Vegetarian Curry for Meatless Monday

Vegetarian Curry

Hello and Happy Monday!

What did you do over the weekend? Mine was a weekend of high and lows. We had to put my poor hamster Peanut to sleep, so that was heart breaking :( 

She will be greatly missed. Funny how a small little hamster brought us so much joy and laughter. 

As for the highs - I am going back to Kuala Lumpur for a long visit! It wasn't a planned visit, very much a spontaneous decision. Must truly thank my dearest husband for the nice gift and for sacrificing so much to allow me to visit my family and friends. So, watch this space for more posts from Malaysia. I am super excited and can't wait to be inspired by all the food!

Since it is a Monday, I thought that I would do another Meatless Monday post. I think I am going to challenge myself and try to do a Meatless Monday post weekly. You my dear readers shall keep me honest and ensure that I do not stray.

This week, it is a Vegetarian Curry! It's so flavoursome and aromatic you won't even realise it is meat-free. I tried to give the curry a bulkier texture and more bite by using chunky vegetables like aubergines, carrots and courgettes. I also added Tofu Puffs that act like a sponge to soak up all the curry broth. When you bite into them, all the curry goodness oozes out. Heaven!

Kaya (Malaysian Coconut Egg Jam) Recipe

Kaya (Malaysian Coconut Egg Jam) on home made Milk Toast

Happy Friday everyone! 

Since I like Friday to be sweet, I am going to share my take on this ever popular Malaysian jam called Kaya. It is a very fragrant and sweet jam made from coconut milk, sugar, eggs and pandanus leaves. Usually eaten on buttered toast, it can also commonly used as a filling in pastries and buns. You can also slather it on top of waffles, pancakes, crumpets, the list goes on! 

The ingredients I use for Kaya

Most families will have their own recipe for Kaya, passed down through the generations. However, the trick about making this jam is that it has to be constantly (I greatly emphasise the word "constant" here) stirred over a double boiler for at least an hour. Because of this time consuming method, most people nowadays have opted for commercially produced Kaya. I think that if you could spare the time, nothing beats a homemade Kaya. The fragrance will knock you over and you will smile when you eat it simply because you know it is a labour of love.

Kaya and warm melted butter sandwiched between homemade Milk Toast

The recipe I am sharing today uses brown sugar. It produces a rougher more granular texture in the Kaya as compared to using castor sugar. I do find that I prefer the richer more caramelised taste and texture of brown sugar. Maybe it is because it is the way my mama makes it. Funny how a jam can trigger memories of an 8 year old you standing over the stove helping to stir the Kaya! 

Crunchy Oven Fried Chicken

Crunchy Oven Fried Chicken

I think most home cooks can agree that deep frying at home causes a huge mess as well, you stink, your kitchen stinks. I find that the greasy smell lingers in my kitchen for days and I have to scrub down every inch of it. Not very nice. I do wonder how life will be if you have one of those Acti-Fry fryers. Give me a shout out if anyone has tried one :)

Well, with all that said - the next best that we can do is opt for oven fried chicken. Like any diligent home cook, I did my research and came across some beautiful recipes from Jo Cooks and Oh Sweet Day. As I have never used Panko breadcrumbs before I decided to give it a go. I like how it is always crispy and light. So off I went to get some Panko and it is revolutionary. No more soggy, thick, clumpy batter. Why am I so late to this Panko game? 

This crunchy oven fried chicken recipe that I am sharing with you is very easy to make. Hardly any kitchen mess and the taste is superb. It kind of reminds me of chicken poppers. It is really tough to stop eating them.