wee hours in the morning. Sometimes I do miss that simplicity in life. Roti canai or roti paratha is a flat bread that is flip over and over until they become transparently thin before they fold them with lots of air bubble and ghee inside that when they pan fry it, it becomes light and crispy on the outside and slightly chewy and springy on the inside.

I might look easy to make but they are not. Each time I try to flip it, the dough will stick together and I get the oil all over the kitchen. I gave up and end up stretching the dough will my fingers. The roti canai came out ok. Not as thin and crispy as I wanted it to. I hope I will do a better job the next time I make this again. From now on please don’t take the Mamak roti canai for granted. It involves more hard work than you think ;)

Ingredients:
adapoted from Mamafami

500 grm flour
300 ml water
1 egg
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp condensed milk
1 tbsp margarine
Some vegetable oil

1. Dissolve salt and condensed milk in water. Beat in the egg. Add in the egg mixture to the flour, mix and knead until it forms into smooth soft dough. Leave it to rest for 30 minutes.

2. Divide the dough into 10-11 pieces. Roll it into balls and rub margarine over each ball. Keep the dough balls in a container and leave it to rest for at least 4 hours. Over night will be better.
3. Grease the work table with some vegetable oil. Press and flatten the balls of dough with your palm. Spread a bit of oil on the flatten dough.

4. With your palm and fingers, pull and stretch out dough as thin as possible. Be careful not to tear it especially in the middle because the tear will grow bigger as your stretch. Oil you dough and hands as you go along.

5. Bring the dough to the center to form long dough. If we can get air trapped in the thin sheet at this point, don’t press air out as it would give a lighter, fluffier result. Hold one end of the dough upwards and swirl it down to form a piece of swirly turban. Set it aside to rest for half an hour.

6. Heat up a non-stick pan with a bit of oil. Lightly flatten the dough again with your fingers and place the dough over low heat pan. Cook slowly on one side until golden brown, turn over the dough and cook over the other side until golden brown. Serve warm with some curry.

Note: Be careful when you work with the dough. It can't be re-kneaded or streached out again once you mess it up. You have to throw it away.

I am entering this post in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created and hosted by Sharon of Test with a Skewer and Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies.

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi with Pickled Vegetables Recipes

The first time I encounter with this popular Vietnamese Sandwich was in California. We were at Westminster and we had our lunch at the famous Lee Sandwich place and I was hooked. I love the taste of the fresh grilled meat, the sweet, sour, crunchy pickle vegetables, sandwich between the light and crispy baguette. Here is my homemade version on the famous sandwich.

Ingredients:

2 pieces chicken breast - skin and fat removes

Marinate:

2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
Black pepper

Mix chicken and marinate together and set it aside for an hour. Heat up a frying pan, add in about 2 tbsp of olive oil and pan fried the chicken over medium heat until done on both sides. Remove and let it stand for 5 minutes before slicing it.

Ingredients for Pickle Vegetables:

2 carrots – peel and sliced thinly
1 large English cucumber – peels and sliced thinly
2 red chilies – sliced thinly
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4cup sugar
½ tsp salt

In a small saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a boil. Transfer the brine to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Add the carrots, cucumber, chilies and cover to keep them submerged. Refrigerate the vegetables for at least 30 mins before using.

Condiments:

2 petit baguette roll – about 6 – 7”
2 – 3 sprig of cilantro
Some mayonnaise
Some chili sauce
Some pickle vegetables

1. Slit the bread lengthwise, discard a bit of the bread on the inside. If necessary, crisp up the bread in a toaster oven and then let it cool for a minute before proceeding.
2. Generously spreading the inside with mayonnaise and chili sauce. Add in the grill meat, pickles and some cilantro. Close the sandwich cut it into half for easy eating and enjoy!

Note: You can replace the grill chicken with grill pork, beef or any type of protein. As for the pickle it can be replace with daikon.

Pani Popo/Coconut Buns Recipes

Pani Popo is the traditional name for a sweet and sticky bun that originated in the South Pacific Islands of Samoa. In English Pani means bun and Popo means coconut. These buns are baked in a pool of thick sweet coconut milk. When I baked these the whole house smell so good and they taste even better right out of the oven. Soft, sweet and the sticky coconut at the bottom tasted just like kaya. I am so in love with these buns. If you like this type of buns please tries this out. I am sure you are going to like it too.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Try Anything Once

2 cups bread flour
¾ cup warm milk
¾ tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
½ cup thick coconut milk
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg – beaten for egg wash

1. Mix the lukewarm milk, yeast and 2 tsp sugar in the mixing bowl. Leave it for a few minutes until the yeast started to bubble. Add in the butter and salt.
2. Add in the 2 cups of flour. Mix and knead the dough until it form into a smooth balls. I used KithcenAid to knead and it took about 5 minute.
3. Let the dough rest in a butter bowl until doubled in volume. Prepare and grease an 8” x 8” square pan or a round baking pan.
4. Remove the dough from bowl and divide it into 9 round balls. Place them in the baking pan, cover and let it rest again until double in size.
5. In the meantime, mix the coconut milk with the 3 tbsp of sugar (if you use can coconut milk it might be too thick or harden, you can always warm it up in the microwave oven for a few seconds)

6. Brush the buns with some egg wash. Pour the sweeten coconut milk over the buns and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Note: These buns will harden up a bit the next day, just warm it up in the microwave for a few second and it will soft again.

