It’s been a long time since I last did an asian food review and it’s about time I feature something really good to share with you. Now, though you do not see a lot of Indian food or recipes on this blog of mine, I am actually very fond of Indian food and eat Indian food weekly. Afterall, my office is located in a famous street in KL which houses some of the best Indian food found in KL.

Kohinoor is a new addition to this area, having shifted from its previous base in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. It is now located at the spanking new Capsquare Centre off Jalan Munshi Abdullah. Incidentally, Capital Square is now managed by BDRB, the developers (and managers, I think) of Bangsar Shopping Complex, so you get a fair idea of how this place is going to be marketed – chic, urban and with quality stuffs.

It is easy to go wild at the extensive menu found at Kohinoor (which by the way, means “Mountain of Light”) – more than 200 dishes to be exact, created by the able chef Primjit Namdeo Khaire from Mumbai and managed by the efficient and amiable Elias De Almeida. I have been to Kohinoor twice and have found the Murgh Nawabi absolutely irresistable.

Murgh Nawabi is a famous tandoori dish whereby boneless choice cuts of chicken are marinated in yoghurt, cashew paste, cottage cheese, white pepper and other spices for as long as 6 hours before expertly baked in the tandoor oven. It is usually served on a sizzling plate complete with generous portions of garden fresh vegetables though on this occasion, we had ours served on a plate. Dip the tender pieces of tandoor baked chicken in the special yoghurt and mint sauce for a complete taste and you’ll be grabbing for more.

Apart from the Murgh Nawabi, another unforgettable dish for me is the House Speciality – Raan E-Mastaan. If you are a lamb-lover, you must not miss this. Just like the Murgh Nawabi, the Raan E-Mastaan is a laborious dish to prepare where a leg of lamb is gently massaged with a clever combination of secret spices, pot roasted, smoked over charcoal, shredded, finished on a skillet and finally served on a sizzler. That is 3 cooking methods employed and the results are nothing short of fantastic. It is most unfortunate that my colleagues and I went for the “kill” before I took any pictures of this glorious dish.

Kohinoor is open 7 days a week and is located at 1st Floor, Capsquare Centre, Capital Square, No 7 Persiaran Capital Square, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 2691 2036

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Murgh Nawabi

If you live in Malaysia, you know that you are very lucky where FOOD is concerned. Malaysians are known for the special relationship that they have with food which is evident from the variety of savory dishes and sweets that one can easily find at every corner. This is especially so during the many festive seasons, one of which was only recently celebrated – Deepavali.

One of the favorite Indian sweets eaten during Deepavali is Sugared Ghee Balls, which is also popularly known as “Neyyi Urundai” or “Payatham Urundai”. True, compared to the other more gloriously colored sweets found during this festival, Ghee Balls do not get full points for looks. In fact, its unstimulating colour and simple shape may even be a “put off” for some. But, for many who have tried it, this sweet has easily become a favorite.

Making it from scratch is relatively easy. The only tricky part is pouring the hot ghee into the flour mixture and molding the balls into shape. One may find that the first few balls take a longer time to make than first anticipated. Don’t let your spirits down if you find this happening to you. Persistence pays off and it won’t be too long before you start getting the hang of it.

Once cooled, pop a ball into your mouth and enjoy the taste as it slowly crumbles into a wonderful sensory delight. You won’t regret it!

This is my recipe for Sugared Ghee Balls.
Ingredients

• 2 cups roasted mung beans flour
• Additional 1/3 cup roasted moong beans flour for coating
• 1 cup icing sugar
• about 10 roasted cashew nuts
• ghee
• 1/3 teaspoon salt

Method
If you are using unroasted moong beans flour, you must first dry roast it. Do this by heating a large frying pan or wok to low-medium heat. When the pan or wok is hot enough, pour in the flour and dry roast it until fragrant. Remove from heat and let the flour cool.

Mince the roasted cashew nuts into tiny pieces (but not ground) and keep aside.

