How to make 'KUIH CARA MANIS'

                                                        

KUIH CARA MANIS

This is a traditional Malay kueh, a sort-of pancake-y dessert (the difference is the mould that it uses instead of a pan), and is typically served during tea-time. In the Ramadan month, it is much sought after at the Ramadan Bazaar. The thing is, it is so easy to make...most of the ingredients are the basics that we all have in our kitchen (flour, salt, egg, sugar, oil/ghee) and garden...screwpine leaf (daun pandan), coconut milk (if you have the tree..if not just get a can/carton ones!!) Here's the fuss-free recipe, try it, and you'll see what i mean...hey, presto! Easy-peasy!

KUIH CARA MANIS
ingredients:
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
5  pandan (screwpine) leaf (5 to blend)
1 egg
salt
oil / ghee  (to grease the baking mould)
granulated sugar

method:
1.) Using a blender, make a pandan juice using 1/2 cup water & pandan leaves. Strain and put the juice aside.
2.) In a bowl, mix the flour with the egg. Add the juice and coconut milk, and finally the salt (to taste).
3.) Heat the baking mould on the stove fire (either the cermai mould or any mould of your liking), brush them lightly with oil or clarified oil (ghee).
4.) Fill the each mould with half of the batter, and fill the centre with 1/4 teaspoon sugar. Pour some more batter until it reach the top of the mould. Cover the mould with a lid, preferrably an glass lid so that you could see what's happening inside. Wait for a a minute and check if the kueh is ready to be pick up.
5) How to know when the kueh is ready? Easy, use your fork and check the bottom of the kuih ~ if its brownish, and the top is already firm, its ready to be picked up. And start step 3-4 all over again.

THE BAKING MOULD PATTERN INFO:
*Just for your knowledge, the traditional baking mould are usually made with copper, which makes the cooking more faster and are heavier. It is usually passed on from mother to daughter, and I guess in this modern day it is more valuable because they just don't make the copper ones anymore. It is so hard to get and most people just display them as an antique furnishings and deco...hmmmm.
*The tin ones are available at most shops, and they are lighter. The modern girls are being cheated right....and I guess our daughters will only remember the tin ones as part of their childhood memories right...?
So sad....

Modern day tin mould. In the front is 'cermai' pattern mould, and
at the back is the 'belimbing' pattern mould.

A sample of copper 'cermai pattern' mould

Kuih cara in a mould

A 'belimbing' pattern kuih cara

A 'cermai' pattern kuih cara

of Gula Batu Rambutans & solitary mangosteen...

 We are going to KL today to take my mother in law visit her daughter there.  Yesterday we cleared the rambutan tree from its sea of red, ripe rambutans. The reason for this is because nobody will be here to eat them...so we took down every single fruit, bunched them up in tiny bundles and plastic bags and gave them to our neighbours. Otherwise, if we do not do that, we will end up with rotten fruits scattered on the yard when we were away. So I guess, we get to do some charity (sedekah) and at the same time making sure our yard will be clean when we get back from KL..oh, the genius behind this is mama...she always thinks ahead..

of  GULA BATU RAMBUTAN....

This year her rambutan tree is doing well. The breed of this rambutan is called 'Gula Batu' (Rock Sugar) because it is so sweet, and the flesh does not stick to the seed. She planted two varieties of the Gula Batu Rambutan ~ the small sized and the big sized type. This year, it is the big sized type that is doing so well and bear huge amount of fruit. The  small size type is still developing its fruit, perhaps it is still a young tree, and so the fruit is a bit late in blooming.
of SOLITARY MANGOSTEEN....
Unlike her rambutan tree, the mangosteen is not doing so well this year. Yesterday, I only got a single peace of mangosteen...well, one is better than nothing , right? ;)

A trip to the nursery

The wangi malam & in the background is the frangipani flower. 

Yesterday was a fun day. My mother-in-law wanted to buy a ready-grown frangipani tree for  her front porch. When I moved up to Kulim, I brought 2 pink frangipani tree that I had grown for the last few months and they are still relatively small. Since the trees will take at least a year to reach the height that she wanted, a ready-grown tree is ideal for this occasion. So, off we go looking for the perfect tree in a nursery near Bukit Mertajam. We stopped in a place called Machang Bubok, for our lunch. There was a roadside stall and its specialty was noodles! So I ordered a mee laksa, mama  prefered mee rebus special (with  additional beef) and anaz ordered laksa special (laksa with the addition of spicy beancurd sambal). They were delicious!! Even when I went home, I still could remember the tastiness of  that laksa! Now, writing about them have made salivating all over again...and  hopefully we could go there again tomorrow! Anyway, mama got what she wanted ~ the perfect pink  frangipani tree for only RM35.00 (the original price was 38, but we got a RM3 discount...). She also bought another tree for RM35 ~ I think it is called "wangi malam". No, it is not the harum sundal malam tree....this one is almost like jasmine tree, but the leaves are smaller, and the flowers are also smaller, although they are white ~ also similar to melor and jasmine. That night,  the flowers' scent could be smelled stronger that a normal air freshener, and they were amazing because at night the scent seemed to be more intense and the cool night breeze seemed to be carrying the smell across the house ~ I can smell them in the kitchen and also in the back garden...My mother in-law was so pleased that she was determined to get two more of this tree for her garden. I think I agree with her....and with that price, it will be   a really good buy! 

