Spiral Curry Puffs (Karipap Pusing) 螺旋咖哩角

Spiral Curry Puffs also known as Karipap Pusing is mainly the Malaysian and Singaporean popular teatime snack. It is not just consume by Malay, but Chinese and Indian too. They are deep-dried crescent shape pastries filled with curry powder and curry leaves, which give its distinctive fragrance and flavour, if you want to make it a spicy Curry Puffs, you can add chilli powder in it.  The filling is mainly with potatoes, onion and chicken. 

The success of this pastries lies in how you make the spiral skin, beautiful, crispy yet able to stay the same way when the puff cool down. Don't be intimidated by the step of making puff pastries, it is actually easier than you think. 

I made 40 small Spiral Curry Puffs (1/2 palm size) using recipe from Huang Kitchen with adjustment on the filling. (I have extra filling for another baking) You can straight away freeze up the extra curry puffs in the freezer, deep fried it only when you need to consume, no thawing require. A handy snack for a busy mum.  

这里已近入冬天，今早还下了一场冬雨。寒冷的外头和刚煎炸好滚烫的螺旋咖哩角形成强烈的对比。厨房空气里还弥漫着浓厚咖哩香料的味蕾， 感恩可以待在里头，一手抓着咖哩角，一手捧着热茶，享受凌静和独处的喜悦。这个螺旋咖哩角真的好棒！

Spiral Curry Puffs ready for deep fry

Ingredients for filling:
500 g chicken breast, cut into small cubes (option)
5 tablespoons meat curry powder, add some water to form curry paste
4  tablespoons cooking oil
2 big red onion, diced
1 bulb garlic, minced
3~4 eggs, hard boiled and cut into small wedges
3 big potatoes (~600 g ) cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups warm water 
1 bunch curry leaves, minced 

Ingredients for pastry (water dough):
400 g plain flour, sifted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100 ml warm water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for pastry (oil dough):
200 g plain flour, sifted
150 g melted butter

extra:
enough oil for deep frying
some curry leaves

Steps:

Preparing filling:

1. Heat up the oil in the frying pan. Add minced garlic and red onion, stir fry for 2 mins. Then add curry paste, stir fry until it is aromatic.

2. Add chicken cubes and fry it for a few mins. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly coated with curry paste.

3. Add in the warm water, bring the liquid to boil. Add the potatoes cubes. Season with salt and sugar.

4. Cover the pan, let it simmer until the potatoes has softened, and the liquid dry up. (Make sure not to burnt the potatoes) Stir in the minced curry leaves. Set aside the filling for later use.

Preparing pastry water dough:

1. In a mixing bowl, add plain flour, salt, beaten eggs and gradually pour in warm water, knead well to form smooth dough. Cover and dough with cling wrap and set aside for 30 mins. 

2. After 30 mins, divide the water dough into 20 pieces. Cover the dough with cling wrap to prevent it from drying.

Preparing pastry oil dough:

1. In a mixing bowl, add flour and melted butter, stir the mixture together to form soft dough. Divide the oil dough into 20 pieces. Cover the oil dough with cling wrap to prevent it from drying.

Assemble:

1. Flatten a pieces of water dough, wrap in a piece of oil dough. Seal up the dough. Repeat the same for the rest of the water and oil dough.

2. Flatten the combined dough, roll it out in a long rectangular shape with rolling pin. Roll one end up Swiss roll style.

3. Turn the dough 90 degree (upright), flatten the dough again into long rectangular shape. 

4. Roll up Swiss roll style again, cut the dough into two equal portions with a knife. Place cut side down on the surface, flatten the cut dough into round circle with a rolling pin. 

5. Place a teaspoon of filling and egg in the middle of circle dough, fold it into crescent shape, pleat the edge of curry puff dough to seal up the filling. 

6. Repeat the same for the remaining combined dough from step 2 to 5.

7.  Heat up enough oil in a small pot, add in some curry leaves. Remove the curry leaves once it turned crispy. 

8. Gently slide a few curry puffs in the oil pot, deep fry the curry puffs in batches. Turn the curry puffs with a pair of chopstick when it is lightly brown, continue deep frying until the whole curry puff is lightly brown. Remove the curry puff with a strainer, drain the curry puffs on kitchen paper towels. Serve warm is the best! 

