#120 Cashew Chicken Korma : recipe#84

Not long ago I've posted simple Chicken Korma and in that post I've mentioned that there are a number of Chicken korma that you can try. Here's one of those. This version is a bit rich and for those who love Indian food this is one of those that you will enjoy either with rice or nan. Enjoy

Ingredients:
1 medium chicken, skin removed and cut into small pieces.
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
chicken stock powder
salt
sugar
cinnamon stick about 5 cm
5 cardamoms
1 star anise

blended together:
5 shallots
1/2 large onion
1 tbsp ginger
3 garlic
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp Marsala powder
1 handful roasted cashew nuts
2 tbsp Korma powder (if you don't have korma powder you can use 1.5 tbsp coriander powder + 1tsp fennel powder and 1 tsp cumin)
1 small container plain yogurt

steps:
1. Marinade the chicken with the blended ingredients and salt overnight in the fridge.
2. Heat oil in pot, when oil is hot fry the cinnamon sticks, cardamoms and star anise.
3. Add in the chicken, cover the pot , when the chicken boils, reduce flame and simmer till gravy thickens.
4. Add in the chicken stock powder, sugar and tomato wedges. Adjust the flavour and simmer for another 3 minutes. Dish up

#119 Prawn and Petai Sambal : recipe #83

Love prawns... love petai... love sambal... these three elements together formed one mouth-watering dish.... now... let's cook !

Ingredients:
15 medium size fresh prawns, shelled and deveined
1 can petai, drained ( you can use the fresh petai too.... even better and bitter actually )
2 tbsp coconut milk
2 tbsp tamarind juice ( 1 tsp tamarind + 2 tbsp water)
chicken stock ,salt & sugar to taste

blended ingredients:
1 tsp roasted shrimp paste
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 dsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp dried chilli paste

steps:
1. Heat wok, add in oil
2. fry the blended ingredients until the oil surfaced.
3. add in the prawns and petai, stir
4. add in the tamarind juice and the seasoning (chicken stock and/or salt)
5. adjust the flavour, add coconut milk and add in sugar to balance the taste.

#118 I was tagged

GOTCHAA....!!!!!!!! ME, BEEN TAGGED !!!!!!

Yeah !!...YOU laaaa...

I thought I will never "kena" but then, A blogger friend from Malaysia, Rinnchan had tagged me* hysterical* hehehe. Never mind, I take this positively..., Rinn I know that you ingat sangat... kat I di Brunei nie... :) , so you want me to list down the weird things I do eh.... well here it is people, my list.. may be I too can be categorised as "weirdo".

1. I like to eat " Kerak nasi", if I have the craving for it, I'll purposely cook the rice without using a rice cooker.

2. If I am bored with my everyday food, I'll eat nasi with belacan only.. not sambal belacan... simply belacan.

3. or.... eat rice with My favourite kicap and fresh red chillies, just that.

4. I don't wear lipstick to work.

5. I don't know how to use make up.

6. I love to wear mocassins/ flat shoes to work, I don't know how to walk in high heels.

weird...eh?

Now it`s my turn to tag you people.., MY STUDENTS......watch out for me..here I come !!!

1. Sarina @ Sher @nana
2. Nabilah @Abyll - Abyll, please tag madir and leejah jua ah !
3. Lu Wee
4. Roxine
5. Faye
6. Sing Yien

Rules: People who are tagged should write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

#117 23rd of February......

TO ALL BRUNEIANS... WHERE EVER YOU MAY BE....
SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI KEBANGSAAN YANG KE 23.

When I was in form 3, I was involved in the 1st National day... 23/2/1984. We were involved in the opening of the umbrellas that showed the kalimah " Bismillah hir rahman nir rahim" at the National Stadium. I remember it was the green umbrella I was holding. I was also involved in the 2nd and the 3rd National day as well, singing in the choir. The 2nd national day took place at the National Stadium and the 3rd National day , it was in front of the old custom office. My favourite songs? Definitely, Brunei Bumi Bertuah and Purih Bangsa . What a memory !. I was also involved in the Pesta Sukan Merdeka in 1985, we were forming patterns on the field, we were given a blue tracksuit each. The tracksuit was thick and heavy, and running in them was very uncomfortable. I was also involved in the National day 1989 and 1990. Last year, I participated in the parade together with 19 other teachers and 100 of our students. Were any of you out there involved in the National day celebrations?

