RECIPE : Vegetarian Briyani

Hey! 

I don't normally post recipes on my blog as this is more like a personal site but I'm so bored at home that I decided to be kind. Hah!

Since Thaipusam is just around the corner, I'm sure a lot of Indians are craving for briyani but apakah daya , vegetarian broooooo, vegetarian. Hahaha. *evil laugh* It's okay if you can't eat meat items and craving for briyani cuz hey, we always have an alternative vegetarian version of non-vege meals right? 

Anyway, here's the vegetarian briyani recipe I learnt and decided to try at home. (I always add more onions and veges and spices, so it's up to you to control the ingredients according to your own taste bud alright?)

Ingredients

• Basmathi rice - 1 cup
• Oil  - 2tbsp (I used a lot of ghee instead)
• Bay leaf 
• Cinnamon stick
• Cloves - 2
• Coconut milk - 2 cups
• Fennel seeds - 1.5 tsp
• 1 inch Ginger (finely chopped) 
• 1 Big Onion (diced)
• 1/2 tomato (diced)
• 2 green chillies 
• 10 mint leaves (roughly chopped)
• Salt
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves (about 4-5 sprigs, roughly chopped)

Method

1. Heat oil/ ghee and add in bay leave, cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds. 
2. Add in ginger, garlic and green chillies. Fry well until the raw smell goes off and add in onions and fry well.
3. Add in tomato and fry well until it turns mushy. 
4. Add in washed basmathi rice and stir well after sprinkling with salt to taste until they're coated well with the oil and spices. 
5. Add in the chopped mint leaves.
6. Transfer to cooker. This is how it should look like;
7. I added a generous amount of frozen mixed vegetables in my dish. It's optional. As I said, it all depends on your own preference. 
   
8. Pour in the coconut milk (I used plain water) and let it cook. This is how it should look like after it's done. You may add in the coriander leaves now and mix well. 
   
9. Just sprinkle a little bit of yellow colouring and mix well only on the top part. Mix everything up after leaving it for a while. This is how it should look like when it's done, with bits of white rice showing. This step is purely optional. Hahaha. 
   
10. Your briyani is ready to be served! :D 

I served mine with spicy chicken varuval and onion raita. 

Let me know how yours turned out with the coconut milk! Remember, you can always add in extra spices or vegetables like diced carrots if you want. You're the chef!:) 

Shanu. x

Soy Meat Sambal Recipe

Hey guys. Today's post is a simple vegetarian recipe that no one can ever resist. Soy Meat Sambal. 

Just in case if you're wondering what soy meat is, soy meat is an alternatives to real meat. Soy meat contains the same amount of protein as real meat but contains no fat at all. It also contains fillers as it is made of flour or any other carbohydrate ingredient. The calories is of course, much more fewer than the real meat as there is no fat in it. 

So. Here we go. A simple, yummy and nutritious meal. 

Ingredients ;

• Half packet of Soy meats (immerse in warm water for about 30 minutes.)
• Cinnamon stick and star anises
• 1 tbsp Chopped garlic and ginger
• 1 big onion , sliced.
• 1/2 big tomato , sliced
• 1 cup Chilli paste
• 1 tbsp Tamarind paste, make juice with 1/2 cup of hot water
• Oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions ;

1. Saute cinnamon stick and star anises together with garlic, ginger, and onions until the onions are cooked well.
2. Add in tomato and stir for a while until they soften. 
3. Pour in the chilli paste and cook well until the raw taste reduces. Add in water bit by bit and let it evaporate to original thickness. 
4. Pour in tamarind juice, stir well.
5. Add in the soy meats after straining the water. Do not squeeze out the juice in it. 
6. Season well and cook well until the soy meats are coated with thick sambal. 

Picture for reference. :)

Good luck and kindly drop your comment after trying out the recipe!

Till next time , Shanu. x

Second Year of College.

