Recipe - "Chicken Kapitan Curry"

"Chicken Kapitan Curry"

Chicken Kapitan Curry

Chicken Kapitan Curry is a Peranakan dish. It is richer and thicker version as compared to chicken curry.

 

'Ingredients'

Ingredients

Blend into paste

8 to 10 red chillies (finger length)

10 shallots

3 cloves garlic

5 gm fresh turmeric or ¼ tsp turmeric powder

10 gm galangal (lengkuas)

4 candle nuts (buah keras)

½ tsp belacan granules (shrimp paste)

 

Others

1.2 kg chicken (cut)

2 sticks lemongrass

6 kaffir lime leaves

Salt to taste

1 tbsp lime juice

1 chicken cube (seasoning)

6 tbsp coconut cream (kara brand)

oil

water

Procedure

Heat a wok over medium heat. Add oil. Saute kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass. Add  blended spice paste and fry until fragrant.

 

 

 

 

Add chicken. Stir well. Add some water. Use lid to cover the wok. Simmer it. Occasionally open the lid to stir.

Pour in coconut cream and mix well. Cook till chicken is tender. Add lime juice and lastly season to taste with salt and chicken cube.

Serve with rice or fried noodles.

Recipe - "Assam (Tamarind) Prawns"

Assam Prawns

Assam (Tamarind) Prawns

My mum taught me how to cook Assam Prawns. A fairly large or medium size prawns are used for this dish. During my childhood days, my mum cooked this dish only on special occasions because large prawns were expensive. My late dad, my siblings and I love this dish. This dish is easy to prepare.

 

Ingredients

 

 

Ginger and garlic

 

thick caramel sauce



500 gm large or medium prawns (deveined and washed)

65 gm tamarind paste

1 tsp soy sauce

¼ sugar

1 tbsp thick caramel sauce

Pepper

3 cloves garlic (sliced)

4 slices ginger (cut into smaller pieces)

1 tbsp oil

 

Procedure

 

In a bowl, add some water to tamarind paste. Mash paste with water till evenly mixed.

Use a sieve to remove the pulp. Set the tamarind juice aside.

Heat a wok. Add oil. Saute ginger and garlic till golden brown.

In low heat, add prawns, soy sauce, thick caramel sauce, a dash of pepper, sugar and tamarind juice. Stir and mix well.

Cover the wok with a lid. In between cooking, stir the prawns.

Cook till prawns are crisp, caramelised and aromatic.

Dish out and serve with rice.

 

Recipe - "Tomato Rice"

"Tomato Rice"

Tomato Rice recipe

 

We had “Tomato Rice” for dinner a few days ago. It was my first attempt cooking it and my family enjoyed it.

I am pleased to share with you the ingredients and procedure here.

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice

20 gm unsalted butter

2 big brown onions (blended)

1 tsp garlic (finely chopped)

3 cardamom seeds

2 star anise

3 cloves

1 inch cinnamon stick

2 pandan leaves

3 fresh tomato pulps (blended)

3 tbsp tomato puree

½ cube (chicken seasoning)

1 tbsp plain yoghurt

½ tsp salt

Water

Procedure

Rinse and soak basmati rice for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat a wok. Add butter. In low heat, saute melted butter with cardamom seeds, star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick till fragrant. Add brown onions. Fry until light brown, add chopped garlic. Fry both onions and garlic till golden brown.

Add blended fresh tomatoes, tomato puree and pandan leaves. Stir for 2 minutes. Sprinkle salt. Add basmati rice. Fry all the ingredients in the wok for another 2 minutes. Lastly add plain yogurt and mix well.

Transfer all the mixture into the electric rice cooker. Add water and let the rice cook.

Instead of having plain white rice, this tomato rice itself goes well as an accompaniment to several dishes.

Recipe - "Making 'Roti Jala' Pandan (Net Crepe) and Chicken curry".

"Roti Jala" Pandan with Chicken curry

‘Roti Jala’ Pandan (Net Crepe) and Chicken curry recipe

The name ‘Roti Jala’ is derived from the Malay word “roti” (bread) and “jala” (net). A special ladle with five-hole perforation used to make the bread looks like a fish net. It is usually eaten with a curry dish.

 

Roti Jala

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs (beaten)

2 cups coconut cream (kara brand)

¾ cup water

2 drops of pandan essence

½ tsp salt

Non-stick pan

Butter for brushing

Procedure

Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Set it aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk coconut cream, eggs, salt and pandan essence. Pour the mixture into the mixing bowl. Pour water gradually while whisking. Add into the mixture of  flour and continue to whisk until the batter is smooth without any lumps.

Strain the batter using fine sieve. Set it aside.

Heat a non-stick pan. On low heat, grease or brush some butter on it.

 

'Roti Jala" mould

'Squeezy bottle'

Two devices that you can use to form your roti jala -either the mould or the squeezy bottle. I prefer to use the latter because it is less messy.

