Nasi Goreng - Indonesian Fried Rice

I love my new camera!! The best feature is its low light performance. I cook mostly in the evening or at night and could never take a decent picture (I don't have a lightbox) and my previous camera never did justice to the food. That problem is solved now!! Ofcourse the best pictures are still captured in natural light, but when there's none, a good great camera definitely helps. These pictures were taken on a cloudy, gloomy day when there was no sun  in sight and they are not bad at all. I thank Manoj every day for the best gift ever :)!!
I have been a little busy recently, have so many posts in my drafts and I had another one ready when I realised that the deadline for Taste and Create is this weekend. I was paired with Corina from Searching for Spice. There were a couple of sweet dishes I had decided to try but in the end I chose this yummy rice dish (been having too much dessert lately!!). The only change I made was to add some leftover rotisserie chicken. A wonderful one pot meal, with all my favorite things in it!!

Nasi Goreng

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup basmati rice
3 shallots, finely chopped
1" piece of ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 small chilies, finely chopped
1 tbs chili sauce (I used siracha)
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 red pepper, cut onto small strips
15 green beans, chopped into 1" pieces
1 chicken breast, cooked and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup small cooked shrimp
2 tbs oil
salt to taste
spring onion greens for garnish

Method:
Cook the rice. When still warm, separate the grains with a fork and keep aside to cool completely.
Heat a little oil in a wok. Beat the eggs lightly and add to the pan. Sprinkle some salt. Flip after a couple of mins and cook till done. Remove and keep aside. When cool cut into strips.
Heat the remaining oil in the same wok. When smoking hot, add the shallots, ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute and then add the vegetables and little salt. Fry for about 2 mins and then add the shrimp and chicken and fry for another minute. Add the sauces and mix well. Add the rice and fry till well combined and heated through.
Serve hot topped with green onions and omelette strips.

Wheat and Jaggery Cake (Eggless)

Happy 2012 everyone! My first post of the year is this wonderful snack cake. I was blog hopping looking for something, when I saw this cake at Spicy Chilly. Jaggery and wheat flour are amazing together and they make a very delicious moist cake, plus kind of guilt free too. I added a little cardamom to enhance the flavor. This is definitely one of my favorite cakes now, so easy to make and perfectly suited to our Indian tastes.

Wheat and Jaggery Cake

Ingredients:

200 gms wheat flour

1/3 tsp cardamom powder

1 cup jaggery, (grated and loosely filled)

1 cup milk, plus a little if the batter is too thick

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350F/ 180C. Grease a small bundt pan.

Sift the flour, cardamom powder, baking soda and baking powder three times. Add the jaggery and combine gently.

Add the milk, vanilla and oil and mix gently with a spatula. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean.

Sending this cake to Bookmarked Recipes, Vardhini's Bake Fest hosted by Pradnya 

Here's wishing all my readers A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

2011 was a fabulous year and I hope 2012 will be too. The years are flying by, all the more reason to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment.

May the new year bring in happiness, good health, peace and prosperity!!

Fruit and Nut Cake - Lowfat and Vegan

Only four days left and I couldn't wait any longer to eat some fruitcake. I do have a batch of fruits soaking in the fridge for a cake I plan to bake in a couple of days and ship to my brother. This cake I made just for us. What I love about this recipe is that there's no oil or butter and there's jaggery and whole wheat flour and tons of fruits and nuts and they don't really have to be soaked in advance. The only labor involved is the chopping of the nuts and fruits. The flavor of the cake gets better as it matures, but I had to take pictures so we cut the cake the same day, yet it was rich and moist. This cake is a wonderful guilt free treat!

Recipe from Jugalbandi.

Vegan Lowfat Fruit and Nut Cake

Ingredients:

100 gms dark raisins

125 gms mixed dried fruit, chopped

225 gms mixed nuts, roasted and chopped 

1/2 cup rum

1 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup applesauce/ oil

1/2 cup grated jaggery

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 tsp nutmeg powder

1/3 tsp cinnamon powder

1/3 tsp cloves powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp orange/ lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

Take the dried fruits, water, rum, applesauce, sugar, jaggery, spice powders, salt and orange zest in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Take off from heat and add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C and grease a 12 cup bundt pan.

Whisk the flour and baking soda together. As soon as the dried fruits mixture comes to room temperature, fold in the flour and nuts. 

Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 35 - 40 mins or till done in the center of the oven.

Cool in the pan for 10 mins and then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

Brush the cake with some rum if desired and store covered in the fridge. The flavor of the cake improves after a couple of days.

Notes:

1. Use dried fruits and nuts according to your taste. I used 50 gms currants and 25 gms each of dates, apricots and prunes. I also used a mixture of almonds and walnuts.

2. If whole wheat pastry flour is not available, use half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.

3. I used jaggery for better color and taste. You could also use all brown sugar.

4 For an alcohol free version skip the rum and use orange juice instead.

Sending this to  Cakes for Christmas, Let's Cook-Baked Goodies, Cooking Concepts-Holiday Baking, Christmas NewYear's Eve 2011, Bake Fest, Only Cookies and Cakes, Serve it Baked Sweet, Jingle All the Way.