Orange Scented Monkey Bread Recipes

Hi everyone, I hope all of you had a wonderful New Year celebration. Year 2010 was a pretty interesting year for me. Many things happened, some good and some not so good. But it was over and done with and I am looking forward to new 2011. Like all the past years I am not going to make any resolutions or goals. I know myself; I will make resolutions on January 1st and abandons it by January 8th so why bother. Instead, I am going to make list of things that I would like to do. Anyway, thank you all for visiting, support and also taking the time to comment. I really appreciate all your encouraging words.

Let start of the New Year with something gooey and sweet. I know, what a name for something so deliciously good, right. I tried to find the origin of the name ‘monkey bread’ and I can't really find the definitive background of it. I baked this for our breakfast and share some with our neighbor. We love this bread especially the taste of orange, cinnamon and brown sugar. The flavors are perfectly blended into the sweet and sticky buns. Best of all we get to pull the pieces apart when we eat it.

Ingredients:
Dough recipe adapted from: Smitten Kitchen

3 tbsp butter - melted
1 cup milk, warm (around 110 degrees F)
1/3 cup water, warm (also around 110 degrees F)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeas
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
1 teaspoons table salt
1/2 cup of raisins - optional

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp orange zest

Brown Sugar Syrup

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
4 tbsp orange juice
4 tbsp butter

1. Greased a Bundt pan generously with butter. In a large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar and yeast. Mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball. Oil large bowl, place dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until dough doubles in size, 50 to 60 minutes.
3. While the dough is rising, get ready the coating mix. Mix brown sugar, orange zest and cinnamon together in a Ziploc bag. Set aside.
4. To form the bread: Gently remove the dough from the bowl, and pat into a rough 8-inch square. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces. Drop half of the cut pieces of dough into the Ziploc bag. Toss it around until the dough is well coated with cinnamon mix.

5. Remove the dough and layer the dough into the Bundt pan. Scatter some of the raisins around it. Do the same to the rest of the dough. Cover the Bundt pan with a plastic wrap and let it rest at a warm place until double in size.
6. In the meantime get ready the brown sugar syrup. Combined all the ingredients in a small saucepan, slowly melt the butter and brown sugar and bring it up to a boil. Let it cool down slightly.
7. Heat up the oven to 350 degree F. Drizzle the brown sugar syrup into the Bundt pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until brown and bubbly around the edges. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a platter. Allows to cool about 10 minutes before devour into it.

Note: Because of our cold temperature I made the dough the night before and let it raise overnight. You can omit the raisins or replace with different type of nuts. If the bread get too dark before it is done, just cover it with some foil and continue to bake.

Apple Cranberry Tea Ring Recipes

Weather is so cold and snowing outside and the best way to warm up the house is doing some baking. But it is definitely not a good idea to make bread. Wrong move on my part and because of the cold making this loaf of bread took me over 6 hours from start to finished baking. It just refused to rise. I even stick it into the warm oven to help with the proofing. The end results, I would prefer it to rise a bit more and softer. Nevertheless, it tasted good. I think this tea ring will be great for Christmas breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients
Dough recipe adapted from Taste Of Home recipe book.

3/4 cup warm milk (70°F to 80°F)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons water (you might not need it)
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3-1/3 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

FILLING:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp of sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup of chopped fresh apple
1/2 cup dried cranberry
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Egg wash

1 egg -beaten

Glaze

1/2 cup confections’ sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Place all the dough ingredients except for the water into a mixer attached with the dough hook. Mix the dough until comes together. If it is too dry add in the extra water a tablespoon at a time.
2. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth. Place it in an oil bowl, cover it with a cling wrap and leave it in a warm place to rise double in size for about 1 to 2 hours (depend on the temperature of your environment)
3. For the filling, combined sugars, cut in the butter until crumbly. Stir in the dry cranberries, raisins and walnuts and set it aside.
4. When the dough is done, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 20” x 10” rectangle, sprinkle with the sugar mixture and top it with the chopped apple within 1” of the edges.
5. Roll it up tightly like a jelly-roll, starting with a long side; seal ends. Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; bring both ends together, seal it to form a ring.
6. With scissors, cut from outside edge two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Brush it with egg wash.
7. Bake in a preheated at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let it cool complete on a cooling rack. Mix the glaze and drizzle it all over the ring.

