Sri Lankan Mung Kavum

This too was a first for me but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

Here's the recipe

2 cups of mung flour (you can make this at home or purchase mung flour at any Indian grocery store. To make flour at home, purchase mung dhal, roast it in a pan, and grind until fine. If purchasing mung flour, be sure to roast that in a wok before using for the kavum)
1/2 cup of rice flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water

Batter
1 egg
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric

4 cups oil for frying

For the mung paste...

Sift mung flour and rice flour together. Place in kitchen-aid mixing bowl with dough hook. Start boiling the sugar to make a sugar syrup. Take off heat. Start the Kitchen Aid at level 2 and slowly start adding the sugar syrup to make a doughy mixture. The consistency should be close to bread dough. Once the syrup is mixed well with the flour, place the mixture in a flat cookie sheet and either roll it out or flatten it out until it is about 1/4" thick. Cut into diamond shaped pieces.

Make batter by combining the batter ingredients. Heat the 4 cups of oil over medium heat for 10 minutes. Dip the mung diamonds in the batter and drop in to hot oil to begin frying. Fry for 2 - 3 minutes or until they look done. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Let cool and enjoy!

Sri Lankan Kokis

So I made Kokis for the very first time and not to toot my own but it turned out pretty good! My mum and dad, who love kokis, said that I got the consistency, the shape, and taste, right on the money.

Here's the recipe
2 cups rice flour (home made) - soak 2 cups of white rice in water for 2-3 hours and blend
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 egg
1 tsp of turmeric
salt to taste
4-cups oil - for frying
Kokis Mold

Put oil in a deep pan and place on medium heat. While oil is heating, mix flour, coconut milk, salt, turmeric, and egg together. Place the kokis mold in the oil pan and let stand for 2 minutes. Remove mold and dip (not all the way) it in the batter. Be careful not to dip it all the way...it should be dipped deep enough for the batter to come up around the mold but not over. Place the mold with the batter in the oil pan. Hold for 15 seconds and start jiggling to remove the batter off the mold and into the oil. If it doesn't come off easy, use a long skewer to loosen the batter off of the mold. Once off, let the kokis fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and let cool.

I went through two batches of batter before i got the consistency and the taste right. If you don't get it right the first time, keep experimenting until you master it. Good luck.

My Tapas Party

I recently hosted a tapas/tasting party. I went all out to make some of my favorites and the friends that I entertained absolutely LOVED every dish. What did I make? Lets see...

Spicy Thai-style bbq chicken wings with home-made yogurt sauce
Creamy roasted garlic mash potatoes topped with braised short ribs
Roasted potato rounds topped with creme fraiche and caviar
Cajun shrimp with cucumber cream in cucumber cups
Olive Tapanad on french baguette rounds
Sliders
Endive leaves topped with Thai chicken saute
Mini caprese salads (mini mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes, olives, and basil)
Toasted baguette rounds topped with smoked salmon
And a few other dishes

And then came the desserts...

Mini, individual, chocolate mousse cups
chocolate covered strawberries
mini trifles
mini cheese cakes

Coffee & Tea

I will be posting recipes soon.