Mexican Coffee Buns (Roti Boy) 墨西哥咖啡面包

This is my second time making Mexican Coffee Buns, the first time was in June 2015. The previous recipe was using water roux in the bread dough and the butter filling was with icing sugar. This time I'm trying out Savoury Days Kitchen YouTube recipe, she is not using water roux in her bread dough, inside the filling is only butter and the topping is with some cocoa powder. My personal preference is I like my previous Mexican Coffee Buns recipe more because of the icing sugar in its filling make the bun taste better. 

The Mexican Coffee Buns raised beautifully with brown, crispy round dome! The bun texture is good too. This recipe yield 12 buns.

Ingredients for bread dough:
270 g bread flour
60 ml milk
40 g sugar
60 ml milk + 1/2 tsp lemon juice (stir well and set aside)
1 egg 
45 g soft butter
1.5 tsp instant dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for filling:
80 g butter (divide into 12 pcs)

Ingredients for topping:
30 g butter
2 tsp coffee powder + 2 tsp hot water
25 g icing sugar
1/2 egg
35 g all purpose flour
1/8 tsp cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt

Step:

Prepare coffee topping: 

1. Dissolve the coffee powder in hot water. Add cocoa powder. Stir well.

2. In a bowl, Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg mixture in batches, mix well after each addition. Sieve in the cake flour, salt and add coffee mixture, mix until the mixture is smooth and combined. Keep the topping chill in fridge, remove 5 mins from fridge before used to soften the topping  a little.

Prepare bread:

1. Mix all dry ingredients for bread in the KitchenAid mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk egg together with milk.

2. Gradually add milk and egg mixture, and milk and lemon juice liquid to the dry ingredients, use the KitchenAid speed 1 to mix all together for 1 min before change it to speed 4 for 10 mins.

3. Add butter pieces, continue to let it knead until the dough is elastic and form window pane. The dough will pull away from the side of mixing bowl. 

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and proof it to double its size. 

5. Punch down the air, divide the dough into 12 portions. Roll the dough to form balls. Let it rest for 10 mins.

6. Flatten the dough ball into a flat circle, place a piece of butter filling in the middle and wrap it up. Seal the edges and seam side down. Place the dough ball two inch apart from each other on the lined baking tray. Let it proof until double its size. Repeat for the remaining dough and filling.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C.
8. Place the coffee topping in a piping bag, pipe the coffee topping on the bun dough, start from the center then go outwards, make the topping swirl as close as possible to the swirl before it.  
9. Bake at 180C for 15 to 18 mins or when the topping turn slightly brown and a soft crust is form on the bun.

Chai Kueh (Steamed Vegetable Dumplings) 菜粿

Chai Kueh (Steamed Vegetable Dumplings) is a Dim Sum for South-East Asia Chinese. It is covered with crystal clear soft chewy skin and crunchy vegetables such as shredded carrot, jicama and white radish. The filling is without meat, it is depends on the used of dried shrimps to give its flavour. 

I love to make Chai Kueh for my family, this post is the fifth times I published about Chai Kueh, I tried a few recipes before, if you ask me what will ensure a successful Chai Kueh skin? My answer is hot boiling water. Yes, not just hot but the use of boiling water will ensure a soft chewy skin which will not turn hard after steaming.

This round I adapted recipe from Rasa Malaysia with adjustment on the water and oil quantities. I made 44 pieces which is able to feed two meals for family of three. Store the extra Chai Kueh in freezer, take out and steam only when you need to consume.

Tip: Make the filling a day in advance. I'm the kind of person who love everything well organized. ^^

菜粿，共44颗。看着家里那一大一小吃下20颗菜粿的感觉是幸福的。感谢有他们一直陪伴我厨艺的成长。

Ingredients for filling:

two big jicama, shredded (or you can use white radish, be sure to squeeze out its water)

150g dried shrimps, soaked and chopped

4 big carrot, shredded

1 tablespoon sugar (to taste)

2 tsp salt (to taste)

100 ml water

3~4 tablespoons cooking oil

1 bulb of garlic, minced

10 stalks of mushroom, chopped

a hand full of black fungus, washed, soaked and thinly sliced

3 tablespoons of oyster sauce

Ingredients for skin:

450g wheat starch flour

220g tapioca flour

1000 ml hot boiling water 

1 tsp salt

6 tablespoons cooking oil

extra:

Banana leaves (for laying on the steamer) 

fried shallot oil

Step for filling:

1. Heat the oil in wok, stir-fry garlic until fragrant.

2. Add in dried shrimps stir-fry until fragrant.

3. Add in sliced mushrooms and black fungus. Stir-fry for 5 mins, add shredded jicama and carrot, stir-fry for a while. Add oyster sauce and 100 ml water. Let it simmer until the vegetable is soft, cooked and the liquid is dry. Add in sugar and salt (to taste). Let it cool for later use.

Step for skin:

1. Place wheat starch flour, tapioca flour, and salt in a Kitchen aid mixing bowl. Gradually pour in hot boiling water. (the water must be boiling hot) Mix with the lowest speed power, when the rough dough form, mix with speed 2. 

2. Add in oil and continue to let the mixer run. You may transfer the dough to worktop and knead by hands to form a smooth dough. Cover with wrapping film, set a side to rest for 30 mins.

3. Flatten the dough to a thin layer (may be 2~3 mm) use the ring cutter (or a small bowl) to cut out the individual dumpling skin. Roll the side of the dough to form a thinner circle.

4. Wrap 1 tablespoon of filling with each dough. Fold into semicircle and seal the opening by pressing the edges together or you may fold it according to your desire shape. 

5. Line steamer with non stick baking paper or a piece of greased banana leaves. Place the chai kueh on top and steam on high heat for 15 mins or until the dumpling skin turns translucent.

6. Remove the chai kueh and brush the surface with some fried shallot oil. Serve hot with sweet Thai chilli.

Chocolate Marble Bread 大理石面包

It has been a while since I updated my last blog post. Life is busy with kid, school, exams and after school activities. I still bakes in the kitchen, just not taking photos with my camera. This morning I made an effort to snap photos on my bake. 

I'm using the recipe from my previous bake Chocolate Marble Bread Toast (7 Dec 2011) the original recipe is from the Japanese baker Matumoto Youiti 松本洋一. This round I have modified a bit on my previous recipe by using melted dark rum chocolate instead of the unsweetened cocoa power. By using Tangzhong (water roux starter) in the bread, it produces a soft bread texture.  

Super soft bread doing yoga ^^

Recipe for 65C Tangzhong:

50g bread flour

250ml water

Method:

1. Add flour to water in a pot, keep stirring it while cook until it reached 65C. or ripples appeared on batter. Set aside to cool completely before use.

Recipe for bread dough:

400 g bread flour

6 g instant dry yeast

30 g sugar

24 g milk powder

100 ml milk

230 g Tangzhong (water roux starter)

30 g salted butter

Chocolate paste:

30 g dark rum chocolate plus a teaspoon of milk, heat up in microwave for 30 second, mashed into chocolate paste

Egg wash:
Some milk and beaten whole egg

Method:

1. Add Tangzhong and all ingredients except the liquid and butter in the electric mixing bowl, gradually add the milk and knead well. When the rough dough form, add butter. Knead until form elastic windowpane. Divide the dough into 2/3 and 1/3 portions. 1/3 portion add in chocolate paste, knead until well-blended (gradually add a teaspoon of milk if required). Knead to form elastic windowpane. The 2/3 remaining dough will be the white dough.

2. Spray a thin layer of water on both dough and place them in separate containers. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof until the dough is double its size.

3. Punch down the dough, roll into respective balls, cover and let it rest for 10 mins. 

4. Flatten the chocolate dough into a rectangle shape 18 x 12 cm. Flatten the white dough into a rectangle shape 20 x 15 cm. Place the chocolate dough on top of the white dough. Flatten it into 30 x 20 cm. 

5. Cut into 2 equal portions. Place one piece on top of the other. Flatten the dough into 30 x 20 cm, repeat for another two times.  

6. Cut it into three strips and plait it together. Place the dough into a lightly flour-greased loaf tin. Cover with lid, let the dough proof until it reaches 90% height of the loaf tin. Open the lid. Egg wash the bread dough.

7.  Bake at 200 C for 30~35 mins. Dislodge from tin once baked. (temperature and timing may vary depends on the capacity of the oven)