Note: To prevent overbrowning you can cover it with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking.

I am submitting this bread to Yeastspotting

Lobster Rolls Recipes

Our neighbor Nancy gave us some lobsters last week. I decided to make some lobster rolls out of it. This classic New England lobster rolls, a basic hot dog bun filled with lobster salad. There are no fancy seasonings here; the lobster is showcased of this rolls. It is just a simple mayonnaise dressing with a bit of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked lobster meat – cut into bite size pieces (3 lobsters)
¼ cup low fat mayonnaise
¼ cup finely diced celery
1 spring onion – finely diced
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
A few dash of hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2 hot dog buns
A few leaves of lettuce

1. Combined all the ingredients except for the buns and lettuce leaves. Mix well.
2. Lightly toast the hot dog buns on a non stick frying pan.
3. Lay some lettuce on the buns and fill it up with the lobster mix. Serve immediately.

Apricot and Apple Braid Recipes

This braid is very similar to my Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf but this time I made the dough from scratch rather than using the store bought kind. I mix the dough and let it rise overnight and in the morning I just shape it up and we have freshly bake bread for our breakfast or brunch. It might takes some time to prepare this bread but the results are worth the extra effort.

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups bread flour
¼ cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 packet (7 gram) dry yeast
1 egg
½ cup + 2 tbsp milk
¼ cup butter

Egg wash:

1 egg - beaten

Fillings:

3 apples – peel and sliced thinly
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp butter
¼ cup raisin
4 tbsp apricot jam

Glaze:

½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. In a mixing bowl combined flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
2. In a saucepan melt the butter, turn off the heat and then add in the milk. Let it cool down and beat in the egg.
3. Add the milk mixture into the flour and knead into smooth dough. Cover the dough and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.
4. To prepare the filling. Melt the butter and sugar; add in the apple and lemon juice. Cook until the apple is soft and the juice nearly evaporated. Turn off the heat and add in the cinnamon and raisins. Mix well and set it aside to cool down.

5. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly flour work surface. Roll out the dough to about 18" x 12” rectangle. Spread the apricot jam down the middle and top it up with the apple filling.
6. On each long side, cut about 1” wide strip and about 2” into the center. Starting at one end, fold alternative strips at an angle across the filling. Pinch end to seal tight. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F, brush the braid with egg wash and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let it cool completely on wire rack.
8. Combined the glaze and drizzle all over the braid.

I am submitting this bread to Yeastspotting

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread Recipes

I used to be intimidated by bread making as usually I can’t seems to get it right but now I just love making bread. I guess practice makes perfect. I had a great time making this bread especially the anticipation on how the swirl will look like. I’m thrilled with the way it turned out. The swirl were beautiful, the crust had a lovely, deep golden color as a result of the egg wash, and the inside was rich and soft. We enjoyed this bread for our breakfast.

For the dough:

1 package/7 grm active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (~100°F)
3 tbsp sugar
3 3/4 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
additional softened butter for greasing bowl and pan

For the Swirl

1 cup raisins
1 Tbsp cinnamon + 3 tbsp sugar

For Eggwash

1 egg - beaten

1. Dissolve the yeast with 1/4 cup of lukewarm milk and 1 Tbsp of sugar and let it stand for 10 minutes. Combined the rest of milk.
2. In a mixing bowl, combined 3 3/4 cups flour, salt and the rest of the sugar. With the paddle attachment, turn on the mixer to medium speed.
3. Pour in yeast mixture slowly to the flour, add in the butter. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic. At this stage if the dough is too sticky you might need to add in the rest of the flour. Continue to knead until smooth. This will takes about 7 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
4. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon powder in a small bowl.
5. Punch down the dough; roll them out on a floured work surface to about 16” x 8”. Brush the surface lightly with some water and sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Top it with the raisins.
6. Roll the dough up from the short end and pinch the seams shut. You should have a 9” inch long roll.
7. Place in a well greased loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour. Brush the top with some beaten egg.
8. Baked in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until rapping the bottom of the loaf produces a hollow sound. Remove from oven and let it cool on a wire rack before slicing into it.

I am submitting this bread to Yeastspotting

Parsley and Garlic Knots Recipes

These piping hot knots are pizzeria classic and are unbelievingly addictive. They are called "knots" due to their shape resembling that of a square knot and about the size of a golf ball. They are chewy, garlicky and loaded with fresh parsley. I actually forgot to sprinkle some parmesan cheese to it but even without them they are still good. If you're tired and busy and just don't have time to make your own dough you can always buy some dough from your favorite pizza joint or even buy the frozen dough from the grocery store. You can either brush the garlic coating on before baking or like me I just tossed it in after I baked the bread. Either way they will be good.

