Merdeka Carnival 15 August 2009

Among the crowds.

Bouncy castle.

Opened a food stall at Merdeka Carnival in Hertfordshire today. Alhamdulillah, sold 80 pieces (quarter chicken) of ayam percik (Malaysian BBQ chicken in coconut gravy), a cooler box of nasi dagang and a cooler box of nasi kerabu, laksa johor, beef and sardine curry puffs. Thank you Allah for the lovely weather. The kids had nice time too participating in the telematch, musical chairs and all sorts of games.

The white building is the Tun Razak Research Centre and the stage was located strategically in front of our stall.

Setting up the stall and the BBQ grill.

Our share partners, Mat Razak and wife, Fiona in front of their house in Solihull.

Tokey ayam percik in action.

Mama serving the customers and Fiona the cashier.

Wan frying curry puff in the background.

Well, everybody had a fun time. Looking forward for the next Merdeka Carnival in 2010. Come over to celebrate the joyous occassion with your families.

Simple Lamb Kuzi

Ingredients

1 kg of lamb
1 tbs crushed ginger
3 tbs blended onion
5 garlic
2 tbs kuzi spice (powder)/ briyani powder
2 tbs tomato sauce
1-2 tbs tomato puree
2 tbs chilli boh (optional)
2 cups milk/ evaporated milk
3 tbs blended fried onion.
salt
2 tbs sugar (this dish is meant to be a bit sweet, but i don't like it too sweet)

Methods
1. Place all ingredients in the pressure cooker and cook for 20 min till the lamb is tender.
2. Turn off the gas, cool the pot under running cold water, open the lid and add salt and sugar to taste.
3. Add fried cashew nuts, almond, sultanas/ raisins. Ready to serve with rice/ bread.
Awaiting photos of lamb kuzi.

Kuih Bakar Durian

Craving for something sweet after coming back from the lab today. Thinking of what to do with my lempok durian in the freezer. Thanks to my beloved Mum who had taken all the trouble making lempok for me. Alhamdulillah Abe Yoh had succeeded in smuggling it into the land of the queen. Saw this recipe in Kak Nor's blog. It tastes yummy. Better than the normal pandan kuih bakar.

Ingredients:

900 ml coconut milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cups sugar
100 gram durian (I used lempok)
1/2 tsp salt
yellow colouring
2 tbs butter

1. Put all the ingredients(except the butter) into the blender and blend for a few min.

2. Place butter in a baking tray and heat up in the oven at 180 C till boiling.

3. Pour the batter into the baking tray and bake for 1 hour.

4. Allow it to cool before cutting.

Guests from Plymouth, UK

Sunday 2nd August 2009, 9.50 am, when I was about to perform Solat Dhuha, suddenly felt like having a peep at my handphone, in case I had missed any incoming text messages or any missed calls. True enough, one message was waiting to be answered, it was from a good old friend from Sains Raub Secondary School, a shy but intelligent boy who used to sit behind me in the class for 2 years, in 4 Science 1 and 5 Science 1. The guy who I used to compete in exams. We used to take turns to be the first in class, if i were the first, he would be the second and vice versa. The guy I meant is Azlisham, so many girls had a crush on him, I wonder if he is aware about this fact or not.

The message said 'Asm, r u free today? We are in Manchester now & if u r around may visit u circa noon time or a time that suits u & family. Azlisham, Semesra 87'.

I replied, 'Drop by for lunch, we'll be around'.

So at 1.30 pm, the 6 of them arrived, Azli, his wife and 4 kids. Azli looked the same as before, a bit of weight gain though. The same old shy guy but much more talkative now. His funny chuckle remains. His kids look more like his wife, hardly any Pakistan features of Azli.

Had prepared briyani rice with lamb kuzi and fried tandoori chicken. Alhamdulillah Azli and wife makan bertambah, sedap la kot...Makan sambil borak till almost 4 pm.

Guess my lamb kuzi is the most simple version, just dump everything in the pressure cooker and after 20 min it's ready. Will post the recipe later specially for my good old friend in the faraway land, Farina.

Azli, Ros and their 4 kids with my family and mother in law.

Time to go back to Plymouth. Wished they could a spend a night here.