Meat and Vegetable Curry

Who will not love the taste of tender curry meat with some carrots and potatoes, to name a few vegetables, eaten together with briyani or tomato rice. Simply tantalising! Even more, the spicy curry and the rich briyani can be balanced up with a tangy cucumber and carrot salad, that taken all together makes a perfect balanced dish. We don't only have meat curry, but also chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables, eggplants, pineapples, to name a few popular ones. The recipe I am sharing with you is a popular dish, locally known as Dalca. Its tasty and rich taste will make you try again!

Ingredients
500 gm beef (cubed)
4 potatoes - cut into four parts
2 round eggplants - cut into four parts
2 carrots - cut into 1 inch cubes or rounds
8 long beans - cut into 1 inch long
6 fresh green chillis
1 cup Dhal beans - soak overnight with water
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
1 star anise
2 strands of curry leaves
2 cups of coconut milk
6 tbsp meat or chicken curry powder - mixed with water to form a thick paste

Blended/Pounded Items
4 garlic
1 big onion
1 inch ginger

Methods
1. In a big pot, pour oil until hot. Add curry leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves. Stir for five seconds.
2. Add the blended items and stir until it turns light brown.
3. Add curry powder paste and cook until the oil emerge on top and around the paste. You may add some water if it's to dry. Stir regularly.
4. After the oil has emerged, add the meat. Stir until all are coated well with the curry paste.
5. After 1 minute, add dhal beans. Stir for a minute then add coconut milk. Stir well.
6. When the coconut milk is boiling, add the potatoes.
7. After the potatoes are half tender, add carrots, eggplants,long beans and green chillies.
8. Cook until all meat and vegetables are tender and the gravy turns half thick.
9. Add salt to taste.
10. Serve with a hot briyani rice and cucumber and carrot salad to complete the dish.

*Serve 4-6 people

Cucumber and Carrot Salad

This is a must side dish for nasi minyak, nasi briyani or nasi dagang. I personally like to eat them on their own, crunching the crunchy cucumber and carrots in between my teeth. The sweet and sour tangy taste that they produce with the pungent garlicky taste, give an ummphh! to this traditional favourite salad. Very good for health. It is easy and fast to make. Tasty and keep you on the go. Take and save the recipe below!

Ingredients

2 cucumber, cut into an inch long and 1cm thick
2 carrots, cut into an inch long and 1 cm thick
2 red chillies, thinly sliced
3 garlic, thinly sliced
1 inch ginger, thinly sliced
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp vinegar
salt to taste

Methods

1. Combine all ingredients and keep refrigerated for at least 2 hours before serving.

Beef Potato Patties

Beef Potato Patties or Begedil Daging are served on its own, with rice or soto (a malaysian rice cake soup with shredded chicken). One of the popular dishes, Begedil Daging is soft and melts in your mouth once its eaten. I like to eat my Begedil on its own. The potatoes give a full feeling once you have completed your meals. Besides beef, it can be substituted with chicken, fish or crab meat. It's simple and very easy to make. Suitable for those who need fast recipes to catch the busy lifestyle. Try!

Ingredients

Item A

500 gm of minced beef
6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 pieces, fry until brown
1 big onion, finely chopped
3 strands coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp pepper
salt to taste

Item B

2 eggs, beaten

Methods

1. In a bowl, mix minced beef with potatoes (mash the potatoes with the beef) and the rest of Item A.
2. Mix well. After all ingredients are mixed together, form a small patty.
3. Flatten the patty to make them less round.
4. Once the patties are ready, heat oil in a pan.
5. Before frying, dip the patties into the beaten eggs and quickly fry it one by one.
6. Cook until golden brown.
7. Serve while still hot.

Cheese over Nasi Lemak Anyone?

Oh Yes...I woke up yesterday morning with a Birthday wish from my two little angels. I was overwhelmed. They gave me a kiss each on my cheek and that was enough to keep me smiling all day. My mom wished me a happy birtday and cooked a delicious nasi lemak. Her nasi lemak is one of the best nasi lemak I have ever eaten. In the cooking department, this is one of her signature dishes that I still cannot come at par with. Her nasi lemak or coconut rice is always rich and flavourful, with a distinct ginger aroma. Her sambal ikan bilis always turn out beautifully.

