Iftar 10 Ramadhan 1431 H

Kuih kosui

Sambal terung

Kerutub ayam

Baklava, gift from Souad, my Egyptian good friend.

Pasta bake


Being far away from home where the practice of Islam is so vivid, I have no choice but to provide Islamic education or tarbiyah my kids on my own. Tried to do daily tazkirah with them after Maghrib, 30 minutes a day would be enough as long as it is consistence. What I am trying to practise now is at least in a day, try to read for 30 min, tazkirah 1/2 hr, memorise at least 3 verses of Al_Quran and of course 1 hour of my thesis writing or academic reading. May Allah shower me with strength to istaqamah with this gesture.

Serimuka with gerodok telur topping

Specially dedicated to my good friend Dr Suhaiza in Manchester...dgn ucapan selamat bertugas..hehe..

Ingredients:
For the base:
3 cawan pulut
3 cawan santan
1/2 tsp salt

Gerodok telur topping:
5 eggs
1 cup palm sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 cloves
1 tsp vanilla essence

For normal pandan topping
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup custard powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 cups coconut milk.
green colouring or pandan flavour or blend 5 pandan leaves with 1/2 cup water

Methods:
1. Mix glutinous rice with coconut milk and salt, place in the microwave for 10 minutes, take it out and stir and continue for another 5 minutes.
2. You can also steam the glutinous rice for about 30 minutes if you do not like microwaving.
3. Press the cooked glutinous rice with a wet spoon.
4. Prepare the topping, mix all te ingredients together and pour onto the rice and steam for 30 minutes.
5. For pandan topping, once ingredients are mixed, stir them on the stove to thicken so that steaming is shorter. Pour the mixture onto the rice once it has thickened.

Fried eggs in soy sauce

My lamb kerutub

This is my favourite Kelantanese dish. Thanks to Azzman Nureen of Wolverhampton for the demo in Birmingham. Before this demo, I never get my kerutub to taste right. Kinda expert now..P

Ingredients:

1 kg beef with bones
3 blended Holland onions, 5 garlic, 1 inch ginger, 1 inch galangal-blend coarsely
2 tbs kerutub spice/ powder (from Kelantan).
2 tbs blended red chilis
1 tsp shrimp paste
salt
11/2 cups coconut milk
1 tsp kerisik (optional)
cardamons, cloves, cinnamon stick, star anise
whole green chillies- make a cut in the middle
screw pine leaves (optional)

Methods:
1. Fry onion ginger mix in 3 tbs of oil till fragrant. Add blended red chilli paste.
2. Add kerutub spice and 1/2 cup of water. Add beef and simmer for 1/2 hour, keep on adding a litlle bit of water to prevent it drying.
3. Once the meat is tender, add coconut milk, kerisik and salt and a sprinkle of sugar.
4. For those who love potatoes, you can also add them but the original Kelantanese kerutub doesn't have potatoes in it. I usually add whole green chillies and pandan leaves for their fragrant smell.
5. Once the gravy is thick, serve with white rice or briyani rice. Please note that kerutubs are meant to be thick, not thin like curries.

1 Ramadhan 1431 H

Alhamdulillah Allah has showered us with rahmah to meet another Ramadhan this year. I remembered during previous Ramadhans, my kids were crying and begging from me to break their fast just a few minutes before iftar as sunset was quite late in summer encroaching to almost 9pm. This year supermum has to come up with a strategy to stengthen their inner spirit to withstand the hunger pangs of Ramadhan in summer. So I downloaded a few articles on fasting from the internet and gave a 40 minute tazkirah a week before Ramadhan began. Alhamdulillah, they are very receptive and are a lot more mature this year. So we breezed through 5 days of Ramadhan without much agony. Even on the day when we missed our sahur was not a problem at all. Alhamdullilah, thank you Allah for giving us strength to be a good follower of your deen.

As this is our first day of fasting, thought of cooking something a little special. Made lamb briyani for iftar and sahur. Got this superb recipe from http://resepiraidah.blogspot.com/search/label/Nasi. Love your blog Raidah.

Being a Malay, we can't survive without chillies, so made some Pakistani chicken as well to complete the dish.

Lamb Briyani
1 kg lamb with bones
5 cups basmathi rice~ wash, soak for 30 min and drain
1 cup yogurt

3 Holland onion ~ sliced

2 tomatoes ~ diced

3 bird chillies

1 tsp garlic- crushed

1 tsp ginger- crushed

1/2 tsp garam masala

2 tbs biryani powder
1 tsp turmeric powder

4 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

4 cardamoms

2 bay leaves

1- 2 cawan fried onion

1/2 cawan fried raisins
1/2 cup fried cashew nuts

a pinch of saffron ~ soak in 1/2 cup hot water.

