in my studio | category | in my kitchen

Oct
22
2011

30 minute chicken curry

Making a traditional and authentic chicken curry would simply mean staying in the kitchen for hours, pounding fresh ingredients and so forth. These days, you’ll easily find a lot of the supermarkets selling curry powder and curry paste. But I wouldn’t recommend buying curry powder from your local western supermarket though. Try to get them from any Asian grocery or even at your Indian grocer. There are many types but I only prefer one. Baba’s Meat Curry Powder, made in Malaysia.

When I first got married to my Lebanese husband, my mother in law made a pot of chicken curry (bought locally). The taste? Well, it didn’t come close to a curry. But then again, I can’t blame her. She’s not familiar with Asian cuisine so she and the rest of the family enjoyed it thoroughly. I just ate in silence. One day, I introduced my version of chicken curry using Baba’s and she fell in love. The look on her face was priceless, it was as though she had not tasted good chicken curry in her life.

There are many types of chicken curry; dry, wet, yellow, red, brown etc. The different variety of curries made by Malay, Indian, Chinese, Indo also slightly differ from one another. This curry here, I would say its a mix between Malay and Indian. Its so yummy and literally done in 30 minutes (if you use small cuts of chicken). I usually make a big pot so I have leftovers. Serve it with some rice, prata (roti) or yellow glutinous rice and there you go, a meal for the next 3 nights.

RECIPE FOR EASY MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CURRY

Serves: 3
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients

1/2 kilo chicken, cut into small pieces (with bones)
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 medium tomato, quartered (optional)
1/3 cup coconut milk
2-3 tbsp Baba’s curry powder (I like mine really hot so I use 5 tbsp)
2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
4 tbsp oil

Method

1. Heat oil and sautee onions in a medium size pot. Add all the spices and tomato and fry until fragrant for about 5 mins.

2. Add the curry powder, chicken and water and cook on a medium heat for 15 mins.

3. Pour in the coconut milk and stir until well combined.

4. Season well with sugar and salt then simmer for another 10 minutes or so.

5. Serve with rice or pratha(roti/bread).

Click ‘Read More’ below to print the recipe and leave a comment.

8 lovely comments
Category: chicken, halal, in my kitchen

Oct
18
2011

spring spaghetti with basil, chilli & garlic

I love this weather. Currently sitting at 24.3 degrees, I couldn’t ask for a better start to a perfect week ahead, inshallah. Inspired by my fresh garden (thanks to hubby!) and the wonderful sunshine we’ve been getting lately, I whipped up this quick meal in no more than 15 minutes. Can I tell you about the flavours? Well they just bursts in your mouth: left, right and centre! Thanks to a few powerful ingredients; garlic, chilli and basil…with a dash of extra virgin olive oil is all you need to turn it into an absolute flavoursome meal. Trust me, its really that good.

organic cooking oil

Ok, lets be honest. I need to give credit to where it all originated from. Secret Recipe. That’s where I first had it (i’ll post a review of this place soon). But for $16.90 a plate, ouch! I seriously felt guilty. Not to my palate but to my husbands pocket. So I decided to try and replicate this and oh la la, what a dish we have here for just under $5 per person. You can substitute prawns with chicken for an even cheaper meal. Hmm, now I really do sound cheap don’t I? yikes!

Slice the vegetables. Slice the garlic. Don’t chop them finely. You want to be able to taste the garlicky flavour.

Sautee the marinated prawns in olive oil. Add a bit of salt and pepper and chilli flakes.

And you have yourself a winning dish. Say hello to Spring!

RECIPE FOR SPRING SPAGHETTI
Inspired by Secret Recipe’s Thai spaghetti

Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients

2 cups cooked spaghetti
10 prawns (marinate with salt & pepper for an hour)
1 bulb garlic, sliced
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 red capsicum, sliced
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
10 mushrooms, sliced (I didnt have any but if you do,add them)
1 red chilli, cut
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Handful of basil leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp basil infused olive oil
1 tsp chilli oil, for dressing (optional)
100g feta cheese, for dressing (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. In a saucepan, sautee the marinated prawns in olive oil for 2 minutes.

2. Add garlic and stir until prawns are evenly cooked. This should take another 2 minutes.

3. Add all the vegetables and chilli flakes. Season well with salt and pepper.

4. Add pasta to the sauce mixture and pour over with basil infused olive oil. Toss to combine.

5. Finally, topped with some feta cheese and drizzle with some chilli oil.

Click ‘read more’ below to print out the recipe and leave a comment.

