Coriander and Mint Paste

Mom has always  kept a batch of this paste in the freezer. It is a great paste to add flavor in any dish including mutton curry, perattal or even chicken perattal.

The recipe is easy enough and can be made in big batches so it can be stored away in the freezer for a quick and easy dinner.

Ingredients
1 cup of coriander leaves
1 cup of mint leaves
1 small piece of cinnamon stick
3cloves
1tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of fennel
2tsp of grated coconut
2 starnise

Method
1. Sautee all the spices together. Add in the fennel and grated coconut, stir then finally add in the greens. Stir it and remove from heat to ensure leaves do not wilt too much. Grind into a paste and store

Rice Cooker Prawn Biryani

The past few weeks has been taxing since Mom and I have been busy cooking for my brother who is suffering from Gastritis. He needs to have non oily, non spicy food everyday and since he gets  hungry really fast, he prefers having rice.

So Mom and I have gotten pretty creative and are trying to cook one pot meals. While this recipe requires two pots, it is pretty quick especially if you already have the coriander and mint paste in the freezer.

Here goes.

Main ingredients
1/2 kg prawns (cleaned and deveined)
3 cups of  biryani rice (rice cooker cup)

Marinade
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chillie powder (reduce if  you do  not want it too spicy)
2tsp cumin powder
1tsp salt
1tsp turmeric powder
2tsp Garam masala
2 tsp Biryani masala
1 tblspn coriander and mint paste
1tblspn yogurt

Sauce
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamoms
2 bay  leafs
2 star anise
1/2tsp fennel seeds
1 large onion sliced
1 green chillie sliced (deseed if too spicy)
1tomato diced
a handful of  coriander
a handful of mint
3tblspn Biryani masala powder (add more according to taste)
2 tblspn Garam masala
2 tspsn chillie powder
1tblspn ginger garlic paste
1tblspn coriander and mint paste
3tblspn of yogurt
salt to taste
ghee and oil


Method
1. First clean the prawns and marinade it with the ingredients above. Start with the dry ingredients first then add in the wet ones like ginger garlic paste, yogurt and the mint and coriander paste. Let it marinate for 30 to 40mins. The longer the better.
2. Wash the rice and soak it for 30mins
3. Heat a wok and add in a little bit of ghee and if needed top up with oil. Sautee the spices including, star anise, clove, bay leaves, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom.
4. Add in onions and sautee until pink or translucent.
5. Add in ginger garlic paste and sautee until fragrant.
6. Throw in tomatoes, cook until soft and add chillies
7. Ensure fire is on medium flame and then put in masala powder, biryani powder, chillie powder, stir and let it fry until fragrant.
8. Add in wet ingredients like mint and coriander paste as well as yogurt, chopped mind and coriander, add 1 cup of water and let it simmer until the sauce thickens slightly.
9. Once almost thick, add in prawns and cook till it turns pink. DO NOT overcook and let prawns shrivel up. Add salt to taste. Make sure slightly salty.
10. After the prawns are nice and pink remove from stove.
11.Drain rice and add in the sauce and prawns into rice cooker with the  drained rice.  Stir the ingredients until rice is well coated with Sauce/Masala.
12.Add in necessary water according to rice cooker instructions. Check and see for salt. Ensure the concoction is slightly salty (not too much) so that the rice will absorb the taste.
13. On rice cooker and wait for the magic to happen.

Took me an hour to get it all done (including cleaning and deveining the prawns).

Serve hot with Raita and Pappads if possible.

Did not think it would turn out the way it did so I did not take better pic. Next time I will

My entire house smelled amazing after cooking this delectable Prawn Biryani.

Awesome Bak Kut Teh in Jalan Ipoh!

I love my Bak Kut Teh, especially the one from my favourite Restoran Son In Bak Kut Teh in Jalan Ipoh. After  moving away from Sentul, I haven't had the opportunity to savour the dishes as frequently as I did back then. In fact, I miss having it so much that I decided to write about the place again.

