Cupcake bouquet - some tips!

My daughter was turning 13 and after much deliberation (which lasted weeks) we decided on a cupcake bouquet. They are not super difficult to make but here are a few tips.

• I used a cabbage instead of polystyrene to arrange the cupcakes on. It is bio-degradable and you don't get little white balls everywhere! Try to use a savoy cabbage. I used a white cabbage and it is not as symmetrical and much harder. The upside is of course that you can use any leaves that you have to take off to make some coleslaw. The downside is that it is quite tough to push the toothpicks into.

• I bought fancy green cupcake forms. That was a mistake. It was extremely difficult to make holes with the toothpick. I had to make the holes before I iced the cakes. This meant that I could not chose which way to orient the cakes when doing the arrangement. Moral: use the cheap ones that stick to the cake. Note that another problem I had was that the cake separated from the form. This has never happened to me before but it is really important that it does not happen when making a bouquet. 
• Don't use a light fluffy cupcake. The heavy butter cream will pull it down. Use a solid cup cake. Maybe a pound cake would work. 
• Two toned flowers look way better than a single colour. 
• Make some extra flowers in case you drop some! And check how many cupcakes you need before hand.
• Glue gun the ribbon onto the flower pot.

Here are the tutorials I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haoSabf4JSs

https://www.facebook.com/wilton.cake.decorating/videos/470567203770825/

Thosai - Urid Dahl Pancakes

I've been making Sri Lankan style Thosai since 2011 and I think I now finally have the secret AND the it's not a secret ingredient! When I first started making them they turned out fine, but then my frying pan died and I had to replace it. Of course the magic was in the pan. I figured that all I needed to do was to buy a cast iron "roti thatiya". I could not find one in Germany so when I was last in Sri Lanka I was determined to go and buy one.

I figured this would be very easy after all my mother has one (unfortunately when I last saw it it was split down the middle so I could not steal it off her!). So I trotted off to Kandy town and went to the store where I used to buy fancy household items when I last lived there. Oh lets see now... that would be over 20 years ago. To my despair I found that the much loved Abdul Rahims was no longer where it should have been. In fact there was nothing but an empty shop where it used to be. Come to think of it this does not mean that it does not exist anymore. It might just mean that it has moved. This thought did not occur to me at the time :(

Continuing down the road I dropped into every store that seemed likely to have such a pan. I was offered non-stick at every turn. And as all of you know, non-stick just doesn't cut it. At the last store I could think of I asked the sales man where I could get a cast iron roti thatiya and he pointed me in the direction of a store further down the street.

This store has literally everything (except perishable items) you could want. So I walked in and asked for a roti thatiya. A young gentleman walked up to me and told the sales person to get lost that he would help me (well not in those words, but his words would be boring). I was a bit worried because he didn't look like the other sales people i.e. he wasn't wearing the mandatory t-shirt. So I step back and whispered to the lady at the front desk "meya methana weda karanawada?" (does this guy work here?) to which the answer was "ow" (yes). So I relaxed and told him very politely that I wanted a "roti thatiya". The guy looked at me weird and asked me in English what I was looking for. At this point I got a bit embarrassed. The shop was very obviously owned by a Sri Lankan muslim. Most of the time they speak Sinhala (which is what I had been speaking up to now), but it could be that the sales person didn't understand me. But here is the hitch, what is the translation for a "roti thatiya"? I had absolutely no idea. So speaking in English I asked for a "roti thatiya". This did not go down well. So I said I wanted a pan to make roti. I thought this would help. But the guy did not know what roti were!! I was flabbergasted. How can any Sri Lankan, whatever race, not know what roti were. The term is used in all 3 commonly spoken languages. I guess I could have asked for "a flat cast iron pan which unlike a frying pan is in its entirety flat"!! My guess was he would not have understood that either. At this point, very fortunately, the owner of the shop materialized and very carefully, in English, told him exactly where to go and what to get. So here I was standing in a shop, speaking to the shop keeper in Sinhala, who was then shouting at the sales person in English to get the damn pan off the hook on the wall!

I gathered from the look on the shop keepers face that the sales person was a bit of a dud! But I walked out of the shop with a small cast iron roti thatiya wrapped up in newspaper and tied with a piece of string. I was the happiest person in Kandy (I'd like to say on Earth but I understand that that might be a bit of an exaggeration). And sorry for bothering you with this story when all you want is a recipe, but I just had to get it off my chest.

