Recipe: Ayam Buah Keluak

Ayam Buah Keluak

1 cup or 1 portion of garam assam spice mix (see Garam Assam Spice Mix recipe)
2-4 tbsp of oil
½ chicken, cut into 2-inch pieces
10-12 buah keluak nuts, soaked for 2 days
400 ml of water
250 ml of assam water (mixed from 1 tbsp of assam seed)
1 tomato, chopped into 4
1 red chili, cut into half
3 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
8-10 laksa leaves

1. After the buah keluak has soaked in water for a couple of days, drain them and cut a small opening at the wider ends and put aside.
2. Heat the oil in a medium sized pot, and pan fry the garam assam spice mix until fragrant.
3. Add the chicken and buah keluak nuts, and stirfry until they are evenly coated.
4. When the chicken is almost cooked, add the tomato and chili and 250 ml of the water and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, before adding the assam water.
5. Next, add the laksa leaves, salt and sugar. Stir and simmer for 20 – 25 mins.
6. Adjust taste and consistency according to your preference by adding more sugar, salt and remaining 150 ml of water. Gravy will thicken on standing.
7. When satisfied with taste, turn off heat and serve with white rice.
   
   Serves 4
   

Recipe: Garam Assam Spice Mix

Mummy was making a batch of pastes yesterday, so I had an impromptu lesson in Garam Assam, which is the base for Buah Keluak and Kuah Nanas...

Garam Assam Spice Mix

12 cm length of galangal (lengkuas), chopped
2 pieces of tumeric, each 5-6 cm long, chopped
Small handful of dried chili, soaked in hot water and chopped
5-6 candlenuts, chopped
18 shallots, chopped
4 sticks of lemongrass, chopped
2 whole garlic, chopped
4-6 tbsp of water

1. Place all the chopped ingredients in a food processor, and blend into a fine paste. Add a few tablespoons of water if the mixture is too dry for the blender.


2. The above quantity is enough for 2 whole chickens. The mixture can be divided into 4 portions and frozen for use later.
   

6 months and counting

Sorry, no new scan of junior this month. We went for the check-up last Monday but she wasn't in a flattering position...all you could see was butt! A flasher at such a young age!

The belly is constantly expanding, I am quite done with maternity clothes though. Got enough outfits to last me at least 7 colour/print themed weeks! I am however gonna start selling a limited collection of maternity clothes ordered from the States, so if you are interested or know anyone who is pregnant, let me know. Hope to start selling after my Ho Chi Minh trip next week, where I will also be sourcing for normal clothes and bags etc too.

The past weekend was one of celebrations. On Saturday, I attended the wedding of Judy and Jalen at IHM Church in Upper Serangoon. Jalen is my cousin's cousin and Nick plays soccer with him on the Timbre United team too. The food at the reception was lovely, catered from Shakuntala's and I nicely whacked the biryani and chicken masala, not to mention 3 different desserts.

In the afternoon, I popped by the Esplanade's Cookie Museum to have tea with Joanne and her cousins Jaime and Karen, who will also be bridesmaids at the upcoming wedding. Had a chocolate concoction, my 4th dessert of the day....all this binging on sweets - I blame junior! Joanne came right after a trial make up session so she looked very glam compared to the rest of us!

At night, it was Judy and Jalen's wedding dinner at Legends Fort Canning. The food was not too bad, and the cousins put up a short skit that was hilarious, spoofing how the couple met. Overall it was an enjoyable evening and we even danced a little, although I don't think the upsized me boogie-ing made for flattering pictures.

On Sunday, we went furniture hunting with the Dopes, but they were the ones who ended buying stuff. And at night, we all attended Siddesh's 1st birthday party, which was held at Haveli, along Kampong Bahru. Siddesh is my parents' tenant's son and he's such a pie as you can see from the pix below.

There'll be more feasting this Thursday as Deepavali hits us and on Friday evening we'll be attending another wedding...this time Davinia's at Chijmes. Can't wait!