Transfer the batter using  a funnel to the squeezy bottle. Squeeze the bottle and scribble a net of the batter into the pan. When the batter is set, fold them in any shape of your choice. Serve warm with curry dishes.

The usual curry dish that is served with “roti jala” is the chicken curry. I would like to share with you an easy way of making chicken curry.

 

Chicken curry recipe

 

'Ingredients'

Ingredients

1 kg chicken (cut into pieces)

2 washed potatoes (cut into chunks)

1 brown onions (finely chopped)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 sprigs curry leaves

1 chicken cube (seasoning)

1 packet chicken curry paste (Chilliz brand)

4 tbsp kara coconut cream

1 tsp sambal (refer recipe : http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/recipe-for-making-sambal.html )

Salt to taste

Water

 

Procedure

Heat a wok or pot. Add oil. Saute brown onion till brownish in colour. Add curry leaves and a tsp of sambal. Add curry paste and keep on stirring to prevent burning until the oil separates from the paste.

Pour some water and coconut cream. Add potatoes. When potatoes are half cooked, add in chicken. Stir well. Add chicken cube. Use a lid to cover the wok or pot. Simmer it. Occasionally open the lid to stir. Add a little water if the curry appears to be drying up. The chicken curry is ready to be served once the chicken is tender and the potatoes are soft. Lastly, add salt to taste. Enjoy your “roti jala” with chicken curry.

"Chicken curry"

Recipe - "Char Kuey Teow"

Recipe for 'Char Kuey Teow'

 

‘Char kuey teow’ means stir fried Flat Rice Noodles. ‘Char kuey teow’ is a national favourite in Malaysia and it is also a famous Malaysian street food delight. This simple dish can be found in food court, hawker stalls, ‘kopitiam’ and even in restaurants.

It is recommended to stir fry ‘kuey teow’ in individual serving.

 

Ingredients

(one serving)

200 gm flat rice noodles

1 tbsp garlic (finely chopped)

3 fresh prawns (cleaned with tail intact)

4 sliced fish cake

1 tbsp fresh cockles

1 handful of beansprouts

Chinese chives or choy sum (cut into 1 ½ inch lengths)

Duck or chicken eggs ( 1 or 2) [I prefer using duck eggs because it makes my char kuey teow more fragrant and tastier]

½ tsp sambal (refer recipe : http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/recipe-for-making-sambal.html )

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dark caramel sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil or lard oil

1 tbsp croutons of pork lard (refer recipe : http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/recipe-making-lard-oil-and-crispy-fried.html )

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

'Flat Rice Noodles'

 

 

 

'Fresh cockles without shells'

 

 

Procedure

Separate the flat rice noodles. If they are stuck together, soak noodles in warm water for 1 to 2 minutes and gently separate them. Drain thoroughly. Noodles should be ‘al dente’.

Heat a cast iron wok over high heat. Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil or lard oil and add 1 tbsp of chopped garlic. Saute garlic for a few seconds till it turns lightly brown. Add in fresh prawns and fish cakes. Stir fry prawns till just turned opaque. Add the 1 tbsp croutons of fried pork lard (optional).

Add noodles, sprinkle with 2 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp dark caramel sauce all over the noodles. Add Choy sum if it is one of the ingredients. Stir fry for 2 minutes.

Using the ladle, make a well in the centre of the noodles. Add in 1 tbsp vegetable oil; break 1 to 2 eggs. Add salt and pepper to the eggs and also sprinkle some salt and pepper over the noodles.

Scramble the eggs, fold the noodles over. Stir fry for 2 minutes, add ½ tsp sambal (if you prefer spicy). Continue to stir fry noodles to get the charred in the hot wok for 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1 tsp fish sauce.

Next, add bean sprouts and chives. Stir and fold the noodles over. Lastly add fresh cockles. Stir for one minute for the sprouts and chives to wilt and evenly incorporated with the noodles. Bean sprouts should be nice and crunchy when served together with noodles.

Turn of heat, dish on serving plate. Serve hot. Eat it with some sweet sauce  (refer recipe : http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/recipe-sweet-sauce-tim-cheong.html ) if you like.

Repeat with the same amount of ingredients to make a second serve.

 

Recipe - 'Okra with sambal belacan'

Okra with Sambal belacan

Okra is also known as ladies’ fingers. Okra is valued for its edible green seed pots. Okra is notorious for its viscous texture when overcooked. However it is absolutely delicious when cooked properly. I am going to share with you a simple method to cook okra with its texture remain crunchy.

 

Ingredients

100 gm Okra

1 tsp salt

500 ml water

 

Procedure

Remove the heads and tips of Okra.

Boil a pot of 500 ml water. Add salt. Cover the pot with lid. It will help water boil faster. Add Okra into the boiling hot water. Let it boil for 3 minutes. Pour into a strainer and blanch okra with cool tap water.

 

Place Okra on a serving dish. Eat it as snack. You may also top it or dip it with ‘sambal belacan’ (refer recipe http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/recipe-making-sambal-belacan.html)