Savory Asian Egg Rolls

 I enjoy getting Chinese take out when I am in no mood to cook, but the one thing I never order are egg rolls.  I find by the time they get home the egg rolls are soggy, oily and usually too bland for my taste.  So I wanted to find a good egg roll recipe and I came across this food blog called Steamy Kitchen, by Jaden Hair.  Her blog is amazing and full of gorgeous Asian recipes.  I found her Mother's Famous Chinese Rolls and I knew I had to give them a try.  I did make a few changes, but I was so very pleased at the end result.  These were some amazing egg rolls.  

You will need:
One bunch green onions chopped
2 carrots finely grated
2 cups shredded cabbage ** see note below
1 tbs of grated ginger
2 cloves of garlic minced

** here is a quick tip for the cabbage: get help from the store by buying a bag of pre-cut coleslaw

 

 Egg Roll wrappers. This was the only kind of egg roll wrappers available in my local grocery store.

Next time I will go to the Asian Market and get the frozen wrappers that are thinner and crispier that Jaden recommends.  But these are still good in my opinion.

One pound of lean ground pork.  You will need to marinated the pork for 10 minutes in:
1 Tbs of soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sugar
black pepper

 Heat a wok or large saute pan over high heat. In one Tbs of oil saute' pork until no longer pink

For the filling you will need to prepare the following sauce:

1Tbs Chinese rice wine
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
pepper

 Add vegetables and sauce. Stir fry for a few minutes until vegetables are tender.

You must cool the filling before proceeding to make the egg rolls. A great tip Jaden gives is to put it on a baking sheet and spread it out then tilted the cookie sheet so if there was any liquid in the filling it would drain out. I luckily had no liquid in my filling. But if you do, discard the liquid because you don't want liquid to make the egg rolls soggy.

Step one: fill wrapper with one teaspoon of filling.

Step 2:  fold corner over and roll tightly












Step 3: Fold sides over  

Step 4:  Roll tightly and seal the edge with water.

Have all egg rolls done before frying.  Do not lay on top of each other so they don't stick together.

 

Fry each egg roll until golden brown. You want your oil hot (about 350 degrees), but not scorching hot.

Serve and Enjoy.  

To see Jaden's Recipe please visit: My mothers-famous-chinese-egg-rolls-

Copyright: All content (otherwise mentioned), photos and text are property of Curry and Comfort and cannot be used without permission

Thai Lettuce Wraps

The first time I tried Lettuce Wraps was at a popular Chinese restaurant.  I could not believe how simple the dish was, but it was still so flavorful and delicious.  I tried to come up with my own version of lettuce wraps, but with my favorite Thai flavors.

Brown 1lb of lean ground meat.  You can use any kind you like (Chicken, Beef, Turkey).  I used pork.  Once meat is brown then add:
2 Tbs of grated ginger
1 Tbs of grated garlic
1 small can of water chestnuts chopped
2 jalapenos (seeded) chopped
scallions chopped **white part only
Cook 3-4 minutes.

Note:  Reserve the green part of the scallions for garnish to be used later.

Now add a handful each of fresh mint leaves and Thai Basil chopped.  Cook for another 1-2 minutes.






The Sauce:

1 Tbs of Chili Sambal (or red pepper flakes to taste)
1 tsp of Sesame Oil
2 Tbs of Fish Sauce
2 Tbs of Soy Sauce
2 Tbs of Rice Vinegar
2 Tbs of Chinese cooking wine or dry Sherry
1/2 tsp brown sugar

Note:  Soy Sauce and Fish Sauce are used as salt in Thai and Chinese cooking.  So if you are not a fan of salt adjust your dish accordingly.

Add the sauce to the meat and stir fry 5 minutes.  You don't want too much liquid left in the pan otherwise you will have soggy lettuce wraps.

Wash and dry your favorite lettuce.  I used Bib Lettuce because it comes in a nice "cup" shape.  You can use Iceberg, Romaine etc...

You can place about 1-2 Tbs of meat filling on each lettuce leaf.  Garnish with green scallions and chopped peanuts.

Enjoy as an appetizer to any Asian style meal.  This is also a great snack.

Masala Vadai (Fried Spicy Lentil Fritter)

This South Indian fried snack is popular in India and Sri Lanka.   It is mainly made with Channa Dal (Lentils) and chilies.  Once you start eating these delicious savory fritters, you may not be able to stop.

The first step to making your Masala Vadai is to soak your Lentils.  You will want to soak them for 6-8 hour or overnight.  You can see that the dry lentils on the left soften and increase in size as they are soaked.  I soaked 3 cups of lentils for this dish overnight.

Drain your Channa Lentils well and divide into 2 parts.  In a food processor grind/pulse one half of the lentils into a semi-fine  paste.  Coarse grind the other half of the lentils (leaving some lentil pieces almost whole. Add them together in a bowl.