Hello again fellow readers. I know I've been m.i.a for quit long, but I will try my best to update as frequent as I can alright? 

If I stop watching Gossip Girl online and Ghetto Justice and eating and being emo all the time and ugh. My life's just so boring right now.

Anyway, I've  successfully  finished a year of epic college life and I just have one more semester, internship aaand one last semester and poof! Bye bye Diploma. ♥ 

Anyhow, I must admit that my whole semester this time was terrific.  Contrary  to my last post tho, I did had some heard time dealing with my college mates not feeing good about some grades that ''I don't deserve'' , but as you saw , I said Ignorance is Bliss and yeah, I did find it true. I tried my best to ignore all those double faced friends , I tried my best to work with them, I tried my best to act normal and all happy on the outside and hey! It really worked. :) 

And guess what? I've actually started a small brownies business! First month itself, I've managed to get myself fifteen orders (more to come. Wohoo!) , thanks to my lovely friends, of course. And then my dearest best friend asked for chocolate cake for his father's birthday and it turned out pretty well and wo-la! Another business  opportunity. You may click on the picture for my Facebook page link. :D

Brownies, anyone? :3

So, back to my college life. My practical class was beyonddd amazing! Learning Malaysian Cuisine is so much fun and I loove trying out the recipes at home without worrying about my family's  taste-bud  for Asian food! Here's some of the food I tried. Be prepared to drool. *Muahaha*

My Deep Fried Red Snapper Fish and Sour! :D 

Almond Kulfi served with Vanilla Ice Cream. Check out the yummy pistachios on the Indian Ice Cream. :3 

Now THIS is my favourite! Mom cooked Chicken Rendang at home so I decided to help along by cooking Indian Tomato Pilaf Rice and some Gujerati Beans Salad! Yummy huh? :D 

And finallyyyy. This is what I made for my Malaysian Cuisine Practical Finals Exam! :D The theme was Nyonya + Malay food so I decided to create some with a mixture of both. Nasi Ulam and Gulai Ayam served with some Nyonya style pickles, fish crackers and 2 types of fried salted fish! :3 

I must admit that I've totally enjoyed my college life and no matter what, I will end it happily in just  less than a year time! Hip hip hooray! :D

Well, i guess thats all for now. Thanks for taking time to read this post.
Toodles till next post. Much loves! xx

A Day With My Lil Munchkin. ♥

Hello again! :D

Soooo. My little munchkin a.k.a 'Mia Cheesyy Pocoyo' ordered the last murukku of the week from Murukku for Sale. ♥ So we decided to meet up in Time Square today. While waiting for her, I went to Famous Amos and bought her some Beryl's chocolates as she bought me my very first guitar pick. :3 ♥

From her. :'3

As soon as she saw me, we hugged and started our foooooooooood hunting. ♥ :DD 

I brought her to Penyet Express and we ordered some Ayam Penyet set. Yep. See the picture and droooool. ♥ 

Ayam Penyet :D

We ate, gossip-ed about some famous facebook kids, *Dhiviya & Arwind included, of course. :p * , listened to her endless stories, kept quiet during some awkward times as if we're on a first date, stared at each other, thinking what to talk, blablah. :3 

As we finished our meal, we stood up to pay our bill. I was shocked to see Hemma (Cheesyy) running to the cashier with her wallet. I took my own sweet time to search my wallet in my bag and went to the cashier ONLY TO SEE HEMMA PAYING FOR EVERYTHING! Guess what I did? I SLAPPED HER BUTT! And thennn, she said ''I love you too, chechyyy'' with her cute voice and zipped my mouth with a hug on the shoulder. </3 

We walked with our full tummy, shared stories, window shopped, visited my college, etc and said our farewell with a hug and she passed me my very first guitar pick. ♥ 

Had a reaaaally good time. Thanks to my little munchkin. ♥ :')

Hemma :D

*and I didn't take the murukku money as a punishment for paying for my lunch. BAHAHAHA. >:3

Murukku for Sale!