When I came back to Germany and my husband saw my roti thatiya he just kind of rolled his eyes and I can totally see where he was coming from. The top surface was rust coloured, the edges were painted with black paint that came off everywhere, and there were iron filings in the newspaper wrapping. I gave it a nice wash, and a polish (and ruined a new sponge in the process) and put it away, because I was no longer quite sure that this was going to work.

Well yesterday I was determined that it had been sitting in the basement for long enough. So I took it out and seasoned it and got ready to make some thosai. And the reason I get to share this with you today is because that rusty black thatiya turned out to make the best thosai ever! Not a single one had to be trashed due to sticking. I did trash the first one I made because I was hoping it would pick up all the minute iron filings that were left. But we all agreed that as long as it was actually iron we all needed a bit of extra iron in our diet!

Now to more interesting things.

Preparation time: min. 6.5 hours (includes min. 5 hours soaking time); makes approx. 25 

Ingredients:

2 cups	Urid dahl
1 tsp	Fenugreek seeds
5 cups	Water
50 g	Wheat flour
75 g	Rice flour
1 tsp	Salt
1 tbsp	Oil/ghee/butter
1/2 pinch	Turmeric
150 - 180 g	Red onions (optional)
1 sprig	Curry leaves, finely chopped (optional)
100 g	Ghee/butter (optional)

Method:

The urid dahl and the fenugreek seeds need to be soaked. This is what makes this recipe so time consuming. If you want to make the thosai for breakfast or lunch then you should put it to soak before you go to bed the night before. If you want it for dinner put it to soak as soon as you get up in the morning. With a bit of planning it can be simple enough.
However, just for all of you I wanted to figure out what is the minimum soaking time needed. I determined that if you soak it for 5 hours it should be enough but it won't be particularly bubbly.

Wash the urid dahl a couple of times in cold water. You don't need to wash it until the water is clear. In fact I believe that a bit of that starch could be helpful. Drain it and place it in a large bowl with 5 cups of water and the fenugreek seeds. Let it stand for a minimum of 5 hours.

I like to add fried onions and curry leaves to my thosai. It makes them a bit more exotic. If you want to add them to yours slice your onions and curry leaves very fine and fry them in a tablespoon of oil over high heat for about 5 minutes or until they are caramelized. To prevent burning you need to stir them all the time. This whole process will add on about 15 minutes to your prep time. Other things that you might add include brown mustard seeds and finely chopped green chilies (these should be added raw).

Once the dahl and fenugreek seeds have been soaked they need to be processed. I do mine in small batches with my Indian Sumeet food processor. A heavy duty liquidizer or food processor should work too. The water that you used to soak the dahl is also part of the mix, so don't throw it away! Grind or blend until you have a nice smooth paste.

Add the rice and wheat flours and then the salt. I put these together with the dahl into the blender so that I don't have any lumps. Stir in a tiny pinch of turmeric. This will give your thosai a slightly golden tinge (which will do nothing to the taste but do wonders for your next insta post!).

Without turmeric made in a frying pan

If you read the rave above you will now know that for the perfect thosai you need to have a thatiya or a well seasoned cast iron frying pan. Non-stick frying pans don't work very well because the batter does not stick to the pan, thus it's impossible to spread the batter. 

Heat your pan over medium-high heat. You can test if it is hot enough by dropping a drop of batter in the pan. If it sizzles and ... you'll know that it is hot enough.  Put 1/2 tsp. of ghee/butter in the pan and using a paper towel or piece of clean cloth wipe it over the whole surface. Then pour in 2 tbsp. of the batter into the middle of the pan. You may need to adjust the amount depending on how thin you can get your pancakes and how large your pan is. Using the back of a spoon and starting at the middle of the pan, spread the batter across the surface using circular motions until there is no batter left to spread.

If you want to put extra ghee or butter on your thosai do this once the batter is no longer liquid. If you have a thatiya you can do this with a regular knife. If you are using a frying pan it might be a good idea to melt the butter and apply it with a brush.

You can turn the pancake as soon as the bottom has become golden brown. The best way to remove it from the pan is to pass a metal spatula (like the ones we all use for icing a cake) under it, but this only works if you have a thatiya! Cook it on the second side for 20 seconds.

Stack the done thosai on a plate. This will keep them warm for longer. Serve warm.

Thosai can be eaten with any Sri Lankan or Indian curry. Our favourites are potato masala, chickpea curry and red lentil curry.