Pennywort Leaves (Daun pegaga)

My hubby & I arrived back in my hubby's hometown, Kulim, Kedah, almost a month late than our original plan. The garden that I left in my mother in-law's care seem to be making slow progress. Sadly, my watermelon & pennywort (pegaga leaf) didn't survived the snail attack (they seemed to like these two the best). The pennywort leaf  had actually been planted  on the vegetable bed and under the cool shade they seemed to be doing okay. However, I guess the slugs have been going at them while we were away and now we are left with the stalks and the roots only. I have replanted them (the roots) and this time I chose to place them in my mother in-law's antique flower pot and hope they will have a good chance to survive. I guess I'll have to look out for those slugs and keep them away with some salt, perhaps some egg shells to keep them away. Anyhow, for those who are interested to plant the pennywort leaves (cantella asiatica) or its common name in Malay 'Daun Pegaga'  in a container here's how:

1) Find your ideal pennywort  in the night market or wet market. Buy only the feshest bunch, and when you get home, place them in a jar of water to keep them fresh while you prepare for the next step.

 

2)What you need is a no-hole flower pot, or if you don't have them, a normal flower pot with a saucer underneath them. The pennywort loves water and they would grow best in a wet medium. So it is better to have a pot without a hole so that the water will always be sustained in the soil.

3) Fill the pot with soil of your choice ~ black soil/ mixed mixture/ clay-ish soil/Lempung (indonesian)...fill until 3/4 full.

4) Plant the pennywort bunch in the soil and fill the pot with water, and let the water rise above the soil level. Place the pot on your window sill, balcony or any shady area...as long as there are enough sun light for its green leaves....

5) Just remember to keep the water level above the soil to keep your plant happy!

What is it good for?

Here are some quotations on its medicinal values & health values:

"Medicinally, pennywort has a considerable reputation as a tonic. It is considered a blood purifier and good for eyes, nervous conditions, memory and arthritis. It is reported with some medical support that a paste is helpful in healing wounds and reducing scaring. It is also often applied as a facial for a more youthful appearance." ~www.clovegarden.com

"Richard Lucas claimed in a book published in 1966^[8](second edition in 1979) that a subspecies "Hydrocotyle asiatica minor" allegedly from Sri Lanka also called fo ti tieng, contained a longevity factor called 'youth Vitamin X' said to be 'a tonic for the brain and endocrine glands' and maintained that extracts of the plant help circulation and skin problems." ~ wikipedia

Final word, well, the herb has always been part of our local salad condiment, and even the ayurvedic treatment swears by them to keep the brain perky, the skin beautiful and youthful...So, why don't you start growing them today?  ;)

My garden is your garden...

It has been almost two months since we moved up north. We may have switched towns, but not our green fingers. I'm happy to say that my mother in law's garden now has some new greeneries, mostly herbs and everyday veggies. In the peace and tranquility of a new less fast-paced town, I have a very enjoyable time in the garden. This time, we purchased some green vegetable seeds and also some local herbs and plant them in the backyard. We're planning to get a goose to play security guard for the house (my hubby's sense of humor can be really funny sometimes). Meanwhile our previous house has been rented to my sister in law. Our old garden has been neglected for nearly two months and I'm happy to have somebody to look after it when my in law moved in. She has finally settled down and I have helped her to trim the tiny garden  and everything is at least okay for the time being. How they are going to look like in the future is totally up to her....

Anyhow, yesterday, my hubby cooked a Thai Red Chicken Curry using the herbs that I've planted ...he made used of the thai basil leaves, lemongrass, and chillies...and they were absolutely delicious. I made the spicy sambal belacan and as a salad condiment, I made use of the Ulam Raja Leaves that has grown taller than myself when we were away. What a spendid idea it was to plant them in my backyard! It was totally worth all the effort! And now, my sister in law will have a ready made herb garden for her to use and I hope she will have a great time using them as I have....