My Kitchen and Me

This is a very popular Indian dish made with highly seasoned rice and meat, fish or vegetables. There are numerous ways to prepare this and since this was my first attempt, I made it the easiest way - to cook the rice and chicken separately and layer them.  This is also known as 'Katchi Briyani'. The recipe below may seem long and complicated, but honestly, it's not that hard.. Do give it a try! Ingredients: Rice Basmati Rice - 2 1/4 cups Ghee - 3 tbsp Briyani powder - 1 tbsp (I used Aachi ) *optional Cinnamom stick - 1 Cardamon - 4 Cloves - 5 Star anise - 1 Bay leaves - 2 Yogurt - 1/2 cup Water - 4 cups Salt to taste Chicken: Chicken - 1 kg cut into medium sized pieces Ginger-garlic paste - 6 tbsp Onions - 4 thinly sliced Tomatoes - 1 chopped Green chilies - 3 slit Fennel seeds - 1 tsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Cardamom - 4 Cinnamon stick - 1 Cloves - 5 Turmeric powder - 1tsp Chili powder - 2 tsp Coriander powder - 2 tbsp Salt to taste Garnishing: Coriander leaves - chopped...

This simple vege/salad goes well with briyani rice.. Ingredients: 1 cucumber - cut length wise and diced 1 tomato - diced 1/2 onion - diced Chopped coriander leaves 1 cup fresh yogurt Mix all the ingredients together and sprinkle with some salt and pepper!

Ingredients: Cucumber - 1 chopped Onions - 1 chopped Tomato - 1 chopped Pineapple - 1/2 chopped Chilli - 1/2 chopped Lime juice - 5 tbsp Salt to taste Sugar to taste Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and you have a healthy vegetable salad! This goes well with savoury rice dishes.

Prepared Chicken Briyani for lunch today! Will be posting the recipe soon :)

Since Raya mood is in the air, decided to make some tomato rice, ayam masak merah and cucumber salad. We had some friends come over and they seemed to enjoy the food, so it must have been good :) Ingredients: Chicken - 1 cut into small pieces Dried chilies - 20 soaked Galangal - 2 inch piece Ginger - 2 inch piece Onion - 2 Lemongrass - 5 stalks Garlic - 5 cloves Star anise - 4 Cardamons - 3 Cloves - 5 Cinnamon stick - 1 Tomato soup - 1/2 can Coconut milk - 1/2 can Turmeric - 1 tsp Spring onions - 1stalk Salt to taste Marinate the chicken pieces with turmeric and salt. Set aside for 1/2 hr then deep fry til golden brown. Blend onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, galangal and chilies to a fine paste. Heat some oil and stir fry star anise, cardamons, cinnamon and cloves until fragrant. Add in the blended paste and increase the heat until the mixture bubbles. Reduce the flame and let it simmer until the oil is separated from the paste ( pecah minyak ). Add in tom...

With just a few basic ingredients, you will have some awesome and crispy chicken wings. You could also add in some chili flakes to give it a hint of spiciness. Yumm... Ingredients: Chicken wings - 12 Corn flour - 2 tbsp Flour - 3 tbsp 1 egg Salt to taste Pepper to taste Rinse the chicken wings and pat dry. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Ensure chicken wings are well coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Deep fry until golden brown, drain on paper towel and enjoy!

I've been wanting to try this for a very long time. Finally made these for tea today! Yummy.. Ingredients: Pastry All purpose flour - 300g Margarine - 70g Water - 150 ml Salt - 1/4 tsp Filling Onion - 1/2 cubed Potatoes - 2 cubed Chicken breast - 1 cubed Chili powder - 1 1/2 tsp Meat curry powder - 1/ tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Water - 100 ml Salt to taste Pepper to taste Prepare the filling first by sautéing onions in a little oil.  Add chili powder, meat curry powder, turmeric powder and continue to stir.  Add chicken pieces and potatoes. Add water and bring to boil. Season with salt and pepper. Once the potatoes are cooked and the liquid is reduced, remove from heat and let it cool. To make pastry, mix flour, margarine, salt, water and knead well until it forms a dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Cut the dough into circles about 2mm in diameter. Fold the filling in and seal the edges. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Kuih is a snack or dessert type of food found in many shapes, colours and textures. Seri muka is one of my favourite kuihs and I decided to try it at home. (Honestly, it's better to get them from the stalls as you will probably eat one or two pieces only.  ) Anyways, i t turned out well but we couldn't finish the whole tray at home. We gave some to our neighbours and.... they loved it!  Ingredients: Bottom layer Glutinous Rice - 250g (aoaked for 4 hours, and drained)  Bottom Layer Thin coconut milk - 150 ml Salt - 1/4 tsp Top Layer Eggs - 2 Castor sugar - 150g Pandan Juice (Blend approx 10 pandan leaves with 120ml water) Coconut milk - 350ml All-purpose flour - 120g Corn flour - 3 tbsp Salt - 1/4 tsp *Green colouring (optional) Steam glutinous rice with coconut milk and salt for 30 minutes. Let it rest for about 5-10 minutes and transfer to a square pan. Press it with the back of a wet spoon till firm and let it cool. To prepare the top layer, beat eggs an...

