First post for 2010!

First post for 2010!

Hoorah!! I've finally written my first post for this new decade. I was totally drained by my previous job that I couldn't find any more brain (processor) power to blog. Yes, just in case you do not know, blogging is more than a hobby. It takes dedication and time to write a decent post.

Apologies for not following up on my wedding cakes. I do hope I can find some time soon to blog about it along with some more closeup pictures of the mini cakes.

For this post, I shall dedicate it to one of my favourite foods of all time - Roti Prata. It's not hard to find a link on this food item on Wikipedia which I'll attach here. That simple Indian pancake made from the usual ingredients of flour, water, egg and ghee (clarified butter) is simply to die for especially at 3am after a whole night of dancing at the club. From my observation, this dough is carefully mixed through in a large basin. Then the skillful Prata maker (for the lack of a better word) will divide them into palm-sized dough balls which are left to ferment (note that there is no yeast added) probably to develop the flavour as with most doughs. Before the frying the dough, the Prata maker will press the dough flat with his palm then flip it till it's paper-thin. This requires tremendous amount of experience as the dough must not be rip. Afterwhich, he would fold the 4 corners inwards to form a square piece of pancake. This will then be thrown onto a hotplate and fried with ghee till crispy. Once done, the Prata make will remove the pancakes and stack them on top of each other before giving them a good squeeze to give them a lighter texture. For additional ingredients, for example Egg or the more innovative Cheese, the ingredients are added before the pancake is folded.

Traditionally, the plain ol' Roti Prata is served with a dish of Kari Kambing (Lamb Curry). Now, the variants include the kids' favourite of white sugar to ice cream!

Recently a mate of mine has enlightened us that a "Plaster Prata" means a simple Plain Prata with a egg cracked on top once it's crispy!

Having gone on a short trip across the Causeway (Malaysia) this week, we have savoured the Roti Canai which is done in a similar fashion. What a wonderful experience with a plain pancake that can be enjoyed in many ways.. sweet or savoury. Roti Prata or Canai captures the hearts of many Singaporeans and Malaysians (and we have to include Croatian on the list now)!