1 cup chopped coriander leaves

2 tbs Ghee

salt, sugar

Method:

Lamb:

1. Fry cinnamon stick, cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves and add blended onion, ginger, garlic.

2. Add biryani spice, garam masala, turmeric powder, tomatoes the oil separates and add lamb and yoghurt. I also a tbs of kurma powder.
3. Simmer till lamb is cooked and add salt and a bit of sugar and coriander leaves. Put aside.

Rice:

~ Boil 5 cups of water, add 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp cumin powder dan 1 tbs oil. Add rice and boil till half cooked.

Biryani Rice:

1. Scoop 1/3 portion of rice into the rice cooker, sprinkle some fried onion, fried raisins and saffron water.

2. Scoop the lamb briyani mix on top of the rice and repeat process 1 and 2 till lamb is finished.

3. Cover with the last portion of rice and pour saffron water and coriander leaves.
4. Cover the pot and press start. Cook for 20 minutes.
5. Once the rice is cooked, sprinkle some cashew nuts and mix the rice and lamb together. Ready to be served.

I cooked some vegetable dalca to eat with this delicious briyani rice. Beware of the cholesterol content hihi..Since we have been fasting the whole day, so it is a good excuse to indulge on this rich recipe.

Simple Laksa Johor

On requests of so many friends and relatives, here is my simple version of laksa johor, I would call it versi perantau, no hassle of having to boil fish and removing all the bones. For me it tastes just as superb.

Ingredients:

3 cans of tuna chunks in brine
4 stalks of lemon grass
1 inch galangal/ lengkuas
1 Holland onion
1 inch ginger
4 tbs fish curry powder
1/2 cup anchovies (ikan bilis)
1/2 cup dried shrimp (udang kering)
3 cans of tuna/ sardine in brine
2 slices asam keping
2 tbs kerisik
1 can of coconut milk (I use Chaokoh)
500 g sphagetti-boil till aldente

Methods:
1. Blend the onion, ginger, galangal, lemon grass with water and fry in 3 tbs of olive oil.
2. Add fish curry powder.
3. Blend tunas, anchovies and dried shrimp and add to the pot once the onion mix is yellow and fragrant.
4. Add 3 cups of water and bring to the boil. Add thick coconut milk.
5. Add asam keping and kerisik.
6. Season with salt and a bit of sugar. Let it simmer for 10-15 min.
7. Serve with spaghetti, sliced lettuce, cucumber, long beans, bean sprouts, sambal belacan and limau kasturi juice.

Curry Puff (Karipap)

Today is the Czech girls last day in our lab, so we decided to throw another lunch party. Prepared some beef curry puffs for everybody. I think Zumla finished 5 or 6 pieces. She obviously liked it sooo much and Katka finished the last piece. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

1 kg plain flour

200 g margerine/ butter

2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

The filling

1/2 kg mince meat

3 tbs curry or korma powder

1/2 Holland onion- chopped

1 Holland onion- diced

3 garlic- crushed

1/2 inch ginger-crushed

salt, white pepper, a dash of sugar

5 potatoes- diced to 1/2 cm small

Methods:

1. Fry the chopped onion, garlic, ginger.

2. Add the curry powder, then add 1/2 cup of water.

3. Add the mince meat, fry for 5 minutes then add the diced potatoes and 1 cup of water.

4. Add diced onion. Cover the pot with a lid and let the potatoes soften.

5. Season with salt and pepper. I also sprinkled some sugar. Set aside to cool down.

6. Mix the flour, butter, salt and water together to form a dough.

7. Flatten the dough to about 3-4 mm thick with a rolling pin.

8. Using a pastry round cutter, make several circles and place the meat and potato filling on each pastry and fold it into two.

9. Press the edges of the pastry firmly to make sure there is no filling leakage.

10. Make a plait at the edges using the tip of your thumb and index finger.

11. Deep fry till the pastry turns brown in colour. Serve hot with tea/ coffee.

Kuih Cara Berlauk (Cara cake with meat filling)

It was Naheema's 28th birthday on the 8th of June, so we, the Paul Murray Group decided to throw a small party for her. Naheema herself bought some halal BBQ chicken from Costco and she also prepared some salads. Others brought cakes, starters, strawberries, cookies and dips. I wanted to introduce to my lab mates another Malaysian delicacy and after minimal thinking , I thought kuih cara would be the best for a small party like this. Started preparing the meat filling the night before and made the batter in the morning. I would say everyone enjoyed the party and the food of course.