Garlic bread is so good that I find it necessary to have them when I prepare soups. Here's 3 very simple steps to get these delicious slices. Ingredients: French baguette - 1 sliced  Garlic - 3 cloves Butter - 3 tbsp Parsley - chopped finely Mash the garlic and butter in a bowl. Spread them evenly on the sliced baguettes and sprinkle some chopped parsley. Bake in oven at 170C degrees for 5 minutes or until it's golden brown. There you go, 3 simple steps and it's ready!

Trying to keep cool during this hot season, I made some soy milk. It's extremely easy to make and is also very nutritious. Ingredients: Soy beans - 125 g Water - 1 litre Pandan leaf- 1 (optional) Sugar to taste Soak the soy beans overnight. Remove the hulls by kneading the soy beans and rinse with water. Blend the soy beans with 1 litre of water in a blender . Strain the mixture through a muslin cloth to recover the soy milk. Heat the milk till boiling point together with a pandan leaf. Continue to boil for 5-10 minutes. Stir sugar to taste.

My family and close friends know that I am very fond of Malay and Thai food. Nasi Goreng Kampung is a type of fried rice with anchovies, water convolvulus and bird's eye chilies as the key ingredients. I used to have this very often during my campus days. Here's my take on one of Malaysia's most popular fried rice! Ingredients: Rice - 2 cups Chicken breast - 1 cut into small pieces Water convolvulus (kangkung)  - 1 handful Carrot - 1/4 cut into thin stripes Fried anchovies - 1 handful Bird's eye chilies - 5 slit Light soy sauce - 3 tbsp Salt to taste Pepper to taste To blend: Onions - 1/2 Garlic - 5 cloves Anchovies - 2 tbsp Bird's eye chilies - 6 Heat some oil in a wok and stir fry the blended ingredients, soy sauce and salt until they turn slightly brown. Add chicken pieces and stir fry until they are cooked. Put in the cooked rice and stir well. Add water convolvulus, carrots and bird's eye chilies. Continue to toss and stir. Ensure eve...

Being Indians, we prepare sambar almost every week. Well... it's easy to prepare and it compliments both veg and non-veg dishes. There are many varieties of it and this is a plain sambar which goes particularly well with breads and chappatis. You may also add in vegetables such as carrot, brinjal and okra. Ingredients: Dhal - 1/2 cup soaked Potatoes - 1 cubed Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Chili powder - 1 1/2 tsp Grated coconut - 3 tbsp Garlic - 2 cloves Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Tamarind juice - 2 tbsp Seasoning: Shallots - 3-4 chopped Dried chilies - 3-4 cut small Curry leaves - 1 spring Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Salt to taste Coriander leaves - chopped for garnishing Boil dhal in 2 cups of water with garlic and salt. Once the dhal is cooked and tender, mash them a little. Add turmeric powder, chili powder, potatoes, tamarind juice and 2 more cups of water. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes are cooked. Grind cumin seeds and grated coconut to a fine paste. Add ...

Ingredients: Chicken – 1/2 kg medium size pieces Onions – 4 big sliced thinly Ginger-garlic paste – 3 tsp Curry leaves – 2 spring Chili powder – 3 ts p Coriander powder – 5 tsp Turmeric powder – 1 tsp Garam masala powder – 1 tsp Salt to taste Pepper to taste Marinate the chicken with 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste and salt for 1/2 hr. Cook on low heat without adding much water. Once chicken is 50% cooked, dish out and keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan, add onions, curry leaves, salt and rest of the ginger-garlic paste. Saute it for about 10 minutes until the onions turns very translucent and soft. Add all the spices and fry it for another 3 minutes. Now add the partially cooked chicken and fry it well till the chicken is well coated with the masala and is cooked well. Continue stirring. When a reddish brown color is attained, the dish is ready to be served. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice or chappati.

I've always wanted to try this dish at home. My brother who loves fishing brought home this lovely Jenahak, and I just had to make this. It turned out well, but I added a tad bit too much of tamarind. Nevertheless it was great and here's the improvised recipe! Ingredients: Jenahak - 1/2 cut into small pieces Okra - 5-6 cut into small pieces Tomato - 1 cut into wedges Fish curry powder - 1 tsp Sugar - 1 tsp Tamarind juice - 5 tbsp Water - 1 cup Turmeric - 1/2 tsp Spice: Garlic - 1 clove Lemon grass - 2 staks (white part only) Shallots - 4 Dried chillies - 8-10 Belacan - 1/2 tbsp Marinate the fish with salt and turmeric. Fry in oil until golden brown, drain and set aside. Pound the spice paste with a pestle and mortal. You could also use a blender but the former yields a better taste. Heat oil in a pan and fry the spice taste till fragrant. Add tamarind juice, water and fish curry powder. Let it boil. Add tomatoes and okra. Add pre-fried fish, salt and sugar. Let it simmer on ...

