Sunday, October 19, 2014

Cucur Jawa (Javanese Fritters)



Here's an old favourite snack called Cucur Jawa, cucur basically means fritters and Jawa is Javanese. It's a dish from the Island of Java, I can safely assume from the name. The Javanese came over to Malaysia or what was Tanah Melayu (the Land of the Malays) as early as the 7th century, you can read about this here . My late father loved this dish, maybe it had something to do with his Indonesian roots, although his ancestors were from the Acheh Islands not Java.

Regardless of its origin, this dish has become part of the Malaysian fabric of great comfort food. I am just happy to have been blessed with a recipe that literally landed on my lap yesterday, I just had to try it when I saw how easy it was.


Ingredients:

250 gm plain flour
50 gm rice flour
100 ml hot water + 225 ml cool water.
200 gm brown sugar
50 gm raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 blades of Pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)

Directions:



1. Add 100 ml of water into a pot with brown sugar and raw sugar and with pandan leaves knotted.
2 When the sugar water has boiled, add 225 ml of cold water and mix thoroughly, leave for a while to cool.
3 Add in flour + rice flour and salt in a large bowl and strain the sugar water into it and stir until just blended.
4 Put in a sealed container and leave overnight on your kitchen bench.
5 Heat oil in a wok until 2/3 full until oil is hot, but not smoking.
6 Stir the mixture that was left overnight, spoon the mixture into a small ladle and pour in the middle to form a round cake.
7 The mixture will float and the oil will bubble, turn when the bubbling receeds (after about 40 seconds. You can tell the mixture and the heat is right when the middle of the fritter is raised and the lips are formed (see above picture).
8 Remove and drain.

9 Ready to be served.

Great snack for afternoon tea and we actually dip this in our hot tea or coffee. Enjoy!!




Beignets



How time flew, and over a year has passed since my last post, we are now approaching the end of 2014. On a personal level, it has been a tough year as I have lost my dear Mom unexpectedly in July. May Allah bless her and grant her Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen.

I want to continue sharing recipes because I want to continue her food legacy and how she inspires me with her lovely cooking, and how it has nourished me while I was growing up. Food brings families and friends together, and sharing some of her recipes here hopefully will achieve that.

Anyone who has been to New Orleans must have had the sublime beignets of Cafe Du Monde. Those who plan of going there please do not skip the oportunity to taste these soft, melt in your mouth pillow shaped doughnuts. You can read about them here. Notice even Wikipedia uses Cafe Du Monde's beignet as a reference for with this french dessert.

So I did my search on the net as usual for recipes and tried this one out, I halved the original measurements and an important tip to note is the punching of the dough after it has risen.

Do try this out for a nice morning or afternoon snack, and trust me it is not that hard of an attempt for any amateur cook like me to master. Happy Trying!


Ingredients

1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon yeast
 1/4 cup shortening (I use Western Star salted butter)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 egg, beaten
3 3/4 cups flour
1/2 quart vegetable oil for frying
 1 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, evaporated milk, and blend well. Mix in 4 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Add the shortening, and then the remaining 3 cups of flour. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.
Take out dough after about 2 hours and punch the dough to give it another chance to rise again. This way the beignet will turn out fluffier.
Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 1/2 inch squares. Fry in 360 degree F (180 degrees C) hot oil. If beignets do not pop up, oil is not hot enough. Drain onto paper towels.
Shake confectioners' sugar on hot beignets. Serve warm with a cup of black coffee!