Happy Deepavali!

Posted on October 26, 2008 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Last weekend was a busy time for the Lemongrass family as we bustled about the kitchen making traditional Deepavali goodies to be served on Deepavali Day.

As usual, I arrived equipped with my cameras, ready to document each step for the benefit of my readers.

“LL! Stop taking photographs and help out!” yelled my mum. Mum isn’t a big fan of my photography.

“But it’s for my blog. I neeeeeeeeed to take pictures!” I looked at her with my big brown eyes.

That plea didn’t work on mum. She pushed the muruku making device to me. “Here…help Kathy!” she growled.

After several attempts at making unbroken lengths of spiralled snakes, they gave up on me.

I was immediately given the less strenuous task of frying the muruku. Which meant that my face was going to look like the wok, dripping in oil, in a couple of hours time. What joy.

But I did the task well. Kinda. Note that muruku in darker shade was due to my spending time away from wok to take blog-worthy pictures for you, so no snarky comments from you, thank you.

After 5 hours of non-stop frying, I was almost a pro and ready to embark on my next challenge. Kara muruku. Whoopee. I can’t feel my toes.

Kathy, my talented sister-in-law, kneaded the dough while I…..well, I took photos. (Imagine nasty looks from mum, directed at me, at this point.)

Kathy then pressed out the dough straight into the wok in circular motions while I….well, I took photos.

As we waited for the kara muruku to cook, I took more photos.

I was eventually kicked out of the kitchen. But I must say I had a great time bonding with mum and sister-in-law for that 5 hours as we slaved away while making traditional Deepavali goodies the old fashioned way. (Note: Taking good photographs = hard work too.)

HAPPY DEEPAVALI, PEOPLE!

Thank you for the Traffic

Posted on October 21, 2008 by Lyrical Lemongrass

As much I love the rain, the constant torrential daily downpours are more repetitive than Astro and tend to mess things up. I’m late for performances. Cancelled dinner dates. And worst of all, horrendous traffic jams. So here is my rant about rain, sung to the tune of Abba’s Thank You For The Music (food posts will resume after this rant):

You think you’re special, in fact you’re a bit of a pour
If you give me a soak, I’ve probably felt it before
But you have a talent, a wonderful thing
Coz everyone shivers when they see your lightning
And your nimbostratus cloud
All you want is to thunder out loud

So I say
Thank you for the traffic, can you hear me screaming
I can’t stand in my shoes they’re squishing
I can live without it, I swear in all honesty
What would life be?
Without an umbrella, what are we?
So I say thank you for the traffic
And for soaking me thoroughly

You come like clockwork, it’s almost like you like to stalk
You start with a shower exactly when it’s 4 o’clock
And I’ve often wondered, is your thunder a fart?
You found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like flatulence can?
Well, whatever lah, you must be a man

So I say
Thank you for the traffic, gotta quit F1 racing
And take up a sport like fishing
Can’t you go Down Under, where they’re keeling o’er with despair
Why don’t you care?
They want to wash their cars, it’s unfair!
So I say thank you, but I’ve gastric
I’m starving in my Kenari.

So I say, let me eat my tomatoes
At least they’re melamine free.

An Almost Flourless Butter Espresso Chocolate Cake

Posted on October 17, 2008 by Lyrical Lemongrass

I have always admired the likes of Fatboybakes and the Just Heavenly duo. Witty, good looking, multi-talented and really amazing bakers. Just throw a bunch of ingredients at them, and they’re able to whip up something probably unpronouncable with Zs and Qs (notice how the more amazing the cake, the more the obscure consonants in the name?…which reminds me of this episode of Family Guy where Peter takes a shot in the dark at a Wheel of Fortune gameshow…the clue is Actor & Show and he comes up with Z, 4, Q, Q, Q and the batman symbol(!), then correctly guesses Alex Karras in Webster…hehehe).

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s me. I am a reluctant baker. (And talking about reluctant bakers, Bald Eagle calls me a reluctant PJ(Petaling Jaya)-driver ‘coz in all my years of driving (and mind you, I have an excellent sense of direction), I have refused to learn my way around PJ….but in my defence, PJ roads are stupid…they’re numbered but not in sequential order and I cannot embrace anything so illogical). Anyway, back to baking, my palms get clammy, and I start sweating the small stuff. To overcome this fear, I persuaded Aunt in Oz to teach me how to bake.

The first lesson was the Pav. I was worried that my success in baking a pavlova was merely beginner’s luck, so I embarked on another baking project immediately after that.

“This one’s easy,” Aunt said.

Of course, “easy” is relative. I’m the type of girl who can kill a cactus or guppies (longkang fish) effortlessly.

Step 1:
Chuck 200g dark chocolate, 150g castor sugar, 150g butter, 1 tablespoon strong espresso coffee and 1tablespoon rum/brandy in a bowl.

Step 2:
Sit the bowl in simmering water (i.e. double boil) until all the ingredients melt.

Step 3:
Remove from heat and stir well to combine 100g ground almonds/hazelnuts and 1 tablespoon of plain flour. Then beat in 5 egg yolks, one at a time.