Marmite oatmeal cheese biscuits

Some people lick their lips at the sight of a bottle of Marmite, but for others, I bet even reading the word Marmite makes them go “blecch”.

I have to admit, I wasn’t fond of  Marmite (and its beefy cousin, Bovril) as a child, but I think it had a lot to do with the rice porridge it was added to. I wasn’t averse to the yeast extract on its own, but I always associated it with congee (this site provides lengthy background information) because Marmite was stirred into the rice porridge for taste (and nutrition) and I didn’t – and still don’t – like rice porridge (I associate it with being ill – I’m not the only one; although Fuchsia Dunlop likes it). But later, I discovered Marmite was good with other things, like toast, and developed a liking for it (and the Australian version, Vegemite).

Two tablespoons of Marmite might seem a lot in this recipe, but if you’re going to go that way, then go all the way, right? The Marmite doesn’t really overwhelm – it just adds a pleasant yeasty saltiness to the taste. In fact, I think I may add more the next time I make these biscuits.

I got the idea for these snacks from Dan Lepard’s recipe for Red Leicester Seed Biscuits. There’s no Marmite in Mr Lepard’s biscuits, but in his introduction, he compares caraway seeds to Marmite – how they’re both an acquired taste – which made me think of using the two ingredients in one item. How’s that for inspiration?

As for the seeds, I use three other types apart from the caraway: onion seeds and a combination of blue poppy and white sesame seeds.

Brushed with egg white and rolled in seeds

My digital scale has gone haywire – the display jumps about without stopping at any number – so I have given cup measurements here. But this biscuit is quite forgiving. Initially, I didn’t include any flour, but after mixing up the dough, it felt a little too wet and I added half a cup.

MARMITE OATMEAL CHEESE BISCUITS
Makes about 20

1 cup rolled oats
½ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
Large pinch of salt
A few grindings of black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups finely grated cheese (sharp Cheddar, Red Leicester, Emmenthal)
2 tablespoons Marmite
125g (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
Lightly beaten egg white
Seeds (caraway, sesame, poppy or onion seeds)

• Place rolled oats in a food processor and process until fine, 20 seconds. Add flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cheese, Marmite and butter to the food processor bowl and pulse until ingredients are combined and come together; do no over-process.
• Divide dough into 2 or 3 portions. Place each portion onto grease-proof paper and roll tightly into a 4cm-diameter log; twist the ends of the paper firmly. Freeze for 30 minutes.
• Remove from freezer and unwrap. Stand the logs upright and brush with egg white. Roll in the seeds so the sides are well coated (see picture above). Re-wrap the logs and freeze until ready to bake.
• Turn on oven to 180°C. Unwrap the logs and slice into ¾cm-thick rounds. Place on an ungreased baking tray and bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Spinach roti

I had spent two days trying to counter the effects of indulging on Nov 5. I visited relatives on Deepavali day and at one house, I was force-fed mutton varuval. It was very good curry, but it was also very rich and the aunty kept spooning more on to my plate as I finished the last mouthful.

I’ve had to be very careful with my food intake in the past couple of weeks because I need to be fit and healthy. Tomorrow I leave for Sydney to take a course and sit for an exam and I cannot fall ill. To refuse the delicious, but artery-clogging dishes served would have been an insult – and too much of a hassle to explain why I could eat only a little of it.

After that day, I just felt very heavy and sluggish and so all I had allowed myself to eat were fruits (nice!) and cereal (not so great). But last night, I had had enough.

So out came the flour and whatever I could find in the fridge. It seemed that I had everything for an Indian flat bread. Delicious and an opportunity to continue with the Deepavali theme.

I make chappati all the time. It uses few ingredients, is easy to make, and cooks quickly. I usually make it plain or with the simple addition of some fennel or cumin seeds, to eat with curry or chutney. This time, I didn't have anything to go with the bread and I wasn't keen on turning the spinach I had into a side dish, so I decided to just throw the vegetable into the mix. Hence, spinach roti.

The rolling method I detail below isn't necessary but it does help create a flaky, puffy roti. This method is used for Chinese spring onion pancakes, as well as Indian paratha, so I decided to give it a try.

The yoghurt makes the bread soft. If you add a little bit more of it as well as some instant yeast to the dough mix (plus some sugar), you could easily turn this roti into naan.