Here's a very simple recipe to a bowl of heart warming soup. Ingredients: Chicken pieces - 8-10 medium sized Ginger juice - 2 tbsp Carrots - 1 cut cubed Cabbage/salad leaves - few small pieces *optional* Potatoes - 1 cubed Onions - 1/2 chopped thinly Spring onions - 1 stalk chopped Water - 3 cups Salt Pepper Fry the onions in some oil. Remove and set aside. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Once smoking, add chicken pieces. Stir fry briefly and add water. When it starts to simmer, add salt, pepper and ginger juice. Let it cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes before adding carrots and potatoes. Add cabbage/salad leaves once the other vegetables are cooked. Check for salt and adjust if needed. The soup is ready to be served. Don't forget to sprinke some freshly chopped spring onions and pre-fried onions!

When I cook, I like to experiment with easy-to-make recipes. This is one of them! You can play around with the measurements for a darker/lighter sauce, or add cashew nuts instead of peanuts...You can't go wrong! Ingredients: Boneless chicken breast - 1 1/2 Roasted peanuts - 3 tbsp Dried chilies - 8-10 cut small Ginger - 1 inch sliced Garlic - 2 cloves sliced Spring onions - 1 stalk chopped Marinate: Corn starch - 1 tbsp Light soy sauce - 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine - 1 tbsp Oil - 1 tsp Sauce: Light soy sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp Dark soy sauce - 1 tsp Sugar - 1 tsp Black vinegar - 1/4 tsp Water - 2 tbsp Corn starch - 1 tsp Cut the chicken into small pieces and marinate with the above ingredients for about 20-30 minutes. Heat a wok with a little oil and stir fry the marinated chicken until they are 3/4 cooked. Dish out and set aside. Add 2 tbsp oil in a cleaned wok and put in ginger, garlic and dried chillies. Once fragrant add the partially cooked chicken in. Add roasted peanuts and the pr...

One of my all-time favourite vegetable dish. The key ingredient is none other than the spicy and aromatic sambal paste. Ingredients: Four angled beans - Sliced thinly Sambal paste: Garlic - 2 cloves Onion - 1/2 Dried chilies - 4-5 Anchovies - 5-8 cleaned Belacan (shrimp paste)- 1/2 tsp Salt to taste Pound dried chilies, onions, garlic and anchovies or grind them in a food processor. Set aside the paste. Heat some oil in a pan, and fry the spices until fragrant. Add sliced four angled beans and stir well. Season with salt and belacan. Once the beans are cooked, dish out to serve.

Ingredients: Bittergourd - 1 cut into small cubes Yogurt - 1 cup Curry leaves - 1 spring Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Dried chili - 2 cut into small pieces Green chili - 1/2 sliced thinly Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp Salt to taste Heat oil in a pan and fry the diced bittergourd till light golden brown. Drain the oil and set the bitergourd aside. In the same oil splutter mustard and add green chilly, curry leaves, dried chilies, ginger/garlic paste and sauté till they turn golden brown. Pour the bittergourd and sauteed ingredients into the curd. Give it a good stir. Season with a little salt if needed and it's ready to be served!

This is such a simple yet delicious recipe. You can prepare this in less than 15 minutes. Ingredients: Fish - 1 cup Coconut - 1/2 cup Curry leaves - 1 spring Dried chilies - 3-4 Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Chili powder - 1/4 tsp Garlic - 2 cloves crushed Ginger - 1 inch crushed Green chili - 1/2 crushed Salt to taste Boil/steam fish. Remove flesh and keep aside. Heat some oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Add dried chilies and curry leaves. Add crushed green chilies, ginger and garlic together. Saute for a few minutes. Now add the shredded fish. Also add turmeric powder, chili and coriander powder and stir well. Cover with a lid and leave on medium heat for a few minutes before you add the grated coconut. Saute for another 5 minutes and your fish thoran is ready to be served.

Phew! I'm finally able to update this blog after a 3 month hiatus! Hope you enjoy this chicken sambal recipe! Ingredients: Chicken - 15-20 medium sized pieces Dried chillies - 8-10 Red onion - 2 Garlic (crushed) - 1 clove Ginger - 2 inch piece Shallots -3 Tomato - 1 Chili sauce - 3 tbsp Lemongrass - 2 stalks Salt to taste Sugar to taste Blend half of the red onion, shallots, garlic, ginger and deseeded dried chilies with a food processor. You can also use a mortal and pestle. The latter gives a better texture and taste. Slice thinly the remaining red onion into rings. Put in the chicken and continue to stir until half cooked. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste with lemongrass until fragrant. Remove from heat and add them together with the chicken and cook well. Season with salt, and sugar. Add chili sauce and simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside and serve.