Nice & Easy Tomato Rice

It's fasting month, and one of a 'must-have' menu for my family is Tomato Rice :) No, we don't eat this every day, but my kids love this, they would eat a few helping. It's even nice on it's own. You could easily get the instant mixed packet, or could even do it yourslef, it's not that troublesome, really! The usually dishes that accompany it is Ayam Masak Merah (a mild chilli gravy chicken dish), or Kurma Daging (a brownish type of curry), or Ayam Madu (a sweeter version of Ayam Masak Merah which you add honey in the end), or Dhalca (a type of dhal curry with mixed vegitables, also could add either chicken, beef or lamb), and some veggies (sometimes added with pineapple) called Acar which is sweet and sour.

Here's my version of Tomato Rice:

3 cups of rice (preferably long grain)
3 diced fresh tomatoes
3 tbsp of tomato sauce/ketchup
1 can of tomato soup
1/2 can of evaporated milk
2 tbsp of ghee (could be replaced with butter)
3 cups of water
2 pandan leaves (if big size, just use one)
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
3 cardamom
3 clove
2 garlic and 1/4 onion blended
1 tsp salt

In the rice-cooker pot, melt ghee/butter, add in the mixture of blended garlic and onion, and all the herbs. Then, add in all the tomatoes (diced, soup and sauce/ketchup), mix them well before you pour in the milk. Mix again. Once nicely done, add in pandan leaves, salt and rice, and again you have to mix them well before adding in water. You can transfer the pot into the rice cooker and let it cook. Please remember to keep watching over it and fold the rice times to times so that it will mix evenly. Scatter some fried onions on the rice before serving.

Notes:
You could also replace 1 cup out of the 3 cups of water with chicken or beef stock, or else just use the instant cubes :) The original recipe include 1/3 cup of peas and and 1/3 cup of raisins, but my kids do not like them so they were excluded. You could add them in before transferring the pot to the rice cooker.

Double Strawberry Muffins

Another muffins that I've tried and my family simply lurrrrrrrrrrve these! The original recipe 1 cup of chopped strawberries but the first time I made it I used 2 and it was a hit! The 2nd time I made it I used 1 1/2 of quartered strawberries as I was too lazy to chop and also due to the size of the fruit since it's quartered. You can use strawberry or raspberry or orange yogurt drink to make it even tastier, or just use plain milk or yogurt if you prefer.

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk or yogurt drink or yogurt
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar (can be replaced with white sugar)
1 3/4 cup of flour or self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder (if you are not using self raising flour)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chopped strawberries (can be reduced)

Mixed butter, egg, milk/yogurt and sugar. Then add in flour with baking powder and salt or the self raising flour. Using sifter, add in the strawberries and mix slowly and carefully. Bake for 18-22 minutes depending on your oven.

Herb Cheese Muffins

My lil sis complained that I've abandoned my cook blog *grin* so since I have some time today, I'm updating as much as I could first :) I'm passionate about muffins nowadays, due to it's very easy and my kids love them, been taking those as snacks to school.

I first tried this muffin when I was in Japan, it's my foster mom's original recipe which she said she created herself. Personally, I love her Maccha Muffins (Green Tea) more but my hubby loves these, and I really regretted not getting the recipe before returning to Malaysia. I tried creating this myself, but I used grated cheese instead of dried powdered ones like my mommy used. It turned out saltier, tasted also a bit different than hers, but I guess it's ok since my hubby still like it :) You can still replace the cheese with the powdered ones, it'll be drier and less salty if you like it that way like me, but if you love cheese buns, you'll love using grated cheese. Enjoy!

3 cups self raising flour
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 cup cheese (powdered or grated)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
* 1 tsp chives (optional)

Mixed butter, egg and milk together. Add in flour and spices. If you are using an electric mixer, turn it off before adding the cheese. Sift cheese in till all are mixed evenly. Bake between 17-25minutes depending on your oven, or when the toothpick comes out clean if you poke in the middle.