PUFFY SPINACH ROTI

Makes 5-6

Spinach leaves from 1 bunch, cleaned (water still clinging to the leaves)

1 cup atta (or wholemeal) flour

1 cup bread flour

½ teaspoon salt

Large pinch of fennel, cumin, or onion seeds

Pinch of chilli powder
5-6 curry leaves, shredded

1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons yoghurt

¾-1 cup hot water

Oil or ghee for brushing and frying

• Place spinach leaves in a large pan over medium heat. Cover and steam until lightly wilted. Remove from pan, squeeze out excess water and chop finely.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix in chopped spinach, ghee and yoghurt. Add water gradually until mixture forms a soft, sticky dough. Knead for 5 minutes, then cover bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.
• Divide dough into 5 or 6 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out into a thin circle. Brush the top with a little oil/ghee and roll up like a Swiss roll. Twist the length of dough into a loose spiral, flatten and roll out again into a 2mm-thick circle.

1&2: Roll out, spread with ghee and roll up like a Swiss roll; 3: Twist into a spiral; 4: Press to help the roti puff up

• Heat a griddle over high heat, put in a little oil/ghee and rub the base lightly with a scrunched up paper towel so that the whole surface is greased. Place the roti into the hot griddle and press with a spatula or clean kitchen cloth. When air pockets start to form, flip the roti; there should be brown spots all over the surface.* Cook the other side.
• Remove and keep warm while you cook the rest of the roti.
• Fold into halves or triangles and serve with a curry or chutney.

* The heat should be kept on medium high so that the roti cooks quickly and puffs up. But if you're getting black spots instead of brown, then you know it's too hot!

Baked crabs

There was no getting out of the task – for this dish, ­­it was necessary to get crabs and dress them myself.

What I didn't do was buy live crabs, which is the best way to start out. But it was a day before I had to hand in the article for Don't Call Me Chef, and I  hadn't even started on the Prawn Varai I was featuring, as well as the baked crabs for this post that links to the newspaper column (here's the link; the theme is Deepavali dishes) so I just popped into the nearest hypermarket one morning and got the crustaceans from there. 

But as it turned out, the crabs I got must have just arrived even if they weren't alive anymore, because they still smelled fresh.

This is the first time I have cleaned crabs. I am not squeamish and have no problem with guts – I just never learned how to do it. So I googled "how to clean crabs" and found several sites and some bonus information about boy and girl crabs, and I just got down to the task. Not as difficult as I had imagined, I must say.

You can boil or steam the crabs to extract the meat, but I think steaming prevents the flesh from getting too wet. It only takes seven minutes – once the shells go pink, they're done. Be careful when removing the flesh as the pincers of blue crabs have spikes on them. I have a gash in my left thumb from being pierced by one of those spikes. I don't know why I can't do anything in the kitchen without getting hurt.

Pinch me, I must be dreaming

The Mr Silu of the recipe title is Mr S. Siluvairasa, the proprietor of the Yarl Beach Inn in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, when I was there in August 2003 (I speak of him in my contribution to the column). He was a wonderful cook and opened his guest house not only to boarders, but dinner guests as well and when I stayed there, he always had a large number of diners coming by. These baked crabs were one of his specialties.

The crabs he used were meaty but not as large as the one I have here. They were about the size of a bar of soap and normally, each diner would be served two of these. I remember Mr Silu saying that he used to fry the stuffed crabs before he got an oven, and that is how many people still prepared it then.

MR SILU'S BAKED CRABS 

Serves 2-3

2 large blue crabs (about 800g)
½ tsp mustard powder
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
½ tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2cm ginger, finely chopped
1 sprig curry leaves, leaves removed and finely sliced
1 beaten egg
4 tablespoons finely grated cheese (use any hard cheese)
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

• Clean the crabs. Remove the carapace carefully and set aside. 
• Remove the pincers and cut the crabs in half. Steam the crabs for 10 minutes or until the shells turn pink.Cool, then remove the flesh from the shells. Mix the flesh with mustard powder, shallots, chillies, curry powder, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
• Fry garlic, ginger and curry leaves for 1-2 minutes. Add crab flesh; stir-fry until lightly golden. Remove from pan and cool. Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Mix the egg with the crab. Stuff mixture into shells. Mix cheese and breadcrumbs together; sprinkle over the filling. Bake the stuffed crabs until topping is golden, 12-15 minutes. If the topping browns too quickly, cover the pan with foil to ensure that the filling is heated through. Serve immediately.

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