#116 Kesturi chicken : recipe #82

One of the first chicken " restaurant" recipe that I liked was Lemon Chicken, It has the crispiness of the chicken fillet plus the sour and zesty flavour form the lemon. I cooked this dish a few days back because I had the craving for the lemon chicken. However, I didn't have lemon in my fridge, so I used "limau Kesturi" istead. "limau Kesturi" is a fruit from citrus plant , marble size and incredibly very sour. Here we go:

Ingredients:
chicken fried fillet - see my post #78, recipe #55

gravy:
2 "limau Kesturi" or 1/2 lemon
chicken stock powder
sugar- for balancing the sourness of the "kesturi"
corn flour slurry
1 dsp chopped ginger
1 dsp chopped garlic

steps:
1. heat oil in wok, fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant
2. add in the corn slurry, chicken stock powder and the juice from the limes
3. Once the gravy has thicken, add in sugar, and adjust the taste.
4. put the chicken fillets on a serving dish and pour the gravy on top , serve immediately.

#115 : Sweet Sour Crabs: recipe#81

I think it has been 2 years or so that we didn't eat crabs. You see, eating crabs need patience and also it is time consuming. My hubby had been telling me about his craving for these sea creatures for sometime now , so after I had my exercise ( LOL!) today, I bought 2 kilogrammes of Crab, 1 kilo of squids and 1 large "tenggiri". I also bought "lemiding" and "sayur nangka" . Here's what I did to the crabs:

Ingredients:
2 kilograms crab -intestine , gills and carapace removed, boiled and keep aside.
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 Spanish onion, sliced
2 lemon grass
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
3 dsp spicy taucho ( soy bean paste)
chicken stock powder
corn flour slurry
2 tomatoes- cut into wedges.
fried shallots

steps:
1. In a large wok, add oil.
2. add in the chopped ginger, garlic ,onion and lemon grass.
3. add in the chili sauce and taucho, stir till combine
4. when the sauce has thicken, add in the crabs add in some water and cover wok for at least 5 minutes.
5. add corn slurry and adjust flavouring with chicken stock powder.
6. If the gravy has thicken and able to coat the crabs, dish up.

I also cooked these for lunch... btw,to Aziah, if you read this post, the chicken is similar to the ones that we had on Thursday but without sesame seeds :)

#114: Simple lemon Cheesecake : recipe #80

This is one of my favourite. It's also the favourite of My hubby and everybody else in the house. This explains why I only managed to take the photo of the last slice !!!! :) I hope it would be your favourite too.

Crust:
3/4 cup fat
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
11/4 cups flour
1 cup oats
a pinch of salt

Filling:
2 pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs
1 capful Lemon Essence ( about 1 tsp)

1) Preheat oven 170C, grease a spring form pan
2) For crust: combine all ingredients, mix till well blended, if the mixture falls apart, add a bit more fat. Press onto bottom of the prepared pan.
3) Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned
4) In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and flour, beat till well blended. Add in the eggs, mix well. Add the lemon essence. Pour on to the baked crust
5) Bake for 25 minutes or until set. Cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting it into slices. Enjoy~

tip: Leave the cake in the oven with the oven's door ajar after you off the oven. This will prevent your cake from cracking.

#112: Simply Trifle: Recipe #79

One of the past time that I used to do, when I did My master (2005) was to surf the net. One of the favourite thing I did was to read Malaysian cooking forums. Believe me, these forums have a lot of recipes to offer. Hanieliza is one of the outstanding recipes contributors of these forums. I "knew" her through her recipes. This recipe, I think belonged to her.. if I made a mistake... please correct me...MamaFami Help! But definitely I took this recipe from one of the forum , typed it in my recipe file and here it is... original from my documents... ( I malas nak edit! *smile*). This recipe has 5 layers, so it would have been nice to call it PENTAFLE instead :). I didn't use swiss roll and I replaced fruit cocktail with slices of peaches instead.


Monday 19/2/2007.....ANSWER TO MY OWN QUESTION.... AFTER SURFING THE FORUM.... HERE IT IS..TADAA~ THE RECIPE BELONG TO MAIZANA ( TQ..TQ..TQ) BUT POSTED BY HANIELIZA...

