Indoor air dried screw pine leaf ( pandan leaf) and its powder

 

                                                                                                                                                     Dried screw pine leaf and powder

Screw pine  leaves are narrow elongated leaves that comes in a bunch of leaves. It can grow up to 2 metres. But it is harvested shorter.                                                    

                                            Screw pine leaf

      

Screw pine is called  by different names. Daun  pandan in Malaysian,  Bai Toey Hom inThai,  Rampa in Hindi and Sinhalese(Sri Lanka) Takonoki in Japanese, Chan Xiang Lan in Mandarin and Screw pine in English.

It is a fragrant spice used in coconut rice called nasi lemak  using knotted pandan leaf.It is served with fried yellow tail fish,fried sprats and fried peanuts, fried chicken wing, bullseye egg or boiled egg, sambal and slices of cucumber . You can choose to your taste. It will be a delicious meal. I cook this rice using pandan powder and lemon grass powder.

It is used in meat curries and variety of sweets and sweet desserts. It is used in steaming, boiling and as wrapper for Glutinous sticky rice. 

Juice is extracted from bruised leaf to make Pandan Chiffon cake which is famous in Singapore and Malaysia. 

kaya bread spread is also made from pandan leaf and coconut milk.

 Pandan leaves are used as cockroach repellent in the house and cars.

 Pandan leaves are rich in essential oils.

 When it comes to storage place the fresh pandan leaves in a plastic bag and store in the vegetable compartment for 4 days. If you want to keep for long it is said to freeze in baking sheet. Then keep in the zip lock bag and freeze.

Today I am going to dry pandan leaves indoors and get pandan powder.

                                 Recipe summery                                                                                       For                                                                   Indoor air dried Screw pine leaf and its powder                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Preparation Time : 30 minutes                                                      Drying time:  one week                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Air dried screw pine leaf               Method:                                                                                                        1. Snip the leaves separately.                                                        2. Cut away the bottom of the leaves.                                          3. Wash well since there will be sand and dirt.                            4. Place in along towel and wipe out the water.                          5. Cut into three parts of each leaf.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Fresh cut leaves                                    6. Place in a kitchen towel or news paper and leave it                    to dry in an airy place.  Direct sun is not needed.                    7. Stir now and then everyday.                                                      8. When it is dry cut into small pieces                                              and grind in a grinder.                                                               9. When it is cooled store in a bottle.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Indoor air dried Screw pine leaf  and its powder is ready.         

Recipe follows in detail with pictures

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Drying time: one week 

Preparation:

Snip the leaves separately. Cut away the bottom of the leaves. Wash well since there will be sand and dirt. Place in a long towel and wipe out the water. Cut into three parts of each leaf.                                                               

Cut fresh leaves

                                                                             

Place on a kitchen or news paper and leave it to dry in an airy place.  Stir now and then every day.  Direct sun is not needed.  

When it is dry cut into small pieces and grind in a grinder.

When is cooled store in a bottle.

Screw pine leaf powder

I dried 270 grams leaves and got 30 grams powder.

                      

                                                  

Oven made onion powder

                                                                

                       

                                                  Oven made onion powder

Onion which is also known as bulb onion is a widely cultivated vegetable.

Onions are low in calories and packed with nutrients and minerals. Onions are eaten raw and raw onions are used in salads which are delicious. Onions are fried, used in curries and soups. The smell of fried or caramelized onions is irresistible.

Today I want to bake onion in the oven to make onion powder which is expensive in the shops.     I am going to bake 3 kilos of onions. 

 

                                 Recipe summery                                                                                      For                                                                                    Oven made onion powder                                                                                                                          Preparation time:  2 hours                                                             Cooking time: 6 hours    

      Method                                                                                                                                                                                                           1. First clean the outside skin of the  onion.                                 2. Wash well and wipe them with a napkin.                                 3.Cut the onion into quarter pieces.                                             4. Then cut them into small pieces. I used a food                           processor to do this.                                                                   5. Spread the processed onion in an oiled tray.Please                     don't use aluminium foil as I did.It is troublesome.               6. Bake the onion at 100 degree Celsius stirring                             occasionally.                                                                                 7. It took 6 hours to bake.                                                             8. Cool the produce in the tray and grind.                                   9. The yield was approximately 330 grams. If you bake                1 kilo onion you will get 111 grams.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             10. It can be used in soups, stew and in marination.                                                                                                                                        Oven made onion powder is ready.                                                      

Recipe follows in detail with pictures.

 Preparation time: 2 hours

Cooking time:6 hours

First clean the outside skin of the onions. Then wash well and wipe them with a napkin. After that cut the onions into quarter pieces.Then cut them into small pieces. I used a food processor to do this part. It is impossible to cut 3 kilos by hand. You can bake 1 kg at a time. 

                                                              Spread the processed onion in an oiled tray. You can see aluminum foil at the bottom of my onion tray. It is troublesome. Please don’t use. as I did. I do not know about laying a baking sheet. I have not tried.

                                

                                                         Shredded raw onion                                            

 

   Bake the onion at 100°Celsius, stirring occasionally. I used two trays and it took 6 hours to bake.  It turned out be good. Cool the produce in the trays and grind it. The yield was approximately 330 grams. When you bake 1 kg you will get around 111 grams. 

                                    

                                                      After baking the shredded onion

To make a small quantity we can use the air fryer. I will try and let you know.

                                      

                                                              Final oven roasted onion

                                      The yield was approximately 330 grams. When you bake 1 kg you will get around 111 grams

                                                                

                                                                    Stored Onion Powder

 To make a small quantity we can use the air fryer. I will try and let you know.

Onion powder can be used in soups, stews and marination. Few of my recipes in which I used onion powder will follow.