Step-by-step, No grind Thosai (Dosa)

Growing up, thosai and idli with chutney, thuvaiyals (thick stoneground chutneys) or sambhar was a breakfast staple. I’d never seen a cereal box until I was a school-going, 7 year old girl! In the 80s, my maternal grandparents sold thosais and chutneys. So, everything was made-from-scratch because it was cost effective and practical as the…

Singapore-style Curry Chicken Noodles

A rainy day, a food love story fuelled by greed and a sort of happy ending That fateful rainy day: It was a nondescript evening. We had no dinner plans as yet and because it had been raining all day, a bowl of chicken curry mee sounded like the perfect cure to an uneventful day….

Crispy Malaysian Pancakes (Crispy Apam Balik)

  The mere mention of Apam Balik (Malay) or Min Chiang Kueh (Mandarin) evokes a sense of nostalgia in many Singaporeans and Malaysians. So adored and relished is this childhood tea time treat that there are variations of this versatile pancake all across South East Asia – a namesake fluffier, yeasted version and  Murtabak Manis…

Making Sabudana Khichdi with Aunty Meena Newaskar (Melting Pot #2)

For the second feature of my blog series ‘Melting Pot’ , I’ve interviewed my childhood friends’ mother, Mrs Meena Newaskar, who was kind enough to share the recipe for her daughter’s (my friend Neeti) favourite – Sabudana Khichdi and how she learnt to create this popular breakfast and snack originating from Maharashtra. Sabudana, also known…

Salted Milk Caramel Fudge Brownies

  I’m not quite sure when I ate the first brownie but it must have been from a bakery in my neighbourhood. I remember that I was not particularly pleased with its cakey, dry texture and weird tasting walnut. But then, later in my teens, I discovered the Betty Crocker brownie box mix and my…

Caramel Chai Hot Cross Buns

It was an emotional week of national mourning in Singapore after the passing of our first Prime Minister and founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. The previous week had mostly been spent between reading numerous articles and poring through the avalanche of photographs of tearful Singaporeans paying their last respects. It was pretty traumatic and…