PUDING TRIFLE 5 LAPIS

1. Lapis pertama : Potong swiss roll cake dan susun rata di dalam bekas
Curahkan air cocktail ke atas kek tersebut.

2. Lapis kedua: 1 tin susu cair + ¾ gelas air + 6 sudu desert gula – masak hingga mendidih.
Bila mendidih, campurkan campuran 4 sudu desert tepung kastard + ½ gelas air – kacau hingga likat.
Curahkan ke atas kek tadi.

3. Lapis ketiga- susun buah cocktail atas lapis kastard tadi.

4. Lapis keempat- I paket jelly ( lady’s choice) –any flavour- sediakan ikut aturan yg di sediakan . biarkan sejuk sebentar - jirus ke atas lapis ke tiga

5. Lapis kelima- sesudah lapis keempat beku, curah 1 container kecil yoghurt ( apa apa rasa pun boleh) : simpan puding ini di dalam peti ais sebelum di hidangkan

#111 BRIYANI CHICKEN RICE: RECIPE#78

Auni loves to eat "Nasi Briyani". Today, I cooked this especially for her. I used the "Faiza Briyani Powder" I bought the other day at Tg Bunot Hua Ho Mall. I never used this powder before. So, What's the end product like?. DELICIOUS.... Auni Had her third round already! :) here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken- skin and fat removed, cut into small pieces, cleaned.
3 cups Basmati rice, washed and strained

A- blended together:
5 shallots
5 garlic
1/2 large onion
3 pcs ginger- garlic size

B- others
4 tbsp Faiza Briyani curry powder
1 cup skim milk ( for chicken) , 1cup for rice
4 dsp tomato sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 dsp honey
1 handful fried shallots
seasoning:
chicken stock powder and salt
water


steps: A: cooking the chicken
1. Heat wok, add in oil
2. Add in A, add in the briyani powder and a little water, stir to mix, and fry till fragrant.
3. Add in chicken, reduce flame, cover the wok, cook for another 10 minutes
4. Add in the tomato sauce, honey, milk chicken stock powder.
5. Cook till chicken is done, add seasoning and add in the fried shallots. stir to mix
6. Transfer the chicken to another container, leave some of the gravy in the wok.

B: cooking the rice
1. Heat the wok again, Add rice to the gravy in the wok, stir to mix.
2. Add in the milk and about 2 cups water ( the amount of water depends on you, if you want softer rice, add in a bit more)
3. Add in salt and seasoning and boil rice until the rice looked starchy before transferring the rice to the rice cooker. Do ensure the rice has enough fluid for it to cook well.

#108 DROOLS .......

#107:Spicy dry Chicken Korma: recipe #78

Korma can come in various versions, this is one of those. I will post other Korma recipes if I happen to cook them. This is one of the easiest as well :)

Ingredients:
A- Ingredients to be mix together and marinated at least for 15 minutes before cooking or overnight in the fridge.
- 1/2 chicken, cleaned, skin and fat removed, cut into small pieces.
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper

B- blended materials
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 ginger ( size of garlic)
- 1 Spanish onion ( large red onion)
- 3 fresh red chillies
- 2 tbsp Korma powder ( I like the one in white can with deer pic on it!)

chicken stock powder
oil
water
half-boiled cubed potato

steps:
1. Heat oil in pot
2. Add in the blended materials, fry till fragrant and oil surfaced
3. Add in the chicken, stir well, add a little water and cover the pot to cook the chicken.
4. When the juice from the chicken comes out, lower the flame.
5. Add the potato pieces, chicken stock powder , sugar and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the chicken pieces are done.
6. Adjust seasoning and dish-up.

* take note not to go overboard with the chicken stock powder as chicken pieces have been marinated beforehand

#103: Quick Bread Pudding : recipe #77

My children do not like to eat the bread's crust . Therefore , if I make sandwiches, I have to cut the edges off . I am the one who ate the crusts, sometime put them in the oven, turn it to a cruncy edges ( hehe) and another way is to turn them into this yummy dessert. It may not look commercial, but it's yummy.

Ingredients:
crusts from 8 bread slices
2 cups milk
1 egg- beaten
2 dsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
cinnamon for sprinkling

steps:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
2. combine bread and milk in a bowl. Allow the bread to soak up the milk .
3. Add egg and sugar into the bread mixture , mix well.
4. grease the ceramic container/ pan with butter
5. place the mixture in the pan and sprinkle the top with cinnamon powder
6. Bake for 15 minutes or when the pudding is done.

