Good morning everyone! Here's a quick smoothie idea to kick-start your day. I like to store frozen berries in my freezer so that I can just grab them for toppings and smoothies. It's very handy and convenient especially if you're always busy and on the run. Find the recipe down below!
Ube halaya also known as ube jam is a popular filipino dessert made from boiled grated ube/purple yam.
There are many ways to prepare this dish. Some use coconut milk while other prefer to use condensed milk. In this recipe I'll be sharing the latter.
The making of ube halaya is pretty simple but it requires a lot of time and mixing as it's cooked in slow flame to prevent it from burning.
My mom recently came back from the Philippines and she brought me a lot of purple yam. I have fond memories of my lola (aka grandmom) making ube halaya in one of those huge pan during many fiestas and family gatherings. I remember watching my lola stirring the ube and milk until it thickens to a point where she can hardly lift the spoon from the mixture.
If you try recreating this recipe you will end up with a large mass of purple, smooth shiny and heavenly jam. The taste is quite unique which you won't find in other spreads. It has a dairy-like creamy light sweetness to it. You can use it as a filling for hopia, eat it with leche flan or as it is.
For the step by step recipe check below.
UBE HAYALA RECIPE
serves: 4 people cooking time: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
700g ube/purple yam (boiled and grated)
397g sweetened condensed milk
250ml (1 cup) milk
25g butter
2 tbsp sugar (+/- adjust to taste)
1 tsp vanilla essence
DIRECTIONS:
In a large food processor blend together boiled and grated ube, condensed milk and milk until smooth.
In a big deep pan sift the ube mixture to separate and retain the coarse part of the ube.
Once sifted all place the pan on the stove.
Add in straight away the butter, sugar and vanilla essence.
Stir well and cook on high heat for a couple of minutes until it starts boiling.
Taste to check the sweetness, if needs more add more sugar. Mix well.
Now turn the heat to medium low and keep mix regularly until the texture gets thick. This process will take around 40-45 minutes.
Grease a small baking dish with butter. Spoon the ube halaya into the prepared dish.
Take a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it around your hands. Spread some butter on the wrapped hand and use it to flatten the ube. Allow to cool
Serve with leche flan, halo halo or as it is. Enjoy!
You wont believe how easy this recipe is because if you taste it, you will wonder how can something taste soo good and at the same time be soo simple to make.
The recipe requires just a few common ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen counter. For natural meat tenderizer I added a few tablespoon of yogurt and lemon juice.
For seasoning I stuck to basic spices such as salt, turmeric (haldi), red chili and garam masala.
Some of you always ask what is garam masala?? Well it's a common Pakistani/Indian ground spice-mix which is mainly used in making curries. I will probably write a new blog post just dedicated to it InshaAllah so, don't worry.
Now let's jump to the crucial part... THE FRYING PART.
How you fry your chicken will change the way your fried chicken tastes.
I decided to shallow fry my chicken instead of deep frying it to keep it tender and juicy inside.
I also fried the chicken on low-medium heat giving it more time to cook to prevent it from drying out.
Please read the notes in the recipe below for more information.
This fried chicken is better served with green chutney and zeera/cumin rice.
600g chicken leg quarters (make several slits, watch the video below to see how)
half of a lemon juice
2 tbsp yogurt
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp salt or to taste
2 cloves of garlic
oil for frying
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl place all the ingredients except garlic cloves and oil. Mix well and let marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight in the fridge.
In a frying pan heat up some oil (place just enough oil for shallow-frying, the chicken should partially be submerged in oil and not deep fried).
Once the oil is hot place in the chicken legs and the two garlic cloves. This will give the chicken some of that garlicky flavour.
As soon as you placed in the chicken and garlic turn the heat to medium-low.
Cover the pan with it's lead and let cook for 10-12 minutes.
After 10 minutes uncover and turn over each chicken leg quarters. Cover and allow the other side of the chicken to cook for 10-12 minutes.
After that uncover and turn the heat to high, fry each side of the chicken for 2 minutes or until it turns golden brown (this will make the outside part of the chicken crisp).
Remove from oil and transfer on to a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Repeat same process with the rest of the chicken.
Enjoy warm with rice or roti!
Notes:
Frying on low-heat will allow the chicken legs to cook evenly while keeping it tender and soft inside. Covering the pan will produce steam which will make the chicken juicy preventing it to dry out.
