Waffles (German style)

At breakfast this morning, I realized that I don't have my waffles recipe here. We use this one all the time and got it from the elementary school that my kids attended. Once a month they had "Waffeltag" (waffle day). Us parents donated the batter and our time to make the waffles and then they were sold to the children for 50 cents. Your typical PTA fund raiser (although here the teachers are not involved in a PTA). My kids are long out of elementary school but we still use the same recipe. I have not yet found a better one. If you want to eat the waffles with curry leave out the sugar.

Preparation time: 35 minutes ; makes 8/12/16

Ingredients:

125/187.5/250 g	Butter - melted (works with margarine too, just does not taste as good)
50/75/100 g	Sugar
250/375/500 g	Flour
1/1/2 pkt.	Vanilla sugar (substitute with any type of vanilla flavouring)
3M/4L/6M	Eggs (M-medium; L-large), lightly beaten
1 pinch	Salt
1.5/2.25/3 tsp.	Baking powder
0.25/0.375/0.5 l	Milk (can substitute with soya milk)

Method:
This is super easy if you have a blender. You just put all the ingredients in the blender and pulse it until it everything is just combined.

Prepare some fruit to have with your waffles

My blender broke a couple of years back (so don't ask me why I still have it in my kitchen cupboard!) so I make my batter by hand.

The butter I melt in the microwave. This way the butter does not get over heated. If it gets overheated it has a tendency to cook the eggs, which is bad. So chop up the butter and microwave it for around 30 seconds. Then take it out and stir it. If it's not all liquid put it back in for another 15-20 seconds. Keep repeating until the butter is liquid.

Then put the sugar, flour, vanilla, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and mix briefly. Make a well in the middle and add the melted butter. Work the flour into the butter by stirring and slowly incorporating the flour from the edge of the well. Once you have a thick paste add the eggs and keep going. If you notice that it gets lumpy just mix more vigorously. Finally add the milk about 100 ml at a time, working it into the dough. You should end up with a non-lumpy batter.

Heat up your waffle iron and follow the irons instructions.

My waffle iron

When your waffles come out of the iron put them on a wire mesh. They will cool quicker but will not turn soggy. Its the same philosophy as with a toast rack.

Waffles on a sunny Saturday in Bochum!

The typical way to eat waffles in Germany is with icing sugar,

but we also like nutella with fruit and whipped cream.

Potato and Pea Curry - tempered

This is a curry without any gravy. In Sri Lanka we call it a tempered curry. It's not 100% authentic because peas don't grow in  Sri Lanka. Nowadays you can get frozen ones in the major supermarkets in Sri Lanka, but they are terribly expensive. I've seen dried peas as well, although I have never used them I am sure they would work fine if you soaked them and boiled them for hours! Of course if you don't have access to peas then you can just omit them.

Made with "normal" potatoes

Preparation time: 35 minutes ; serves 4 - 8 (depending on how many other curries you have)

Ingredients:

1.2 kg	Potatoes (or a combination of sweet potato and regular)
4 tbsp.	Oil
1 tsp.	Salt
2 tsp.	Coriander powder
1 tsp.	Cumin powder
1/2 tsp.	Tumeric
2	Green chilies, sliced
1/4 cup	French fried onions (Röstzwiebel)
1/2 cup	Peas (frozen or fresh)

Method:
If you live in Germany this is a very simple recipe! The Röstzwiebel are readily available in the store. In the USA they are called "French fried onions" and you can probably find a recipe to make them somewhere. Basically they are deep fried onions. The preparation time for this recipe does not take making the Röstzwiebel from scratch into account.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite sized chunks. Then boil them. My general experience is that if you put the potatoes in cold water and then bring them to the boil, that after boiling they take around 8 minutes to cook. However, this is highly dependent on  what type of potatoes you use. If you use a mixture of potatoes then boil each type separately to avoid over boiling. When your potatoes are done you should be able to poke a fork through them.

Drain the water and rinse under cold water.