Today, I helped my mom to make murukku. 

*I was just helping here to fry them*

My mom's workmates loooove her murukkus since mom always make some for them every year and surprisingly, they asked for 5 tupperwares of murukku last week! :O 

Murukku dough

Mom making murukku

Me holding it to fryyy. :3

Frying murukku

Tadaaaaaaa!  :D 

We're actually planning to open a small *really small* business. All you have to do is like our facebook page and write on the wall to start ordering! You may even comment on this post if you don't own a facebook account. :) 

Share and support please! xx

Spaghetti with Mayonnaise Sauce.

My mom asked me to make something with vermicelli (she just bought it without reading the label) and mayonnaise. I made it and they were soooo good that I decided to share the awesomely easy recipe here. ^^

These are the ingredients. I forgot to take a picture of the chicken cubes, sorry. -.-

Green Chillies.

Onions and garlic.

Carrots. I don't know how did the tiles turned blue. lol.

And of course, our spaghetti.

Instead of making a formal recipe, I'll just tell the instructions briefly as they are extremely easy to make. Prepare spaghetti first (don't forget to add in some oil, salt and pepper in the water. Stir occasionally to prevent the spaghetti from sticking together. )
For the sauce, stir the green chillies in a sauce pot (with some hot oil of course), and then add in the onions and garlic and cook well until you can smell the aroma. Pour in some water and add the carrots and chicken cubes. Let them cook. (Don't forget to season with some salt and pepper)

Picture of the cooked ingredients. -.-

Lastly, just add in the mayonnaise and herbs and cook well to your desired thickness of the sauce.

Pour the sauce on top of the pasta and tadaa! It's done!

The end. Don't forget to leave your comment. :3

My 2012 in Review. ♥

Welcome to whoever reading this. I honestly can't believe that 2012 passed sooo quickly. It's my best year of my life so far! I worked, joined college, met so many new people, travel so far away every single day alone by bus, eat great food every day, thousands of pictures on my mobile, Gaaahh! Words can't describe my 2012! :D 

Just like last year, this post is inspired by my beloved online sister Priya. If you love reading my blog, make sure you click on her name and you'll be directed to her blog. ^^ 

Anyway, let's get started. Be prepared for one heck of a longgg posts with lots of pictures. 

January.

I was working in Young Collection, Aeon Cheras Selatan (known as Jusco Balakong then). 

Young Collection, Aeon Cheras Selatan.

It was my very first working experience and I learnt a lot from there. I learnt how to manage the shop alone, learnt opening and closing of shop, held the shop's key, met horrible workers and Siti, my ''rakan seperjuangan''. LOL. She was there when I joined Young Collection until the very last day. ^^

Meet the pretty lady. :)

I even bought a Nokia C3-00 with my very first salary. :)

Le me with first hp in Young Collection. :)

The most fun part of working there was during celebrations such as Chinese New Year! Had fun watching some martial arts presentation and lion dance!

Right beside Young Collection.

From our shop. ^^

February.

They had fire drill for Aeon employees! >.< I remember being forced to join fire drill at 9am in the morning.

Walking like a Boss with the fire extinguisher.

March.

I quit work due to too much stress from working place. My supervisor became dependent on me and I even had to work alone some days and I couldn't stand it alone without Siti. (She stopped from work.) So I quit and had a memorable outing. :) 

March 21st, in Mines. 

April.

Sad to say, literally nothing happened on April. I spent time at home after getting away from work while counting my days to become an official student of BERJAYA University College of Hospitality! ^^

OH ! I got 6A's for my SPM and my Science subjects ruined my result. Mom finally understood that I have zero interest in Science and supported me into joining BUCH as a proud chef student. 

May.

Best month of 2012! ^^

I joined BUCH and nothing can describe my happiness! I enjoyed studying for the very first time of my life. Culinary Arts is one heck of a course!