3 lovely comments
Category: in my kitchen, pasta, seafood

Oct
17
2011

food review // old town kopitiam mamak

Wherever you go in life, it always ends up bringing you back home. Although, not literally (in this context). For me, having my quick fix of fresh and spicy Malaysian street food is what I love most.

Quoted from their website, “Old Town Kopitiam Mamak is the most authentic Malaysian restaurant…” and I agree, but just add ‘in Melbourne’ at the end! Mamak simply means Tamil Muslims and if you ever go to Malaysia, be sure to experience the street food culture (note: I don’t take responsibility if you get an upset tummy, mine surely can handle it!). Kopitiam on the other hand, refers to Malaysian Chinese coffee shops. So together combined, makes it a wonderful place just like home.

After all, that’s what Malaysia is all about. Food + Culture = A Glorious Eating Nation!

Pictured above is a mamak flipping a roti canai. Ahh, now I am reminded of how good and flaky this bread is. I’m giving it a 9/10.

The best mee goreng is, mee goreng mamak style. Its so flavoursome and smokey. 9/10 from us.

Curry Laksa. I get this every single time. Did I not mention I’m a laksa fan? This could easily pass for a 10, but presentation wise…hm…I’ll settle for a 9.5 instead. But do try out my version, here. Its as close as you can get to the one in Kopitiam. I promise.

If you’re familiar with Malaysian cuisine, you can never fail to order a bunch of satay sticks. This was our entrée, ‘chicken and beef satay’ with peanut sauce. Although I have to admit it isn’t as good as the ones back home, but hey, probably the best in Melbourne. 8/10.

I’ve been dining here over the last few years, countless amount of times and have not once been dissapointed. Just recently, they expanded their menu with a wide variety of mamak meals and drinks. Couldn’t be happier. The prices are pretty reasonable too, averaging from $9-$14.

We eat here one too many times, that my husband and I have a secret code for it. We call it ‘KP’. Give them a try the next time you’re in town.

No comments
Category: food review, halal, in my world

Oct
02
2011

thai pineapple fried rice

On special occasions, my family and I would dine at Sawasdee (I’ll post my reviews of the restaurant soon). Whenever we’re there, we’d never fail to order their pineapple fried rice, so much so, that I keep telling myself I’d try and replicate this dish (they used to serve it in a pineapple boat, like above, but now they just dish it in a large bowl). So anyway, as I was doing my groceries at the local market, I spotted pineapples. Cheap, whole, fresh pineapples. Yum. I grabbed one. I should’ve grabbed two *sigh*.

Here is my attempt at making a pineapple boat. If you need to know how to take the flesh out, just youtube it. That’s what I did. Try it out and let me know!

And don’t forget to serve it to your husband like this, in bed! This makes an impressive brunch on a Sunday morning noon. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

THAI PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE RECIPE
Inspired by Sawasdee

Serves: 3
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients

1 small pineapple, carve flesh out into small cubes
2 cups leftover rice, medium grain
6 cloves garlic, sliced finely
1 chicken thigh fillet, remove fat and cut into small cubes
100g shelled prawns
1 carrot, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
3 tbsp pineapple juice, reserved from the fresh pineapple
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp shrimp paste
A few coriander leaves, for garnishing
A handful of spring onions, cut thinly for garnishing
A handful of cashew nuts, for garnishing
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Put your wok on a high heat and add the oil, garlic, shrimp paste, chicken and prawns. Then add the pineapple juice.

2. Put the rice and vegetables in. Stir fry for a bit more then add dark soy sauce, fish sauce and stir until the rice is evenly coated.

3. Finally, add the pineapple pieces, cashew nuts and season well with salt and pepper. Give it one last stir before garnishing it with spring onions and coriander leaves.

4. Serve in a pineapple boat* that you have carved out earlier to impress your guest!

*1 Half carved pineapple boat only serves 1.

Click ‘Read More’ below to print out the recipe and leave a comment.

1 lovely comment
Category: asian, in my kitchen, rice

30 minute chicken curry

spring spaghetti with basil, chilli & garlic

food review // old town kopitiam mamak

thai pineapple fried rice

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30 minute chicken curry

spring spaghetti with basil, chilli & garlic

food review // old town kopitiam mamak

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