STEWED OKRA WITH TOMATOES AND CILANTRO

Ingredients:

500 gm okra (lady's fingers)

400 gm chopped tomato (if using canned tomato, do not drain the liquid)

200 gm fresh cilantro leaves (chinese parsley) - chopped

2 large onions – diced

5 cloves garlic - crushed

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon chilli powder (cayenne pepper)

3 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat ghee in a wok over medium heat.
2. Stir fry the onion and garlic until fragrance.
3. Add tomatoes, cinnamon, cumin, chill powder and cloves with half the cilantro in the wok.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste, and bring all to a boil.
5. Add the okra and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the okra is tender.
6. Add in the remaining cilantro. Serve hot.

Cook’s Note:

If you wish the dish to be spicier, add more chilli powder.

RUJAK BRUNEI (SPICED FRUIT SALAD)

Ingredients:

1 small cucumber, sliced thin
1 cup thinly sliced turnip
1 cup cubed firm ripe papaya
1 star fruit (carambola), sliced
1 to 2 cups ripe pineapple - cubed
1 firm green pear, cubed
1 firm granny smith apple, cubed

Sauce Ingredients:

3 tablespoons dry roasted peanuts
2 red chillies, sliced and seeded
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind paste, dissolved in ½ cup water and strained
1 small green banana, sliced (optional)

Preparation:

1. Arrange the cucumber and fruits in separate heaps on a serving platter.
2. In a food processor chop the peanuts finely, then blend in the chilies, brown sugar, tamarind juice, and banana (if used) to form a paste.
3. Pour the sauce into a bowl and serve together with the fruits .

Cook’s Note:

1. It is traditional to serve the sauce and fruit separately. Each diner may then select the fruit and dip it into the thick sauce.
2. The modern method is to toss the fruit and sauce together and serve the salad at room temperature.
3. Fresh pineapple can be subsitituted with canned pineapple.
4. Green pear can be subsitituted with chinese pear.

JAPANESE COLD TOFU

For my sister who loves Japanese food

Ingredients:

200 gm Japanese egg tofu
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
¼ teaspoon sugar
Spring onions, chopped
Shallot

Preparation:

1. Steam tofu for 15 minutes, remove and chill in fridge till cold.
2. Dilute light soya sauce with water & sugar to suit your taste.
3. Pour mixture over the tofu and topped with spring onion & shallot.

Note:

Goes very well with Bonito flakes and horseradish

STEAMED TOFU WITH MINCED MEAT

Ingredients:

1 cube of silken tofu
150 g ground chicken meat
2 tablespoons of dried shrimps
2 stalks of scallions (diagonal cuts)
1 red chili (diagonal cuts)
1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
½ cup of water
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
A few drops of sesame oil
White pepper powder to taste

Preparation:

1. Soak the dried shrimps in warm water for 10 minutes. Drain the water and chopped the dried shrimps into small pieces.
2. Steam the tofu for 5 minutes and set aside.
3. Heat up a wok with some oil and stir fry the ground chicken and dried shrimps until fragrant.
4. Add in the water, oyster sauce, soy sauce and bring it to boil.
5. Add in the scallions, red chili, sesame oil, salt and sugar (to taste) and white pepper powder. Quick stir for 30 seconds and pour the toppings onto the steamed tofu.
6. Serve hot with rice.

CHILLI STUFFED POTATOES

Ingredients:

2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 small onion - finely chopped
1 clove garlic - minced
1 cup red & green peppers - diced
350 g ground meat (Beef or Chicken)
1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup canned red kidney beans - drained
4 large potatoes - baked and still hot
¼ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Chopped scallions & sour cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Place oil in a large non-stick pan over MED.-HIGH heat; Add onion; sauté 4-5 minutes or until softened
2. Add peppers, ground meat, tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Reduce heat; simmer 8-10 minutes
3. Stir in kidney beans, season with salt & pepper and continue to simmer 3 -5 minutes longer
4. Slice open each baked potato. Fill with generous amount of chili mixture; top each with 1 tablespoon cheese.
5. Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped scallions and a dollop of sour cream

NONYA SPICY MIXED VEGETABLES PICKLES

Ingredients:

300g cucumber, cut lengthwise with the skin into 1½ inch lengths

150g cabbage, cut into big pieces
50g carrot, skin peeled and cut lengthwise
50g French beans, cut into 1½ inch lengths
50g long beans, cut into 1½ inch lengths
50g roasted peanuts, ground
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
5 tablespoons oil
Tamarind pulp, about golf ball size
1 cup water

Spice Paste:

5 Shallots
12 fresh red chilies
½ inch fresh turmeric (or ½ teaspoon turmeric powder)
2 Candlenuts

Preparation:

1. Soak the tamarind pulp in warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze and extract the juice and set aside.
2. Blend the spice paste in a food processor and set aside.
3. Heat up a wok and add oil. Stir-fry the spice paste until aromatic.
4. Add tamarind juice and bring to boil. Add salt and sugar to taste.
5. Add all vegetables into the wok and turn off the fire immediately.
6. Add ground peanut, stir to mix well.
7. Dish out, let cool and serve. The pickle is best served overnight.

QUICK & SIMPLE DHAL

Ingredients:

200 gm Red Lentils
750 ml Water
150 gm Onion - thinly sliced
4 Cloves Garlic - coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
2 Tomatoes - quatered
2 green Chilli - cut lenghtwise
4 Dried Chilli
3 tablespoon Ghee
Salt to taste
A sprig of curry leaves

Preparation:

1. Wash the lentils and add to water in a pot over medium heat.
2. Add half of the onion and garlic. Set the remainder aside.
3. Add in turmeric, tomatoes, green chilli and salt.
4. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook for another 20 minutes.
5. In a pan, heat the ghee on medium high and add the remainding onion.
6. Stur fry for 5 minutes, reduce  heat to medium and cook till the onion is brown.
7. Add the remainding garlic, curry leaves and dried chilli, cooked for another 3 minutes.
8. Pour the fried ingredients into the pot of cooked lentils and stir for 2 minutes on low heat.
9. Served with plain rice