Kari Dal dengan Daging (Lentil Curry with Beef)

Ready to be served.

Mum decided to make this after my sister Ainita, the one in the UK requested it. Its a long process from the tenderising of the meat to the editing of the video. We even had to go down to Port Dickson for the day to get over the cooking of this Dal...hahaha. We cooked it last week and its taken me this long to edit the video. And I had to edit it down from 54 minutes to just under 28 minutes. It was a challenge. Tina was around so a lot of kacau-bilau but in the sweetest way, of course. ;-)

We went to Kajang market to get the ingredients. Somehow this time it was extra smelly according to my mom. Thank god I stayed in the car to take care of my niece... my saviour, hahaha. But saying that, I find Kajang market very interesting. It still has the old element attached to it. People are friendly and chit chatty not so much for a sale but just plain chit chats. Of course mum has her regular meat man, fish man and all her other men lah. ;-) oooo...that didn't sound right but you know what i mean. I managed to take some pictures with my phone when I was there last which was awhile back. I think during the fasting month. Will post when I have a better story to tell.

Anyways, psyche yourself when you decide to make this. It takes awhile to prepare and make but when its finished... memang very yummy. Tak menyesal lah for sure! Its eaten with rice, nasi minyak, roti, roti canai and anything lah yang ada dalam dapur tu. Asalkan sedap makan je. ;-)

Ingredients A (for the stock and tenderising the beef)

• 850 grams of beef (daging lembu) cut into small pieces. You can use mutton to replace the beef if you prefer.
• 650 grams of ribs (tulang lembu)
• 7 garlic (bawang putih), crushed but still intact ie just broken.
• 2 inches of ginger (halia), crushed but still intact ie just broken.
• 2 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 2 inches of cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 5 cardamon (buah pelaga).
• Coarse salt (garam kasar)
• 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper (lada hitam)

 Ingredients B (the lentils)
• 3 cups of lentils (dal ) cleaned and to be soaked for at least 2 hours to soften it.

Ingredients C, very colourful, no?

Ingredients C (the vegetables)
• 4 young cooking bananas (pisang muda), skinned and cut into 4 pieces. Soak it in water to to avoid oxidation.

• 4 young mangoes (manga muda), skinned and sliced.
• 4 long beans (kacang panjang), cut into 2 inch length.
• 1 tomato, cut into 4.
• 1 carrot (lobak merah) skinned and sliced.
• 2 red chili (cili merah), seeded and cut into two length ways.
• 1 green chili (cili hijau), seeded and cut into two length ways.
• 1 round brinjal (terung bulat), cut into 6. Soak it in water to avoid oxidation.
• 1 large onion (bawang besar), cut into 4
• 1 potato (kentang), skinned and cut into 6 and soak in water to avoid oxidation.

Ingredients D, bahan penumis.

Ingredients D (for the curry)
• 10 shallots (bawang kecil) sliced.
• 1 to 2 inches of ginger (halia) cut into strips.
• 6 garlic (bawang putih) sliced.
• 3 strips of curry leaves (daun kari) .
• 3 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 2 inches cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 4 to 5 cardamon (buah pelaga).
• 6 to 7 tablespoon dried chili paste (cili boh).
• 3 to 4 tablespoon meat curry powder (rempah kari daging).
• Thick coconut milk (santan).
• Some ghee.

The Method Part 1: Tenderising the beef and making some stock (using ingredient A and B)
• Heat up the wok and put some oil.
• Put in the star anise, cinnamon and cardamon first. And then put in your garlic and ginger and coarse salt. Leave it for half a minute or less.
• Then put all the meat in and mix well.
• Add some black pepper and stir till everything is mixed.
• Mum calls it 'sealing the flavour' process, which really means the red meat has gone brownish.
• So once everything is well mixed and 'sealed', transfer the meat to your slow cooker. (You can use your stove too but keep adding water if it gets dry.)
• Add enough water to sink the meat and leave for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• After 2 hours, strain the lentils and add it into the slow cooker.
• After another half an hour, try to take all the star anise, cardamon and cinnamon out of the cooker. And strain the meat and lentils from the stock and put aside.