Located along Jalan Ipoh (heading towards Chow Kit), the restaurant is in the row of shops after the Damai Hospital block. The second shop from the right to be exact, you cant miss it.


Don't be fooled by looks. Although the place is a little old and needs a bit of renovation, the place is clean and the food is good.



Ok so this is a half eaten bowl, was too hungry to take photos before eating!

The soup for one is amazing, full of flavour and the smell of herbs will definitely get your tummy rumbling. The meat is tender and if you love mushrooms and vegetables you can add them in your soup for added taste or just order them on the side.

Do not, I mean DO NOT forget the Yau Char Kuey. Dip the little babies in the soup and swallow them whole with rice and you're in heaven.
Then you have the Black Sauce Pork, a bowl of pure sin with a mildly spicy sauce that is perfect for the Garlic Rice. Each mouthful is  sinful with the tender pork bits literarily melting in your mouth.

If that is not enough, order some Salad leaves to complete your meal. The Salad leaves might be a little bland for some. It is blanched in hot water, drizzled with some onion oil and oyster sauce.

So if you are a fan of Bak Kut The, try the Son In Bak Kut The. It's different but tasty. Trust me!! Happy eating folks....



Sorry for the bad quality, was taken a few years ago

Ikan Bilis Goreng dengan Cili

 

 

 

 

 

I love my anchovies and there are days when I can just sit down with my laptop, browse through hundreds of recipes, drooling over each one.

Well today was one of those days, but today I decided to do something about it and made my own version of  Fried Anchovies, the not-so-spicy version.

The thing is, there are so many versions but mine has six ingredients only and three easy steps. So here goes.

 

 

Ingredients

Ikan Bilis (anchovies) washed  - two handfuls (was a little greedy)

Onions - 2 Medium sized ones sliced

Garlic - two cloves diced

Green chillie - 2 sliced vertically (add in chili padi  if you want extra heat)

Oil

Salt to taste

 

 

Method

1. Fill a wok with oil (I used a non stick pan), add in anchovies and fry till golden brown

2.Remove the anchovies and add in the other ingredients in the same oil,

3. Stir until the onions are nice and soft and drop the anchovies and give it a quick stir. Add a dash of salt for extra flavor. (not too much because the anchovies are already salty)

                                 

 

 

Note: If you want nice and soft onions then take it out as quickly as possible or if you want yours nice and crispy keep it on the stove for a few extra mins.

 

The end result with my favourite crispy onions

  



 

Top notch Fried Chicken with Cendol and Rojak

  

My friends and I are always on the lookout for good makan joints and first on all our lists is the rojak and  cendol combo.

Last Sunday, while scouting for a new makan spot we stumbled upon a famous rojak stall in Taman Pengkalan Batu, Klang on google.

 

Armed with the coordinates from a food blog, we Wazed our way there in 20mins. On our way we had our doubts since the road seemed to lead no where but once again the app did not fail us.

 

This signboard was hidden in the bushes and faced the stalls instead of the road.
 

When we parked we saw this huge banner hanging from one of the stalls at the Klang Municipal Food Court. Mind you there are three sections here but only one section was occupied by the rojak stall while the others seem to be abandoned.

It was a wonder that this one outlet is still operational and rather popular with diners.

 

 

The first glimpse of the stall after we parked our car
 

We were first confused because the crowd seemed to gravitate towards the Nasi ala Kandar as I call it but after establishing that both the rojak and Nasi Kandar was one and the same, we got down to business.

 

We ordered a bowl of cendol, a plate of rojak and of course the Nasi Kandar.

 

First of all lets talk about the Rojak. It was pretty good actually. The gravy was nice and thick, but most importantly it was flavourful. My only letdown was the fact that I couldn't  bite into the crunchy peanut bits because it was ground really well.