Now add the spices and aromatics:
1 medium size onion finely chopped
2 Tbs of dried red chili pieces (or to taste)
20-30 curry leaves torn into pieces
2-4 green chilies (Serranos) chopped finely
2-3 garlic cloves grated
1 inch of ginger grated
1 Tbs of red chili powder (or to taste)
Salt (to taste)

Now mix all these ingredients with the pulverized Channa Dal/Lentils.

 Form the Masala Vadai a little smaller than a golf ball size and shaped into a patty.  I placed them on a microwave safe plate because the next step is to pre-cook them in the microwave.  **I got this tip from another recipe and it works great.  You will microwave about a dozen vadai for about 2 minutes (depending on your microwave).  They will become firmer to the touch (but not hard).  This also cuts down on the frying time.

Heat canola oil on med-high heat and when hot start frying 3-4 vadai at a time until fully cooked.  I cooked them for about 2 minutes in the hot oil.  You don't want your oil too hot so not to burn the vadai.  Test out the first batch and adjust the heat of the oil accordingly.  Drain on a paper towel and continue frying.

Serves as an appetizer or simply a snack.   Yields about 30-40 vadai depending on the size. Enjoy.

Healthy Carrot Bread

I am not the greatest baker, but this carrot bread is quick and easy to make.   The main ingredients include whole wheat flour, carrots, applesauce and walnuts so you can feel good about eating this sweet treat.

1 cup grated carrot 

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
(to toast walnuts, bake in oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees)

 Mix together wet ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar (to lower the sugar content, I did use half a cup baking splenda and half a cup regular sugar)
• 3/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

 Mix together the dry ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• pinch of salt

 

Mix all ingredients together well with a mixing spoon.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat loaf pan with vegetable spray and then dust with flour.  Pour into pan and bake for 50 minutes or until done.

 

Slice and serve.  Enjoy the bread for breakfast, as a snack or even with a meal.  

 Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. 

Spicy Indian Snack Mix

My family loves to munch on a spicy snack while watching TV.  A favorite is the spicy snack mixes you get at Indian stores.  Unfortunately, those snack bags cost a lot and are full of fried ingredients.   This is a great cost effective (price per ounce) way of recreating that fun and spicy snack mix without all the fat and calories.

To make about 4 1/2 cups of cereal , you will need 4 cups of dry cereal.  The best cereals to use have no sugar like plain cornflakes, cheerios, chex rice cereal, rice crispies.  I used a high fiber cereal here as well. You can use as many kinds of cereal or just two kinds if it's more cost effective for you.

You will need the following seasoning and spices:
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1/4 cup of curry leaves (torn apart)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 salt tsp (or to taste)
pinch Asafoetida (this is an Indian ingredient used a lot in cooking)  You can omit if necessary.
3/4 tsp mango powder (substitute well ground citric acid if mango powder is not available).
1/2 cup raw peanuts

** mix all the dry spices(highlighted above) in a bowl and have it waiting for the final step

Optional Ingredients:

2 green chilies minced (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Heat 1 tbs of oil (I used canola) in a large frying pan on medium-high heat.  Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves to fry in the hot oil for about 30 seconds.

  Add raw peanuts and fry until slightly golden (for about 1-2 minutes (careful not to burn the ingredients).

Add your four cups of cereal and toss with all the frying ingredients so the oil coats the cereal.

Quickly sprinkle in the dry spice ingredients and toss with all ingredients until all the cereal is well coated.  Turn heat off stove and get cereal chivda out of pan into a bowl to cool to room temperature.   ** Careful not to burn **

Note: All the  ingredients taste great right out of the pan except the peanuts.  You have to let the peanuts reach room temperature to become crunchy again.

Makes 4 1/2 cups or more...  You can store in an air tight container or ziploc bag.  Enjoy.

Easy Sri Lankan Malu Paan (Bread Rolls with a Savory Fish filling)

These bread rolls are a favorite treat for picnics and sporting events.  They pack up easy and are enjoyable hot out of the oven or even at room temperature.  The filling here can be exchanged for any type of filling you like.  You can make the fish filling suggested here or try something new.  Here are some suggestions:  savory meat filling with potatoes, barbecue meat filling, vegetable filling, pizza filling or even a spicy onion filling called Seeni Sambal.   The fillings are endless, but the method is the what is quick and easy.

This is what makes the bread rolls so easy-- Pillsbury Grands Biscuits.  I am not sure if they are available world wide, but if they are available to you, I hope you try them out in this type of recipe.

 

The trick is to roll the biscuit out into a flat round with a rolling pin.

Fill your flat round dough with about a tablespoon of filling towards one end of the round.  If you want to try the fish filling in the recipe here is the link to the filling:  Sri Lanka Fish Cutlets

Fold over the dough and seal the edges with a fork.

Cover each roll with an egg wash on top before baking .  An optional step is to sprinkle some  un-toasted sesame seeds before baking.  Bake on a greased baking sheet at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

 Yields 16 bread rolls.  Enjoy.

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.