Sunday, June 27, 2010

Of Macarons and Curry Chicken



Been a very long while since mummyji last posted here... blame it on facebook.. :P


well, guess it's about time to return!


and when better than today, when mummyji succeeded in making macarons! YAY!!!
These babies were the 2nd batch made... the very 1st attempt was a flop, which after some internet researching, mummyji joins fellow bakers in blaming it on the recipe, which called for 3 egg whites. Way too much fluids there, and then, one can also blame it on her own impatience, for not having beaten the meringue to a stiff mix.

Anyway,the first batch ended up looking like flat cookies, which is what they're being passed off as right now, hahaha...
they're quite nice added to mascarpone cheese and fig jam though... the flat almond meringue cookies serve as deco as well as added some nice crispy and chewy bits to the dessert.. great with a cuppa freshly made macchiato!


so anyway, Mummyji did quite a fair bit of surfing and found many good souls who had made many a batch of macarons and who were selfless enough to share their experiences online... these angels are mummyji's champions.... they made mummyji see the light, that macarons are divas, and one has to be meticulous with their preparation..


so off Mummyji went, in search of a basic kitchen scales, to weigh the egg whites, then adjust the rest of the ingredients according to the ratio


1.3: 1.6: 1: 0.8 (Almond meal: sugar powder: egg white: castor sugar)...


this was gleaned from a lovely website providing terrific information


http://www.syrupandtang.com/200712/la-macaronicite-2-basic-technique-and-simple-macaron-recipe/


and it worked!! Mummyji sat in front of the oven like an anxious mum, and the babies did not disappoint... they developed their pieds dutifully, as they should...

So they aren't exactly perfect, like the professional things, but they're Mummyji's first successful batch!! Woohoo!!

and you know what? 'tis true when all the other chefs and bloggers say to leave the macarons for 12-48 hours before eating them.. for they were pretty crunchy cookie sandwiches when freshly made, but after a couple of hours of being stored in an airtight container in the fridge, they actually have the chewy centre that the REAL macarons ala paris have!



Hopefully they'll be even better tomorrow.. ;)

And today too, was the day mummyji actually tried her hands in cooking curry!
Double woohoo! and right from scratch too, mind you, no store-bought curry powder or any instant stuff here...AHEM!

mummyji's got a book from the library, a brand new release actually..
Miss Masala by Mallika Basu...




Well, mummyji was so inspired by the author's kitchen exploits and masala experiments that she just had to cook a pot of Kerala Chicken Curry too!

so off we went to the supermarket to hunt down the list of spices:
Chilli powder- checked
coconut milk - checked
turmeric powder - checked
coriander powder - checked
chicken - checked
onion, tomato, garam masala, ginger and garlic - stuff we have at home

The curry leaves and fennel seeds had to be sourced from the wet market though... can't believe the supermarket didn't even stock those! And it's called a Hypermart, for what, Mummyji asks?!!
'Twas a truly claustrophobic experience there at the hypermart...seriously, trying to navigate through the throngs of people and trolleys finding all the stuff on the shopping list was no simple feat! You would think that the entire population of AMK had decided to have a day out at Fairprice today... Sheesh!

Ok, enough complaining...
so back home, after the success with the macarons, mummyji happily pounded the ginger and garlic into paste, and went on with her curry cooking which would be our dinner..

there were some tweaking of the recipe, as usual, like instead of skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, mummyji used drumsticks and mid joints, with skin and bones all in...

however, mummyji stuck true to the rest of the recipe, with the exception of adding in 2tsp of chilli powder instead of the very meek 1/2 tsp Ms Masala recommends... in fact, Mummyji's just thrown in 2 cut chilli padi to the rest of the pot, since the babes had complained that mummy's curry wasn't spicy enough.
so here we are, Chicken Curry Kerala, as cooked by Mummyji...



a hearty pot of curry, cooked with lots of love and not too much sweat... this is a recipe for keeps!



2 comments:

Mallika said...

Looks lovely mummyji! Can you send me some macaroons?

mummyji said...

Thanks, Mallika! :D
However, the macarons are all gone..next batch, maybe?
:P