The Method Part 2: The curry (using ingredient B and C)
• Heat up your wok. Put in some ghee and oil.
• When its hot, add the star anise, cardamon, cinnamon and the curry leaves.
• Then add the shallots, ginger and garlic. Mix well and let it cook till its yellow-ish.
• Add your dried chili paste and mix well to cook the chili. Add some course salt but not too much since the stock is already salted.
• Add the meat curry powder and mix well.
• After 3 to 4 minutes and the mix is boiling, add the thick coconut milk and leave to boil.
• When its boiling, add the carrots, potato, banana and the brinjals first. These are the hard vegetables that needs a longer time to cook. Leave for about 15 minutes.
• Then add the meat and the lentils into the wok and mix well.
• Leave to boil for awhile and add the rest of the vegetables except the tomato which is added 3 minutes later.
• If the gravy looks a bit too thick, add some diluted coconut milk and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Now its ready to be eaten. ;-)

It is a long process I must admit. Keep referring to the video to see whether you are doing it right. Please do try it cause after all that trauma and hectic-ness, you might just be pleased with the result. And please comment if you tried it to tell us what you think.

Here is the video. Tina and mum are in this. ;-)

I just realised that there are some editing mix up in the video where it says that the cooking starts finally and it didn't. ;-) And a few more mistakes during that part.  My apologies. I've actually trashed the originals so I can't really correct it. Yikes! Itu lah kalau buat editing tengah malam.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Rendang Daging (Beef Rendang)

Since raya haji is coming up I thought its appropriate to post this. I've had this for awhile just didn't get the time to edit the video and write it out. And of course malas tu pun ada jugak. ;-) But I finally did it. It's a bit sloppy but i think you'll get the gist of it. Its pretty similar to the goreng limpa berempah just different meat and lots more coconut milk.  

The Ingredients

• 1 kg of beef (daging lembu) sliced thinly (watch the video on how to cut the beef). Mix with salt. We've also added a bit of cows lung (paru) and spleen (limpa).
• 10 to 13 shallots (bawang kecil).
• 4 to 5 garlic (bawang putih).
• 2 inches of ginger (halia).
• 6 to 8 small chilies (cili padi).
• 2 sticks of lemon grass (serai).
• 2 tablespoons of dried chili paste (cili boh).
• 2 inches of galangal (lengkuas).
• 2 kg of  thick coconut milk (santan pekat)
• Salt
• 3 tablespoon of kerisik (grated, toasted and grounded coconut) prepared earlier.

The Method

• Blend the shallots, garlic, ginger, small chillies, lemon grass, dried chili paste and galangal till its fine.
• Marinade the beef (salt added to the beef at this point) with all the blended ingredients. Leave for at least 5 minutes, more if you're not in a hurry.
• Heat up your wok with oil. Once oil is hot, put in the beef and the marinade into wok.
• Add a bit of water and leave to boil. This is to tenderise the beef. Keep stirring so that the beef don't get burnt.
• Leave to boil while stirring it for 10 to 15 minutes. The liquid will get dry and the beef tender.
• When the gravy gets dry, add the thick coconut milk and mix well. Leave to boil while keep stirring.
• The coconut milk will get thicker. When that happens add kerisik into the rendang and mix well. Leave for it to dry. At this point, the aroma is just yummy.
• When its dry enough, turn the flame off. If you prefer it very dry, keep a low flame on and let it dry. We like it with a bit of gravy.
• When it cools down, its ready to be served. You can eat it with lemang. Even the thought makes me salivate. Yum!!

Here is the video. This was done in a bit of a rush... well when i say rush, it really means I didn't really spend too much time on it. Yikes! So here goes...

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Masak Lemak Cili Api Ayam (Chicken Yellow Curry)

Masak Lemak Cili Api Ayam

This is a request from my dear dear friend Els Belles. We've had a few masak lemak cili api dinners while we were students in England. This is also a typical Negeri Sembilan dish. Memang tak boleh lah kalau orang Negeri tak suka nie. When we run out of things to cook, this always comes to mind and voila its on the table. Easy to cook and tasty to eat with rice, bread, roti canai, roti arab and tons others.
Another one of my all time favourites. I know I know...it seems like everything I've posted is my favourite. ;-)

Kaffir Lime Leaves

The Ingredients

• 1 chicken cut into small pieces. You can also use beef to replace the chicken.

• 8 to 9 small chillies (cili api).
• 1 potato (kentang) skinned and cut into 4 to 6 pieces.
• 1 inch of fresh turmeric (kunyit) or turmeric powder.
• 3 sticks of lemongrass (serai). Crush it slightly to release the flavour.
• 2 to 3 pieces of kaffir lime leaf (daun limau purut). Refer to picture on the left.
• Course salt.
• Coconut milk (santan), two types, one thick and one diluted.