Stuffed with potato masala and served with mango chutney

Butternut squash soup

Although the days are getting longer it's still cold out there and nothing feels better than a nice hot soup at the end of the day. I've tried soups with different types of pumpkins and squashes, but this is my most absolute favourite squash soup. The base recipe I found somewhere on a website many, many years ago. I've served it at all kinds of functions. 

The one time I will never forget is the time I had my coworkers in San Francisco over for a party. It was the first time ever that I was serving soup and I only had a small ladle. One of my friends asked me what the deal was and whether I didn't want her to enjoy too much soup. At first I didn't get it (for all my Sri Lankan friends, yes I am a total tube light). But then she very abruptly asked me whether I didn't have a larger spoon! I was so embarrassed. I dug into my drawers and found the largest coconut spoon that I could. She was still not totally happy. I think it was because she enjoyed the soup so much that she wanted a huge serving! The next day I went out and bought a proper soup ladle. Never again will I be embarrassed for the lack of a proper soup ladle!!

Preparation time: max 1.5 hours (includes 45 minutes baking); serves 4-6 

Ingredients:

1	Butternut squash
1-2 tbsp.	Honey
1/2 large	Onion
2 tbsp.	Butter (or oil)
2	Vegetable cubes
4 cups	Water
1/2 tbsp.	Chopped, fresh rosemary
	Salt and pepper

Method:

To make this soup taste good you have to have all the ingredients. Substituting will make it taste different. Not necessarily worse. Just not the same. If you are making this in Sri Lanka and can"t find rosemary, I'd love to hear what you substituted it with and how it tasted.

Take your butternut squash and split it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and then brush the cut surfaces liberally with bees honey. Put it cut side up on a baking sheet and bake at 160 C in a fan oven for 45 minutes (180 C/350 F in a convection oven) or until well cooked. It is a good idea to put the squash on parchment paper or something similar. If either the honey or the sugar from the squash drip down onto the baking sheet it is a pain to clean. Once it comes out of the oven let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Saute the onions in butter for a couple of minutes over medium high heat. Add the water and the vegetable cubes to the onions and bring to the boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil remove the skin from the pumpkin, chop it roughly and add it, together with all other ingredients, to the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Now you have choices! If you want a chunky soup you can mash the hot soup with a potato masher. If you want a very smooth soup (I prefer smooth soups) you either have to let the soup cool and then put it into a liquidizer or use a heat resistant stick blender and stick it directly into the boiling soup. If you use the last alternative you have to be very, very careful that the liquid does not spit. Although rather dangerous it's the method I use and the one by which I calculated the preparation time. 

Whichever method you use, bring the soup to the boil again. Serve hot with home made croutons and fresh bread. (Make pretty patterns with heavy whipping cream.)

Vietnamese summer rolls - vegetarian

What I really wanted was spring rolls to serve with a dim sum dinner. But I figured that there would be too many fried things and summer rolls would be nice and healthy. In addition, I still had wrappers left over from a previous try.

I really like these rolls because they are crunchy and fresh. You could put so many different things in them. And the only time consuming thing about these rolls is that you have to cut up the fillings into nice thin sticks. My husband thought that the rolls were too big, so I cut them in half which really helps show off all the fillings inside.

Most people make these with shrimp because they like how they look with the shrimp. You can add shrimp to the filling (marinade with lime and salt, steam and slice lengthwise), but personally I think they look much better without the shrimp. In fact I find it quite spooky with the shrimp showing through. This might be because I am vegetarian!!

Here's my recipe:

Preparation time: max 2.5 hours (includes a lot of sitting time); makes 16-20 rolls 

Ingredients:

16 - 20	Round rice paper wrappers, available in Asian stores (at least in Germany and the USA)
1 pack	Tofu, firm
2 - 3	Carrots
1/2	Cucumber
1 head	Lettuce
2 oz	Bean thread noodles, Chinese vermicelli, rice vermicelli
10 sprigs	Coriander
5 sprigs	Mint leaves
1 tbsp.	Soya sauce
	Oil for frying
Dipping sauce
1/4 cup	Peanut butter
1/2 cup	Coconut milk (3 tbsp. coconut milk powder + water)
2 tbsp.	Sugar (omit or reduce if peanut butter already has sugar in it)
1 tbsp.	Fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
2 tsp.	Soya sauce
2 tsp.	Sriracha sauce
1 tsp.	Sesame oil

Method:

I don't particularly like fresh firm tofu so I fried some for these rolls. Tofu fries best if some of the water is pressed out. There are many ways to do this. I drained the water out of the pack. Placed the tofu on a chopping board which I made sure was tilted enough so any pressed out water would run off. Placed another chopping board on top. Filled a jug with water and placed it on top of all of this. Now you probably can figure a safer way of doing this. In my case eventually the water jug fell off because the tofu got compacted unevenly. Lucky for me the glass jug fell into my plastic strainer that was in the sink. The glass did not crack and all the water fell tidyly into the sink. Of course this was my plan all along ;) At least this is what I told my husband after we both rushed downstairs to the kitchen to see what the noise was. (We had had scares the night before because we heard thuds in the night. These turned out to be ornaments slipping off our Christmas tree because the tree had dried out!) Anyway, let the tofu drain for around half an hour.

Slice the tofu into strips. I cut the block into 3 slices parallel to the kitchen surface and then widthwise so that the sticks cross section was roughly square. The width of the tofu is the perfect length for the sticks. Heat a pan of fresh oil (else the sticks will not taste very good) over high heat and lower the sticks in a few at a time.
I'm sure others have noticed that when you deep fry tofu sticks they attract each other and stick together. For this reason I only fried 3 at a time trying hard to keep them from getting stuck. Each stick was fried for 1:20 to 1:30 minutes (I aimed for a light crust and a soft inside) and drained on kitchen paper. Set them aside to cool.

Next thing to do is to soak the noodles. There are many different types of noodles that you can use. I actually have no idea which ones I have in the kitchen right now (Eeek!). My guess is that they are bean thread noodles. You can use rice noodles as well. To make my life easier I buy the cheap noodles that are packed in a plastic bag and are all broken to pieces. I really hate the regular noodles that are all so nicely packaged because when you want only 1 oz from a 5 oz pack it is almost impossible to separate them. And there is no magic way that I know to separate them. I've tried knives and scissors. I gave up when I saw my father-in-law (previously the owner of a fantastic Chinese restaurant) instruct his daughter to cut a pack up with scissors. It was a very cruel form of torture and it led me to believe that there was no better way to divide up bean thread noodles. Then I discovered the cheap bags in the local Asian store. They are really a life saver if you can find them.
I poured boiling water over my noodles and left them to soak until they were soft. Once they are soft drain them really well by letting them sit in a strainer for 15 minutes or so.

Cut the carrots into sticks as thin as possible and about as long as the tofu sticks. Cover them and set aside. Peel and de-seed the cucumber and also cut into sticks. These can be a bit thicker than the carrots but should be around the same length. Cover and set aside.

Wash, dry and cut the leafy parts of the lettuce into thin strips. I used romaine lettuce to get a bit of crunch.

And wash the coriander and mint leaves. Remove the leaves from the stems and cut the mint leaves into very fine strips.

By now the tofu has cooled off. Take each matchstick and cut, using a very sharp knife, into 4 quarters lengthwise. Sprinkle the soya sauce over the tofu.

Now set everything up in an assembly line fashion. Get a large bowl of very warm water (but not boiling) to soak your wrappers in and you are ready to start.

Immerse a wrapper in the bowl of water and let it soak for 10 seconds. Take it out and lay it on the counter and wait until it is completely soft. While waiting you can soak the next wrapper. I seemed to be able to have two wrappers on my counter at any given time. Once the wrapper is soft you are finally ready to put everything together. It's so difficult to describe how to do this so here are some pictures to guide you. The photos are (obviously!) from left to right!

1. carrots, 2. cucumber, 3. tofu, 4. lettuce, 5. noodles, 6. coriander & mint

Now the big challenge... rolling up the roll. The good thing is that these things are very elastic and don't break very easily. If you are Sri Lankan, then roll it up just like a Chinese roll. If you have no idea what I am talking about it would be best to take a look at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfI1wMeDXhg starting at around 21 seconds. Some people like their summer rolls flat, but I like mine round!

You can make your rolls in advance and keep them on the counter for a couple of hours. However, they will stick together. Thus you should line them up so they don't touch each other and cover each layer with cling wrap. Finally cover everything with cling wrap to keep them fresh and moist until you are ready to serve. If you are going to cut them in half you should do this just before serving.

Now no summer roll would be complete without a dipping sauce. My favourite is a peanut sauce. You can either buy it in a bottle in any Asian market or you can make it yourself. Just put all the ingredients for the sauce in a blender and pulse until everything is combined. Alternatively mix with a fork.

Guten Appetit!