Once the flour is cooled, pour it (2 cups) into a large dry mixing bowl. Add the icing sugar, minced cashew nuts and salt. Using a wooden spoon, mix all ingredients together.

On a separate large plate, put in the rest of the roasted moong beans flour (1/3 cup) for coating and keep aside.

When ready to make the ghee balls, heat a small quantity of ghee (approximately ½ cup first) in a small pan, on low heat. Don’t overheat the ghee, but it has to be reasonably hot. (As you use up the hot ghee, add more to the pan if required.) As you make the ghee balls, the ghee pan should remain on low heat close by.

Remember to be keeping an eye on it the whole time!

To make the ghee balls, use another wide shallow bowl on which you can comfortably work on. (I like to call this the sand-pit). Pour in half the mixed ingredient and loosely spread it around the bowl with your fingers. When you are ready to make a ball, heap a little of the flour (slightly more than what is needed for one ball) into the middle. With a small spoon, make a small ‘well’ in the middle of the heaped flour. The well should only go about 1/3 down the heap and not all the way! Pour in about 1 tablespoon of hot ghee into the well. You will notice that when the hot ghee is poured, the flour will sizzle a little. Using a spoon, slightly press the heap allowing for the oil to ‘catch’ the flour. Then, carefully, pick the oiled heap into your hands and compact it into a ball shape. You may find this a little difficult at first as the oiled flour can be hot.

Once you have made a ball, roll it around on the flour kept aside earlier, to coat it lightly. Keep the coated ball aside to cool.

As you use up the flour mixture in the ‘sand pit’, add more into it and continue the process till all the flour are used up.

Note: The amount of hot ghee you use to make a ball varies with the size of the ball you want. Adjust this quantity to your own liking.

This recipe is brought to you by our Guest Chef Spillay who blogs over at A Pot of Gold. Spillay is a Malaysian who currently resides in Australia with her husband and two gorgeous boys.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Sugared Ghee Balls

I had Roti Canai for breakfast this morning. I have it quite often…averaging at least once a fortnight. It’s a simple breakfast and cheap. You can get a piece for RM0.80 here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Roti Canai is essentially a type of bread wherein the dough is kneeded, flipped, stretched, laid thinly and finally folded into a square or slightly round. It is then cooked on an iron skillet till brown.

It is usually served with dhall or curry (chicken or fish). I like mine with curry and I usually start off by laying curry on the plate, followed by the Roti Canai and topped with another layer of curry.

Roti Canai is available in Malaysia and Singapore. I have not travelled to other countries in Asia …so I am not in a position to comment on their availability elsewhere.

Enterprising and creative cooks have come out with variants of the Roti Canai and have put in various types of fillings such as egg, sardine in ketchup, bananas, cheese, onions and kaya.

No Roti Canai will be complete without the Teh Tarik (or “pulled tea”). For more information on Roti Canai, check out the Wikipedia.

I now leave you with a Roti Canai recipe which I sourced from http://www.seberangflour.com.my.

Ingredient

• 500 gms Wheat flour, medium protein (Blue Ferry or Bintang)
• 15 gms Sugar
• 7.5 gms Salt
• 10 gms Condensed milk
• 10 gms Egg
• 10 gms Margarine
• 280 ml Water

Method

Dissolve sugar and salt in water. Add milk, egg and flour and blend well. Add the margarine.

Knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky. Divide dough into 70 gms pieces.

Shape the dough into balls and coat with margarine. Cover the dough and leave for about five hours or overnight.

Gently press the dough with palm, stretching it slightly. Hold the dough and stretch to expand the dough piece. Repeat this step for about eight times.

Finally you should get a piece of thin sheet of dough. Fold up or coil into a lump.

Leave the dough for ten minutes. Fry on both sides over medium heat until golden brown.

Serve Roti Canai with Curry.

Browse through more recipes of mine at the All Recipes page.

Roti Canai