The Method

• Pound the chillies, course salt and fresh turmeric into a very fine texture.
• Put the chicken and also the pounded mix into a wok.
• Without putting the flame on, mix them all well.
• Put some water into your mortar and pestle (alah...batu tumbuk lah..haha) and add the water into the wok. Mix everything and put the flame on.
• Let it simmer for awhile to seal the chicken flavour.
• Keep on stirring so it doesn't burn at the bottom of the wok.
• Add the lemongrass and mix well.
• When the water gets a bit dry, add the diluted coconut milk and let it boil to tenderise the chicken. Also add the cut potato.
• Put the flame down and leave it to boil.
• Add the kaffir lime leaves for flavour and leave for 10 mins.
• When the chicken is tender and the potato is cooked, add thick coconut milk and mix well. The amount depends on how creamy you want this dish to be.
• Leave to simmer on low flame till the gravy is slightly thick.
• And once you get it to the consistency of your choice, its ready to be served.

I know it seems a bit hectic cooking this but its really quite easy. Not many ingredients and oh so yummy. ;-) Some people cook it very differently like using oil and onions but this is how we do it. Have a good one!

Here is the video, my nieces Darling and Qistina made an appearance. Qistina provided the entertainment. Have a look! ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Roti Jala (Net Pancake)

Roti Jala, an all time favourite. Memang sedap kalau makan dengan kari ayam. So you need to have your chicken curry before you make this one. I'll try post chicken curry soon. Its quite similar to mutton curry. Bibik is the one that made this for us today.

The Ingredient

• About 4 tablespoon full of all purpose flour.
• 1 egg
• Water, I have no measurements for this. You will need enough for the consistency of the mix.
• A bit of turmeric powder for the yellow colour.
• 1 teaspoon full of margarine.
• Salt

Roti Jala cup

The Method
• Mix about 1 cup of water, egg, salt, turmeric powder and margarine in a blender.
• Start putting in flour in the blender till you get the right consistency ie a pancake like batter.
• Once you get the right consistency, strain the mix so that you don't get lumps.
• Heat up your flat wok. And grease it when its hot.
• Put some of the flour mix into the roti jala cup (see picture) and let it flow out onto the flat wok in a circular motion till it forms somewhat a net like pattern.
• Cook until its set. Move to a plate and fold it. You will probably have to do a few before you get the hang of it but i promise you, you will enjoy it.
• Repeat the process until you finish the mix.

Here is the video and have fun. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Good times & quality moments...with the family.

This is not a recipe.

Just some videos i have on my computer that i thought i should compile. I've also been a bit busy with work. Started my 3 month stint with Cosmopolitan Malaysia. Met some great people there. And having a wonderful time. 

Anyway, I have some birthday videos to share. We're not really big on birthdays but we almost always spend it with the family. There's always a cake and family members singing happy birthday. My younger sister turning 40 was a good one. It was during Ramadhan so the cake was cut after we broke fast. My dads 73rd birthday celebration was good too. Almost the whole family were there. Maybe next year when Nita is back from UK, we'll have a full birthday party. ;-) And there is also Qistina, my youngest niece doing ballet in the video. Its cute to see a 3 year old having aspirations to become a ballerina. She's a natural showgirl that one. ;-) And there is also Kayongs graduation is on this. She is the eldest of all my nieces and nephew. She has set really high standards for the rest of them. Good on ya Kayong!

So enjoy getting to know the family. They are the people that makes my life worthwhile. ;-)

So here goes.

 

And thank you to all that have commented. I also found out yesterday that we have viewers from Egypt, USA, UK, Australia, Poland, Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, France and of course Malaysia. Thank you for all the support. I hope you will continue watching this space. Mum and i have had a lot of fun doing this blog. Please comment and be a follower. Would love to know who you are and if you have any requests. Kalau kita dapat buat, we will do it for sure.

Thanks again.

Ikan Bilis Goreng dengan Petai (Fried Dried Anchovies with Bitter Beans)

Ikan Bilis Goreng dengan Petai

This is one tasty dish. Eaten with either pulut or rice. Sometimes the petai can be replaced with tempoyak (fermented durian) or you can omit the petai completely. I love love love this dish. Its probably my favourite simple dish of all time. I can have it with anything, sometimes even on its own.
Petai can be quite stinky so be careful when you eat it. Make sure you are not going for an appointment after.

Petai (Bitter Beans)

The Ingredients

• 1 bawang besar (large onions).
• 10 bawang merah (shallots).
• 10 Cili api (small chillies). Its up to you how hot you want it to be.
• Garam kasar (coarse salt).
All of the above should be pounded coarsely.
• Ikan bilis (dried anchovies) a handful.
• Around 15 to 20 petai (bitter beans).
• Assam keping (dried tamarind pieces), just a small piece.