Put the oil in a large wok and heat it. You can also use a frying pan. Keep in mind that you will not get a nice brown crisp on your potatoes if you use a non-stick. The best pan to use is a cast iron or aluminium one. Make sure it is well seasoned though, else the potatoes will stick.

Once the oil is hot add the potatoes and  toss until they are all covered with oil. Then add all the other ingredients and fry. Stir constantly until golden brown. And that is it!

Made with a mixture of "normal" and sweet potatoes

Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry (Wattakka)

Today I need to boost up some curries that I made yesterday. There is not quite enough for two more meals but too much for one. Oh I'm just realizing that us adults don't need lunch tomorrow because we have to go for an on site review at the university. With a bit of luck they will provide us with lunch. Actually I'm pretty sure that hubby will get lunch (he's higher up on the ladder). But I've started cooking my pumpkin so there is no going back now.

As you have probably read by now, I am not 100% Sri Lankan. So my mum never cooked traditional Sri Lankan food. Yes, she cooked curry but there were some things she would just not do. Either because they were too time consuming or because she didn't have the correct implements. Because of this we never had traditional pumpkin curry at home. I absolutely adored it and would stuff myself whenever I got it at my aunts homes. Generally pumpkin is not considered a fancy dish, so you don't get it when there is a celebration. It's more the type of food you get when you go home with your cousins and share whatever has been cooked. Even better if you were not expected!

Now I think I have finally found a way to cook the pumpkin somewhat like my aunts. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. The secret ingredient is ground brown mustard seeds!

Preparation time: 45 minutes ; serves 4 - 8 (depending on how many other curries you have)

Ingredients:

750 g	Pumpkin (any type, cooking  time may vary)
1/2 cup	Diced onions
1 tbsp.	Finely diced garlic
1/4 tsp.	Tumeric
1/2 tsp.	Chili powder (or to taste)
2	Green chilies, sliced
10	Black pepper seeds
	Water to cover
1 tsp.	Salt
1 sprig	Curry leaves
1/4 tsp.	Dill seeds
2 tsp.	Brown mustard seeds
1 cup	Thick coconut milk

Method:
Before you start note that the mustard seeds are NOT optional. You can leave out many things but not the mustard. You will also need a good grinder and a stone mortar and pestle. 

You can use any pumpkin you like to make this. The cooking time will of course vary according to which type you use. You can cook it with or without the skin, also depending on the type. In these pictures I used hokkaido pumpkin. You need to cut the pumpkin into cubes around 1 inch cube. The pumpkin will disintegrate if you cut it too small, which is also a reason why you might want to keep the skin on. In my case I removed the skin.

The first step is easy enough. Put all the ingredients except the mustard seeds and coconut in a pot. Do not put too much water. If you have too much water at the end this can be saved by using coconut cream or coconut milk powder. Cover and bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer (12 - 20).

While this is going on you can prepare the mustard. This is how I did it. I first put my seeds into the grinder attachment of my Sumeet (which is a really good, heavy duty Indian liquidizer/grinder) and ground until I had a kind of fine powder. You can probably do this in any spice grinder, or if you don't have one you can use a mortar and pestle or a 'miris gala'. Sadly to release the flavour that you need for this curry this powder is not enough. I put my powder into a granite mortar, added about a teaspoon of water (water is really important), and ground until I had a smooth paste.

You need 1 teaspoon of this paste. Save any extra paste that you may have, you can put it in sandwiches or any where else that you would use mustard. You must have a granite/stone mortar. It won't work with a wooden one. Believe me, I have tried!

Once your pumpkin is just about (al dente) cooked mix the mustard into the coconut milk and then into the pumpkin curry. If you use coconut cream from a can use about 1/2 cup adding some water, if necessary. If you use coconut milk powder it is best to pour out extra water that you might have in the pot and mix the milk powder with this water. Pumpkin is very watery, so the curry tends to become too liquidy very quickly. If you use fresh coconut milk then it will probably be a bit liquid, but on the other hand you've gained on the taste. Do not cover the curry. Bring to the boil and it is ready to serve.