When mom cooks nasi lemak, I will always have a second serving...Not good for those who are dieting or on a strict diet, but, well...who cares...it's not that you get to eat mom's nasi lemak everyday anyway. On my birthday, she cooked nasi lemak and so I enjoyed the taste every minute I put the rice and the sambal in my mouth. No cakes, no balloons....only nasi lemak. Lemak or not, the empty stomach neeeded some filling...

And so I enjoyed my meals oblivious to my two little angels. I have put a plate each for them but they refused to eat the rice.

"Mummy...it's rice again....I want fries,and sausages," my eldest muttered, complaining in between her breath. The younger sister was echoing the same sentiment.

"Today, opah cooked nasi lemak. You like nasi lemak. Why not today?" I was baffled.

"No...I want fries....pleasee....and sausages," the eldest went to the fridge and looked inside the freezer. To her dismay there was only a packet of chicken nuggets. She took the packet out and 'ordered' me to fry them for her. And opah, her grandma, came to the rescue and took the packet away.

Hmm....is it my fault or are the younger generations today are more interested in fast food that are not too healthy for them? My eldest daughter sometimes refuses to eat rice at all. She prefers biscuits dipped in MILO, or tuna sandwishes, sausages and fries...and mashed potatoes. She eats cheese by itself like we eat the rice. She likes to lick salt and bites lime. Or is it in her genes? Hmm...maybe....maybe it's in her genes...she is not 100% Malay anyway...eventhough I prefer to think she is. We cannot live without rice...my mom even worse...Eventhough my eating habits have changed a lot over the years, I still must eat rice at least once a day.

Anyway, the younger generations have more choices and exposure in their eating habits and preferences. Even the older ones, like me have changed a lot in the way we look at food. I will never eat biscuits or cookies at tea-time but now I do. I eat bread like I eat rice now. Sometimes I do not eat rice in a day at all. Hmm...maybe it's my fault. What I eat will be an example for them, wouldn't it? Anyway, I will give them a few days...after that, they will be asking for nasi lemak...I bet they will!

I reluctantly took out the nuggets and fried them anyway!

Fried Noodles or Mee Goreng

WE eat this as breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner....even supper! The favourite is mee kuning or yellow noodles that are fried with prawn,chicken and beef. Some even add squids or ikan bilis to their noodles. For me, I prefer less. I mean, when I cook noodles, mee kuning or bee hoon (vermicelli rice noodles) I prefer to add only one or two main ingredients, normally prawns and fish balls or cakes. The prawns give the noodles a sweet taste and the fish balls add contrasting flavours to it. Topped up with fried onions, chinese leeks and taugeh, the taste can linger in your mouth for some time.

Here is the recipe that can serve 2-3 people.

Ingredients

500 gm mee kuning
300 gm prawns,cleaned and skin off
10 fish balls,cut into half
3 garlic, finely chopped
1 big onion, finely chopped
1tsp chilli paste
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
2 eggs, beaten
a few strands of chinese leeks, cut into an inch
300 gm taugeh
fried onions

Methods

1. Heat oil in a wok.
2. Add garlic, onion and chilli paste. Stir for a minute.
3. Add prawns. Cook until tender.
4. Add fish balls, oyster sauce and dark soy sauce.
5. Add mee kuning. Stir until all ingredients are blended well together.
6. When all are blended together, make a well in the middle and pour in the eggs.
7. Let the eggs cook halfway before mixing it with the noodles.
8. Add pepper and salt to taste.
9. Add taugeh and chinese leeks.
10. Serve in a plate. Scatter dried onions on top.

Fried Fish Recipe and How to Fry Them Without Sticking to the Pan!