The Rojak was quite good but I wish I could bite into the crunchy bits in the sauce
 

Next was the cendol. One look at it and I thought it was Ice Kacang. It was pretty weird that they addsweet corn and other Ice Kacang condiments but surprise surprise it tasted good. It didn't have the overwhelming taste of coconut milk and that is always good.

 

The cendol was unique with additional ingredients like kidney beans and jelly but it was rather tasty.

 

     The Nasi Ala Kandar for me was delicious. The hot steamy rice, coupled with the rich curry was really awesome. I loved the fact that the curry had a good amount flavor and did not taste of curry powder. So thumbs up!

The simple rice with fish curry served with stir fired cabbage
 

 

The fried chicken for me was the best dish for the day. The chicken was juicy and tender on the outside while the skin was crispy and flavourful... Dip in the curry and voila....



The star of the day was the fried chicken. The meat was tender and juicy with a crispy, flavourful skin.
 

We also took the fried fish but it lacked salt for me

 

 

So overall the place is worth visiting.

Rating is 7/10

Minced Mutton Minestrone Soup

I love Minestrone soup but good ones are really hard to find, so I decided to try making some myself.
I googled the recipe and found several interesting ones that I liked. However I felt there were parts of different recipes that I would like to incorporate into mine. So, that is exactly what I did. :) I added fresh red chillies for a bit of heat, minced mutton because my brother would have gone berserk if I served an all vegetarian soup for dinner and finally fresh basils for a little added flavour. The final result was surprisingly delicious. So here's the recipe for this easy dish.

1 large onion( yellow/Bombay)  diced
1 carrot or two small ones diced
2 celery stalks diced
3 red chillies diced (I used three because they were very mild)
1 packet of minced mutton
1 cup of frozen vegetables ( green beans/capsicum/brocoli/spinach) -I found a packet with these vegetables but you can add in any vegetable you like
3 cloves of garlic diced
6 cups of chicken broth ( I used 6 cups of water and added in 3 cubes of chicken stock powder)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of whole/plum tomatoes
dried herbs
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of oil
Fresh basil

1.Heat your pot, add in the olive oil and fry the minced mutton with a dash of salt and pepper. Make sure you use only one table spoon because the minced mutton will release its own oil.
2.Fry it till its nice and brown. Add in the butter, onions, celery, carrots, red chillie and stir it till its nice and soft.
3.Add in the canned tomatoes, herbs, frozen vegetables and the stock.
4. Stir well and let it boil.
5. Reduce the heat, and let it simmer for some 30mins or until u feel the taste has locked in. Throw in some fresh basils if you have them.
6. Season it and serve.

The best thing about this recipe is that you can throw in anything you like including some pasta for a wholesome meal.

I also whipped up some garlic bread to have with the soup.

Chicken and vegetables stir fried with almonds

Cooking after work can be a big pain but I have found the activity to be quite enjoyable especially with the new toys at home, the oven and the stove.
I realised the trick to quick meals are finding easy recipes that can be tweaked to accomodate the things in your kitchen.
One of my favourite recipes is this quick chicken and vegetables stir fried with almonds.

Here's the recipe
1 chopped capsicum (bell pepper)
1 chopped carrot
2 Chicken breasts cut into small cubes
A few strings of beans (any type)
Few pips of garlic chopped
Three tablespoons of rice wine
8 almonds skinned and chopped lengthwise
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Heat a wok and add olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and fry till golden brown. Throw in the garlic and fry it for a few seconds then add the beans with a dash of salt (and a little water if using french beans or long beans) and allow to cook till colour changes.
Add in capsicum and carrots and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the rice wine and salt to taste. Finally, add in the almonds, stir and remove.

Tips : My mum says that if the almonds are toasted in a dry pan first it would taste better so you can always try that as well.
You can also omit the chicken if you want a simple vegetarian dish.

Let me know if you have tried this dish with your own little tweak.

Enjoy :)