For the dough:
Recipe adpated from King Arthur Flour with some changes.

3 cups bread flour
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. dried yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup milk
1 cup lukewarm water (you might need 1-2 tbsp more)


Parsley and Garlic Coating:

2 cloves garlic - chopped
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Some salt

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients. Add the olive oil, milk and water. Mix until ingredients until it form into a ball.
2. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
3. Divide the dough into 15 -17 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope and tie into a knot, take the end lying underneath the knot and bring it over to the top and tuck it into the center and take the other end lying over the knot and tuck it underneath and into the center.
4. Put the knot in a baking sheet lined with some parchment paper. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set it aside to rise for about 30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the garlic herb. Heat up the frying pan over medium; add in the olive oil and garlic. Once the garlic is lightly brown add in the chopped parsley. Continue to stir for a minute and remove from heat and set it aside.

5. Baked in a pre-heated 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes or until nicely brown. Once the bread is done, put it in a mixing bowl and toss in the salt, garlic and parsley mixture. Toss until all the knots are well coated.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I am submitting this bread to Yeastspotting

Parsley and Garlic Buns Recipes

When I saw these buns at Grace of Kitchen Corner I bookmarked it right away but only now I have the chance to try it out. This recipe is a keeper as the buns turn out to be really soft and fluffy. I did some minor changes to the topping and added garlic to it. Do go and check out her wonderful blog  where she showcase all the beautiful bakes.

Ingredients for dough

150 gram bread flour
50 gram flour
15 gram sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp yeast
130 ml milk
15 gram unsalted butter

Topping

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
1 tbsp freshly chopped garlic
2 tbsp unsalted butter
½ tsp salt

1. Mix all the ingredients for dough except butter at low speed using dough hook mixer, then turn to medium speed until it become smooth dough.
2. Add in the unsalted butter and knead with low speed until the butter combine with the dough. Turn to medium speed for the kneading process until it becomes smooth and elastic dough.
3. Place the dough into a lightly grease bowl and cover with cling wrap to proof for an hour or until double in size.
4. While waiting for the dough, mix the ingredients for herbs topping until it become a smooth paste. Put the  paste into a piping bag.
5. Divide the dough into 6 portions and round them into small balls. Let them rest for 10 minutes.
6. Roll each dough out into a sausage shape and proof for 30 minutes.
7. With a sharp knife cut a line on the middle of each bun and continue proofing for another 10 minutes.
8. Egg wash the bread and squeeze some of the topping to the center of the buns. Bake at 350 degree F pre-heated oven for 18 minutes until golden brown.

I am submitting this bread to Yeastspotting

Custard Raisin Fan Rolls Recipes

Carlos take his breakfast at home every morning so each week I will baked something for him to have with his coffee. I think he is pretty bored with my regular banana bread and cinnamon rolls weeks after weeks so I decided to try out something new.

I remember eating some kind of custard snail like looking rolls from a bakery in New York many years ago. The bread was soft and it has some kind of custard and raisins inside. Inspired by that custard rolls I decided to try my hand in making it.

Dough

460 gram bread flour
2 tsp yeast
60 gram milk powder
70 gram sugar
½ tsp salt
1 egg
150 - 160 ml milk (you might need a bit more or less)
70 gram butter
100 gram water roux

Custard fillings

80 gram unsalted butter - soft
60 gram sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp custard powder or cornstarch
100 gram milk powder
¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups raisin
I egg white (beaten for egg wash)
Some sliced almonds (for garnish)

1. Fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Combined flour, milk powder, salt, yeast and sugar in the mixing bowl. Mix well. Add in the egg and water roux. Turn on the mixer and slowly add in the milk until the dough comes together and forms into a nice ball of dough. Continue to mix for 5 minutes and add in the butter. Continue to mix for another 5 minutes.
2. Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place until double in size. In the meantime mix all the filling ingredients together (accept raisins) and set it aside.

3. Punch down the dough and roll it out to rectangle shape (about 17” x 12”). Spread on the custard filling and sprinkle on the raisins. Roll up the dough as tightly as possible. Flatten the log slightly with the palm and slice the log into 10 pieces (depend on the size you like).

4. Then using a scissors or a pizza cutter, make another 2 cuts into each piece. Twist each slit slightly to make it lay somewhat flatter. Place on a greased baking pan and cover and let it rise until almost double.
5. Brush it with some egg wash and sprinkle on some sliced almonds. Baked in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven until golden brown. Remove from oven and let them cool.

I am submitting this to Yeastspotting