My knife set. ^^

Oh and my sister came back from Iowa States! I remember running to the bakery right after class to buy her a Birthday cake for her past birthday on April and to welcome her home! ^^

Welcoming beloved sister. :)

All the way from Iowa State. ^^

It's a bag! She knows I'm a fan of Owl and Purple so she bought this for me as soon as she sees this bag in her place! ^^

June.

We went to Perak for our late Grandma's prayers. :)

This is just half of our niece and nephews. Me and my sis had lots of fun there since we're the only young adult there to supervise all those little kids. ^^

Before the the kid's mom killed us. ;p 

Sindhi, me (I cut my hair short) and Suha. My friends in college. 

We went to so much places together. ^^

On 12th of June, my sister brought me to Berjaya Theme Park! She even forced me to try the kids' rides. xD

July.

My first semester came to an end. 

Our group's product for Pastry and Baking Finals.

Me and Suha's product for Basic Culinary Finals. Bad presentation eh? 

Cooked what I did in college for Finals for my family to enjoy at home. ^^

August.

Showered my family with baked goods during semester break. ^^

Bread pudding with chocolate sauce.

Creme Caramel.

Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge sauce sprinkled with chopped almonds.

And then it was time for akka to get her ass back to Iowa State. :'(

Farewell, sister. :(

September.

New semester! Cuisine and Restaurant Operation scared the hell out of me! We had to do our practical class in Berjaya's Samplings on the 14. Berjaya hotel's fine dining restaurant. 

Samplings on the Fourteen.

Another epic moment of this month is during seafood lesson for Butchery class! We got the chance to eat lobster and oysters! :D Not to mention the shrimps, lala and such. ;)

Oysters. :3

On September 12, my mom brought me out to Batu 11. Click on the date for more pictures. ^^

We had ABC together. ^^

October. 

Birthdaaaaaaaay! ^^

A surprise awaited for me at home when I got back home from college. My sis sent me a teddy bouquet when she's in Iowa State! :D

Teddy Bouquet from beloved sister. :D

And I got a Bigger surprise the next day! I got this huuuuuge parcel and I didn't even know who was the sender! When I opened it, I was shocked to see a huge teddy bear with a little rabbit keychain with no cards! 

Look at the size of it!

I was soooo happy to get such gift for my birthday but it was freakin creepy to not know the giver. I freaked out and messaged my sister about it on facebook and got another surprise when she told me, ''I thought it will arrive around December!''. Yep, my sister gave it to me. x'D 

When I went back to college, my good friend Ganeash bought me a lunch in Upper East Side Cafe, Berjaya Time Square to celebrate my birthday. ^^

On the last day of my second semester, me and Suha had lunch together at Crepes. ^^

Suha enjoying her crepe. :D

November. 

Deepavali!!! :D

I was the one doing cookies for Diwali! I had so much fun baking since I looove baking. :')

Click on the picture for recipe! They're really easy to make. Leave your comment if you want the recipe for the cookies without recipe. ^^

Cocoa Cookies! :)

Coffee Cookies! :)

Peanut Cookies! :D

Orange flavoured cookies! :D

Suji Biscuits! :)

Deepavali Breakfast! Prepared by mother. :D

Prepared this for neighbour. ^^

Had fun with them on our way to Little India. The day after Deepavali. :D

Surrounded by kids the whole week. xD

Brought my mom to KFC just to try their new lunch set. The ayam percik set! :D

Simple celebration of Karthigai since it was raining all day long. ^^

December.

This month was kinda boring cuz I got college-sick. I started missing college and travelling so much until I dragged mom to KL and forced Shashi to teach me guitar. ><

Me and mom during Christmas. ^^ Click the picture! :D 

Rojak Buah and ABC with ice cream! Me and mom's way of welcoming new year. ;) 

Something healthy I made for my family yesterday.  Click the pic! ;)

THE END! 

*applause* 

Ending the post with my growing haaaaair. :D Bye bye till next time. xx

2013. Be good to me! :3