#101: Meat with Bamboo: recipe #76

This is an easy, fast stir-fry dishes. It brings out the beef and bamboo shoots flavor very nicely. you can substitute the bamboo with other veggies of your choice. here's the recipe

Ingredients:
1. 0.5 kg sliced beef
2. 2 garlic, chopped
3. 2 tbsp young ginger, sliced thinly
4. 1 tsp 5 spice powder
5. 1 onion, cut into wedges
6. 1 red chili
7. 1 tsp white pepper
8. preserved bamboo shoots- sliced, about 1 handful
9. sauces: dark soy sauce, sweet soy sauce and sashimi soy sauce
10. Sushi vinegar
11. sugar ( optional)

steps:
1. marinade beef with spicy bean paste and 5 spice powder for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat oil in pan, add garlic and fry till fragrant.
3. add in the marinated meat and fry further till beef is tender. If gravy becomes too dry, add in a little water and continue cooking.
4. When beef is tender, add in the sliced bamboo shoots
5. Add in the sahshimi soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sushi vinegar.
6. Add in the chicken stock powder, white pepper and sugar.
7. Lastly, add in the sliced chili, onion and ginger.
8. adjust seasoning and dish up.

#100: Sour fish soup: recipe #75

I love eating fish. For me, my favourite is always "lauk rabus" (see recipe post #6 ). This recipe is the Vietnam's/ Thailand version of "lauk rabus". Try it...

Ingredients:
3 sliced mackerel ( Tenggiri)
1 lemon grass
3 shallots
2 garlic
1 garlic-sized ginger
1 red chili- sliced
2 coriander roots
more coriander leaves for garnishing
3 sweet basil leaves
Tamarind juice ( 2 tbsp tamarind + o.5 lit of water, mix, strained and pulp discarded)
2 dsp Thai fish sauce
1 dsp chicken stock powder
1 tomato, cut into wedges

steps:
In a pot, preferably clay plot, add all ingredients except tomato and simmer until the soup boils.
add tomato wedges, Adjust seasoning and dish up. Garnish with more coriander

#99: Quick Beef rendang: recipe#74

In the morning, on school days I usually wake up before 5.00 a.m, truthfully, my body really feel tired, but then I remember that I need to fix breakfast and lunch for the family especially the kids. The type of dish that I usually cook will be the ones with less hassle and this is one examples of those dishes ..

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo beef, preferably tenderloin or topside-sliced

blended ingredients:
3 fresh chilies
1tsp turmeric powder
10 shallots
5 garlic
1 tbsp chopped ginger.

others:
1 lemon grass
chicken stock powder
juice from 1 lime
sugar
1tsp soy sauce
2 dsp "kerisik"/coconut paste ( I didn't use coconut milk)
enough water to soften the beef
oil-2 tdsp
1 dsp sliced torch ginger flower ( bunga kantan)- now available in dry form.

steps:
1. combine beef, blended ingredients, lemon grass, torch ginger and oil in a pot.
2. cook the mixture at high flame, until the juice from the beef came out, then reduce flame to medium, and simmer the mixture. Occasionally, stir the beef and if the gravy become too reduced, add in water.
3. Simmer till the beef become tender.
4. When the beef become tender, add the rest of the ingredients and let the mixture boils for about 5 minutes.
5. Adjust seasonings and the thickness of the gravy. If the gravy became too thick, add a little water.

ENJOY ....

#98 Quick Egg plant fried sambal : recipe #73

This recipe is one of the oldest recipes I ever known. I have eaten it since I was 5 -6 yrs old and that was....mmmm 32 years ago. I believe, this dish had existed before then. The traditional way of doing this is by using dried chili paste and everthing have to be prepared from scratch. In the morning, cooking from scratch will not be a good idea for me, so I used short cut to save time, and the result? just as nice... enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 large egg plant- cut length-wise, deep-fried.

sauce:
A- blended ingredients:
1 handful dried prawns, washed
5 shallots
3 garlic

B-others
3 tbsp Maggi garlic chili sauce-add more if necessary
chicken stock powder
sugar

steps:
1. heat oil in wok, add in the blended ingredients (A)
2. Add in the chili sauce, fry till fragrant and oil emerged to the surface
3. season with chicken stock powder and sugar, dish up.

