Homemade yoghurt.  You have too much time on your hands?  Not enough to have homemade kids?

Surprising contrary to what I used to believe, homemade yoghurt was unbelievebly easy to make.  The inspiration come from my lovely colleague and good friend, C.  She packed her delicious India lunches and they always come with a nice healthy tub of homemade yoghurt.

I got the recipe off her and finally found time to make it.  It took me less than half an hour to prepare and the rest was just waiting.  The result was a smooth soft natural yoghurt that tasted natural and fresh.  No additives, colourants or sweeteners.  The boys in my family were lukewarm but my husband and daughter absolutely loved it!  We put it on fruits, lentils curry, muesli, cereals or just eat it plain.  And it was half the price of what it would have been if I had gone out to buy it.

Here’s what you need to do.

Ingredients
1 cup full fat milk
1 teaspoon natural yoghurt.

1. Bring the milk to boil and simmer it to boil for 2 min. Let it cool down until it is lukewarm.
2. Pour into a clean container. Add a teaspoon of natural yoghurt and leave it over night.
3. If you want yoghurt to be ready in 3 hours, make sure milk is just hot enough to touch.
4. Pour it into small cups of 50 ml and put it inside in a warm covered place, for example the microwave oven. The results will be fresh and will not be sour.

Enjoy your weekend with a fresh tub of homemade yoghurt!

 
I am starting a series of my favourite recipes, or recipes that have been given raving comments by family and friends.  Every Friday, you will be introduced to the diet of the Leong family.  Trust me, these will be recipes that are simple (alright occasionally I might do a finicky one) and quick to make.  Remember the 4 kids that I have? 

This first recipe is roti jala, paired with the family favourite of curry chicken.  You can use any curry of your choice.  It is not easy to find this dish in Singapore, although it is widely available in Malaysia.  Google “roti jala” and you will find pictures of the mould, videos of how it is made and even different versions of the recipe.  I found this 2 links very helpful and I took my recipe from Rasa Malaysia, with some of my own modifications.  Still turned out divine!  The videos and tips from The Mini Sam Tan Kitchen was great for those who need something more visual!

Rasa Malaysia – Roti Jala and Malaysian Curry Chicken Recipe
The Mini Sam Tan Kitchen - Roti Jala (Malaysian Lacy Coconut and Tumeric Crepes)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1. Sieve the flour and set aside.
2. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients well together (except the oil) and strain the batter.
3. Add in 1/2 tablespoon of oil and set aside.
4. Heat up a pan with medium heat and grease it with some oil.
5. Pour some batter into the mold and transfer the mold to the pan.
6. As the batter flows through the holes of the mold, make circular rounds around the pan to form the netty patterns.
7. After the top is set and done or when the bottom turns light brown, transfer the Roti Jala out and fold it into triangle shape.
8. Arrange a few Roti Jala on a serving plate and add some curry chicken on the side and serve immediately.

Some personal notes :

1. I skipped the coconut milk as I did not really like it when I used it the last time.  This recipe is healthy but the coconut one is more fragrant. 
2. I ran our of tumeric so I did not add it, but if you like, you can add 3/4 teaspoon of tumeric powder to the mix to get a nice yellow colour on your roti jala.
3. If you find the mixture too thick, you can dilute with more water.
4. I used olive oil since that was what I had in stock.

Like Nigella, I am a proponent of child labour in the kitchen so this is also a great opportunity for for a daughter and mother bonding session!