Malaysians love their fried fish. We normally marinade them with tumeric powder and salt for about half an hour before frying them. My daughters cannot live without their fried fish...and chicken. I have no problem with that because it is very easy to prepare, in fact one of the easiest ways to cook is frying. The only big problem is the oil and the pan. If you are not a regular cook, the oil may splatter (you need to acquire a technique to do this!) and the fish may get stuck to the pan. I remember a friend who stands too far away from the hot oil to avoid oil splattering. Another one will cover her body with lids as a protection shield!

Frying fish or chicken or beef...is relatively easy. Heat the wok or pan and wait until it is hot. Then pour in the oil. Do not pour the oil before heating the pan. The heat from the pan will prevent the fish from sticking. If you follow this simple step, the fish will be easy to flip over. When the oil is hot, put in the fish gently, facing the opposite way from your direction. This way the oil will not splatter. You can use kitchen spatula for easy gripping.

Once the fish is in the pan, do not flip the fish until the other side is cooked, about 3-5 mins (depending on the size and thickness of the fish). When the oil begins to reduce its sizzling sound, then you can flip the fish to the other side. Voila! It always works on me!

I have a simple Fried Fish recipe for you to try.

Ingredients

10 fish,mackarel or sardines
2 tbsp tumeric powder
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp chilli paste
3 garlic, finely pounded
flour
salt to taste

Methods

1. Clean fish thoroughly.
2. In a bowl, marinade all the ingredients with the fish. Leave for half an hour.
3. In a big plate, splatter some flour. Coat each fish with the flour making sure all areas are coated well.
4. Heat pan and oil. Fry the fish until brown.
5. Ready to serve on its own or with rice or bread.

Pineapple Curry

Curry Anyone? Go to any corner in Malaysia and curry will be in one of the menus. Almost everybody loves curry here. I said almost...Some cannot stand the strong aroma of the spices but others cannot live without it. Go to the street stalls, fine restaurants, cafe or big hotels, curry will be the all time favourite. The more the merrier. The spicier the better. We have curry originated from Southern India, where it's thicker and darker. You can get this at any Mamak stalls or restaurants around the country. You can get a generous portion of chicken, fish, prawn or squid curries at a competitive price. Fish head curry will be served in a big bowl and usually the price will double or triple the normal curry.

For the Malay community, its curry is milder, still carry the pungent spicy aroma of the mixed spices but airier, lighter and less thick. Yogurt or cream is substituted with coconut milk to get a smooth texture. Eventhough the spicies are not as strong as the Indian curry, the taste is still unbelievable. I love curry and so do the rest of the family. Chicken curry with potatoes, vegetable curry with meat, fish curry, egg curry, eggplant curry...all are fingers licking good!

I have a special recipe that has been my favourite. Pineapple Curry. It is cooked with a special ingredient, kerisik or roasted coconut that has been pounded. It's mild and is very nice eaten with fried chicken and white rice. Top up with a good spoonful of sambal belacan and ice lime tea, you can forget that you are on earth. I will share the recipe with you. Enjoy!


Ingredients

Half pineapple, cut rounded abt 1 cm thick
1 big onion, chopped
2 garlic, chopped
2 inch ginger, chopped
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
100 gm dried prawns, pounded (can be substituted with dried anchovies or ikan bilis)
1 cup coconut milk
4 tbsp chicken curry paste (mixed with water until it forms a thick batter)
2 tbsp kerisik
2 tsbp sugar
salt to taste

Methods

1. Heat pot, add oil. When the oil is heating, put chopped onion, garlic, ginger,star anise, cinnamon stick and cloves. Stir until golden brown.
2. Add chicken curry paste. Stir until the oil begins to appear and the curry paste becomes separated from the oil (abt 5 minutes)
3. Add dried prawns and sugar. Stir about 30 seconds.
4. Add kerisik. Stir about 1 minute.
5. Add pineapple and coconut milk. Add salt to taste.
6. Cook until the pineapple is tender and the curry becomes thicker.
7. Serve hot.


How to make kerisik?

Fry grated coconut in a pan (with NO oil) until they become brown. Transfer the browned coconut into a pounder and pound until it forms a thick paste. By this stage the coconut will produce oil. When this happens, your kerisik is ready to be cooked. You can use kerisik for rendang, meat curry or chicken for extra flavour. Try!