#97 Black pepper prawn : recipe #72

I cooked this dish sometime ago. The usual dish I cooked with black pepper is the black pepper beef, so this was actually an experiment which turned out to be unexpectedly nice.

Ingredients :
about 20 medium prawns, shelled deveined, tail intact
salt
pepper
ginger- sliced
garlic- sliced
1/2 large onion sliced
green chili and red chili- julienned

seasoning:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp black pepper sauce
1/2 chicken stock powder
corn flour slurry

steps;
1. marinade prawn in a ceramic bowl with salt and pepper for at least 15 minutes.
2. grilled or fry the prawn till cooked, keep aside.
3. In a wok, add oil, when oil is hot, add in the onion, garlic and ginger. cook till fragrant
4. Add in the oyster sauce, balck pepper sauce and chicken stock powder. simmer
5. add in the sliced chili and the prawn.
6. add in the corn flour slurry and adjust seasoning. dish up.

#96 Tempe sambal with baby clam: recipe#71

I first ate Tempe in 1975, that was when my late mom bought it from her Malaysian Collegue. Those years, tempe was a very rare commodity, however nowadays, you can buy it in supermarket for B$1 each or at Pasar borong , 5 for B$2. During one of the tahlil night I made this "sambal", which yield about 6 plates of sambal tempe.

yields: 6 plates of Sambal Tempe
Ingredients:
10 packets Tempe- cut into small pieces, deep fried
1 bunch long beans - cut to 2 cm slices
5 sweet potatoes- diced, deep fried
4 large cans baby clam ( red and white can)
1 handful cashew nuts- roasted

A- blended together
2 cups dried chilli paste
1 handful shallots
1/2 handful garlic
1/4 cup chopped ginger

B- others
tamarind juice
salt
chicken stock powder
1 tbsp Maggi Belacan powder
sugar ( optional)
fried shallots
1 can coconut milk

steps:
1. heat oil in wok
2. add in A- the blended chili, fry till fragrant
3. add in the long beans, fry till half cooked.
4. add in B- simmer
5. add in tempe, sweet potato and clam, stir well. If the "sambal" is too dry , ADD IN SOME NON-SWEET CHILLI SAUCE.
6. adjust seasoning and dish up.
7. to serve: sprinkle with sliced spring onions and more fried shallots

#94 : The "makan-makan"

THE FOOD.......



THE COMPANY....

Last Sunday, I felt like to eat "Mee Kari" and My Hubby "tais liur" Tiramisu. So, I called My siblings over to eat with us. I prepared the Tiramisu early in the morning and keep it in the fridge, then only I prepared the Mee Kari's gravy and the condiments. Auni's Bday is coming up... she already has a long list of dishes she wants me to cook for her big day... including her b'day cake !!!

#93: MEATLESS VEGIES NOODLE: recipe #69

Welcome back to my humble blog. As promised , It's blogging time again. Thanks for all the support I received . Truthfully, I was drained emotionally and physically. My maid is back again, my back pain is 95% gone , what more could I ask? Alhamdullilah.
My schedule is very hectic at the moment. I have tight teaching schedule, I am in-charge of allowance this year and this week the school is very busy with the new form six admission. I do find that teaching nowadays is more demanding than when I first started 14 years ago.
The Myth " Teachers work half day" need to be removed from the mind of our society. Teachers nowadays have a lot of other side jobs and we do work till late afternoon or even till night time. We work Fridays and Sundays too! . We bring work home and have to work until late at night to early mornings. The bright side of being a teacher is that I see a lot of young faces every school days. For me, I love working with young people and I try my very best to bring the best out of them.
BTW, here is a very simple, easy peasy recipe especially meant for vegies lovers~
Ingredients:
300g yellow noodles
1 handful snow peas
3 stalks mustard greens- cut into small pieces
1 handful pickled bamboo shoots
1 egg- beaten
1 red chili-julienned
1 green chili-julienned
2 garlic-sliced
1 dsp chopped ginger
1/2 spanish onion-sliced
seasoning:
Oyster sauce
Spicy soya sauce
Sweet soya sauce

Step:
1. Heat oil in wok, fry in the egg, when cooked, set aside
2. Adjust flame to high, Add a little oil into the wok, fry in the onion, ginger and garlic, fry till fragrant.
3. add all the vegies and seasoning.
4. add in the noodles and taste the noodle , adjust seasoning according to your taste.