The Method
• Heat up oil in a wok and start frying the ikan bilis till its crispy. It takes awhile for it to be crispy but don't burn it cause it becomes quite bitter if it does.
• Once its crispy, take it out and put aside.
• Lessen the oil and fry the petai next. Let it fry for a couple of minutes. Put aside once its ready.
• Add a bit more oil and fry the pounded ingredients. Add a bit of water so it cooks evenly till the oil starts to surface.
• Add the assam keping to make it less hot and mix well.
• Leave to cool down and add the fried ikan bilis just before you serve.

Here is the video. Mum and Bibik are both in this video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Ikan Sepat Masin Goreng dengan Bawang (Fried Dried Salted Gurame Fish with Onions)

Ready to be served

This is an easy one. Normally eaten with rice or pulut. This is my mums favourite. The english translation of the fish was taken from the net. I'm not even sure whether ikan sepat is gurame fish in english. If I'm wrong, please correct me and I'll make amendments. ;-)

The Ingredients

• Ikan Sepat Masin (dried salted gurame fish) 3 to 4 whole fish cut into small pieces.
• 1 bawang besar (large onion) sliced.
• Cili api (small chillies) pounded with salt added.

The Method

• Heat up oil in a wok.
• Fry the ikan sepat masin till its brown and crispy. Put aside.
• Lessen the oil in the wok, and fry the pounded chilli first. Then add the sliced onions and mix them well.
• Add the fried ikan sepat masin and mix.
• Its ready to be served.
Told you its an easy one. ;-)

Here is the video. Mum and bibik takes  centre stage here. ;-)

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Pulut Kukus (Steamed Glutinous Rice)

I had to get up at 6.30am to get myself to Bangi on a Sunday so I can post this one. Got there just before 8am, in time for the cooking process.

We have this for breakfast almost every weekend. Yummy. This is usually served with ikan bilis goreng dengan petai or ikan masin goreng dengan bawang which I will post after this. Sometimes we have it with sambal tumis.
The pulut is normally cooked with santan (coconut milk) but we have decided not to so its slightly healthier... konon nya lah. Tapi we are a family of pelahaps so the healthy part is kinda vague when this is served.

Pulut Kukus

The Method

• Leave the beras pulut (glutinous rice) in water with salt and tamarind overnight so that it softens. The tamarind will make it shine when its cooked.
• Prepare your steamer and put the beras pulut in to be steamed. Add some pandan leaves for the aroma. Leave about 20 minutes.
• Take the half cooked pulut out of the steamer. Add water and a bit of salt to taste and mix it well. Don't mash the pulut too much. This process is just to avoid it from being lumpy.
• Put the pulut back into the steamer and leave it for another 15 minutes till the pulut is fluffy and cooked. Taste it for the softness. If its still not ready, steam it a bit longer till you get the desired texture.

Here is the video, mum and bibik are in this one.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

Goreng Limpa Berempah (Fried Spiced Spleen)

Its been 2 weeks since my last post, so you are gonna get a few posts today...well I hope today lah. Goreng Limpa Berempah is one of my favourites from my mum. Served with rice. You can also eat it with bread. Its been awhile since we had this. I hope the video explains it better than my writing. ;-)

Here goes...

The Ingredients

• Limpa (cow spleen). Dipped in hot water and remove the skin. Then slice thinly. Mix with salt.
• 10 bawang kecil (shallots).
• 3 to 4 bawang putih (garlic).
• 2 inches of halia (ginger).
• 6 to 8 cili padi (small chillies).
• 2 sticks of serai (lemon grass).
• 2 tablespoons of cili boh (dried chilli paste).
• 2 inches of lengkuas (galangal).
• Santan pekat (thick coconut milk)
• Salt
• 3 tablespoon of kerisik (grated, toasted and grounded coconut). This needs to be prepared earlier. I will try post how to make this at some point but you can buy this ready made.
Blend bawang kecil, bawang putih, halia, chilli padi, serai, cili boh and lengkuas till its fine. Marinade the limpa with all the blended ingredients. Leave for at least 5 minutes, more if you want to.

The Method

• Heat up some oil in your wok at medium flame.
• Once its hot, put in the marinated limpa. Add a bit of water and mix well.
• Leave it to simmer until its slightly dry. Keep mixing so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the wok and leave for awhile till it dries further, not too dry though.
• When it is thick and slightly dry, lower the flame and add the kerisik. Mix well.
• Add the thick coconut milk. Just a bit though so it is wet. This is for the gravy.
• Add salt to taste.
• Leave it for awhile longer and its ready to be served.

Tip

Leave a bit of limpa and gravy in the wok. Add some leftover rice and mix well. Taste good. ;-)

Here is the video. Mum, Bibik and my dad are in this video.

So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!