Recipe: Mita's Potato Salad

Mita’s Potato Salad

450 ml mayonnaise
8 – 10 Russet Burbank potatoes, boiled in saltwater and cut into 1.5 inch pieces
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
10 sprigs of spring onion, finely chopped
½ large white onion, finely chopped
½ green apple, chopped (soaked in saltwater)
½ red apple, chopped (soaked in saltwater)
4 eggs, boiled and mashed
3 slices of honey baked ham, cut into small squares
5 slices of back bacon, chopped and stir-fried or microwaved for 1 min
1 tablespoon of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a big bowl or pot, mix all the ingredients (but only half the spring onion) evenly, adding salt and pepper according to your taste.


2. When the ingredients are completely coated with the mayonnaise, garnish with the remaining spring onion.


3. Chill at least an hour before serving
   
   Serves 12

The past weekend

Had a very active yet relaxing weekend...starting off with an indoor picnic at Jalan Membina. The plan was to picnic at Botanical Gardens on Saturday morning, but it rained so we decided to just hang at Swana's.

I made potato salad, Swana bought rum balls, Kavi made sardine sandwiches and the rest brought prata, chicken curry, mee goreng etc. We just snacked and chatted the whole day and fawned over Riley-Jean, our niece. She's just 2.5 months now, and like a kitten! Later in the evening, Kenny and Felina came over with their daughter Sarah and after everyone left, me and Swana tagged along while Kavi sent Siva home. She was gonna spend the night at Membina, as was I and the 3 of us pigged out on Teochew porridge at Bukit Gombak that night.

The next day, me and Swana had lunch at Tiong Bahru Plaza and hooked up with Kavi after that to head to Ikea. Then we collected some stuff from my house and in the afternoon went for a swim at Sunny Spring with the twins Nicole and Nicholas.

Dinner was an Indian affair, blame it on a craving. While swimming, we saw a caterer setting up at the condo clubhouse and a tub of papadums taunted us from the window. So we had Muthu's Curry, and it was deeply satisfying.

Nick finally came home last night, tired and hungry, so I fed him Muthu's Curry leftovers. Am glad he's home, he can start massaging my back...which is starting to ache!

Here are some pix of Riley, plus her folks and the kids swimming!

Recipe: Ayam Pongteh

Ayam Pongteh

100 gms Toor dhal (the larger, flatter dhal)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 small onions, chopped
4 large dried shitake mushrooms, cut into ½ and soaked in water
1 large potato, cut into 6-8 pcs
½ chicken, cut into 2-inch pcs, marinated in some pepper
6 – 10 tbsp of oil
3 – 4 tbsp of dark soya sauce
8 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
600 ml – 1 litre of water
Red chili, cut like a flower

Rempah / Paste Mix

1. Boil the dhal in some water until it fluffs and expands, approx 30 mins, then strain and cool.
2. In a food processor, add the cooled dhal, onion and garlic and blend into a fine paste. Add a few tablespoons of water if the mixture is too dry for the blender. Keep aside once done.

Recipe proper

1. Heat the oil in a medium sized pot, and pan fry the potatoes till lightly browned and half cooked. Remove from heat.
2. Use the leftover oil to stir fry the previously prepared paste mix, until it turns a darker brown. Stir constantly and add a few more tablespoons of oil if too dry and the mixture keeps sticking to the pan.
3. Once browned, add the water, mushrooms, chicken and dark soya sauce and stir thoroughly.
4. When the chicken is almost cooked, add the potatoes, sugar and salt.
5. Simmer for 20 mins with the lid on and adjust taste and consistency by adding more sugar, salt and water according to your preference. When satisfied, turn off heat and garnish with the red chili.
   
   Serves 6
   

Recipe: Stirfried Squid

Stirfried Squid

4 pieces of squid, cleaned and cut into rings
1 tbsp of light soya sauce
1 – 2 tbsp of dark soya sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
½ small onion, minced
1 cm of ginger, minced
1 red chili, sliced
Sesame oil
Pepper

1. Marinate the cut squid rings with the light soya sauce, some pepper and a few dashes of sesame oil.

2. After 15 mins, heat some sesame oil in a frying pan, and stirfry the onion, garlic and ginger till fragrant.

3. Toss in the squid rings, and add the dark soya sauce and more sesame oil and pepper if necessary. Throw in the cut chili and remove from heat. The squid only takes a couple of minutes to cook.

Serves 2-3