Kuih Cara (Savoury cake with Meat Filling)

Ingredients:
For the fillings:
1/2 kg mince meat
1 Holland onion
3 garlic
1/2 inch ginger
1 carrot- diced
1 celery stick- diced
1 green/ red pepper
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbs curry powder
fried shallots- optional
parsley/ celery leaves- optional

For the batter
2 cups flour
1 cup coconut milk
2 cups water (adjust to get a thin batter)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1 or 2 eggs

Methods:
1.Place all the ingredients for the batter in the blender and whizzz. Pour the thin batter into a jug.
2. For the meat fillings: Fry onion, garlic, ginger till yellow and add curry powder and 1/2 cup of water.
3. After a few minutes, add the mince meat and fry till meat is cooked then add carrots, celery, green pepper.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Put aside.
5. Place the cara mould on the stove, brush the mould with some oil so the batter will not stick.
6. Once the mould is heated up, pour the batter into it and quickly spoon the meat filling into it.
7. Sprinkle some fried onion and chopped parsley leaves on the fillings.
8. Cover the mould with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
9. Remove the cakes from the mould and serve. Repeat steps 5 to 8 till the batter is finished.

* I think you can also bake this dish in the oven, but I somehow have never tried it myself.

Libyan Brak (Traditional Libyan rice rolls wrapped in spring cabbage)

Credit to Afaf for the photo.

This is another Libyan recipe I obtained from my good Libyan friend Afaf. I think it is a healthy way of serving rice in a slightly different manner. Instead of having to cook different other dishes to be served with rice, brak has everything in a roll. Tried this today and it taste really nice.In some countries, vine leaves are used for wrapping.


Ingredients:

Spring cabbage for wrapping
1 cup of meat- cut into 1 cm size
2 cups of rice
4 tbs tomato paste
4 stalks of coriander leaves- chopped
parsley - chopped
dill/ mint(optional) - chopped
4 onions- chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbs coriander powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
salt
2 tbs oil/ ghee

Method:

1. Wash rice and mix with all the ingredients mentioned above. Put aside for 15 min for the rice to absorb the flavour.
2. Wash the spring greens/ cabbage and soak in hot boiling water for 2 min to soften the leaves.
3. Remove the central stalk and cut the leaves into 2 or 4 or whatever size desired.
4. Put the rice mix onto the leaf and wrap it and close the two ends by pressing the leaves in.
5. Steam the braks for 30 min- 40 min for the rice to be cooked. Serve hot.

Cancer Research UK Relay, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham

Healthy Mediterranean Diet Recipes

By Felicia R Mcclinton. Thank you Felicia for your contribution to my blog. Together we promote healthy diet.

You Don’t Have to Be a Greek to Cook these Healthy Mediterranean Diet Recipes

Anchovies Stuffed




Ingredients

600 grams of Anchovies
2dl of Milk
2 pieces dry sandwiches
100 grams of grated parmesan
50 grams breadcrumbs Salt and Pepper

Anchovy Stuffed recipe makes 6 servings and can be prepared in 80 minutes. It has low calorie content and low fat but full of flavor.

Preparation

Remove the head and backbone of the anchovies and wash them thoroughly. Cut the dry bread into cubes, place them in a bowl and soak in milk. Add the beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper.

Get a separate baking bowl and grease it with oil. Pour a small amount of the mixture into the bowl then place a layer of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs on top. Repeat the layering until the entire mixture has been used. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Before serving, add slices of lemon and sprinkle with oregano.

Nutritional Value:

Food	Gr	Kcal	Fat	Carb	Pro	Fib	Water
Anchovy	600	786	29.04	0	122.1	0	440.22
Milk - cow's whole	200	120	6.5	9.04	6.44	0	176.64
White bread 00	150	435	0	102	12	4.5	43.5
Grated Parmesan cheese	100	431	28.61	4.06	38.46	0	20.84
Bread crumbs	50	197.5	2.65	35.99	6.68	2.25	3.26
Salt	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pepper	1	2.55	0.03	0.65	0.11	0.26	0.11
Total	1102	1972.05	66.83	151.74	185.79	7.01	684.57
A head (6)	183.67	328.68	11.14	25.29	30.97	1.17	114.1
Per 100 grams	100	178.95	6.06	13.77	16.86	0.64	62.12

Sicilian Swordfish

Ingredients

600 grams of Swordfish
200 grams of tomatoes

1 piece onion

50 grams of black olives

1 clove garlic

This recipe can make 4 servings and you can prepare it in 25 minutes. Swordfish Sicilian is a typical dish in the southern Italian region. This recipe creates a low fat and low calorie meal.

Preparation

To clean and peel the tomatoes, briefly place them in boiling water. Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan then add the chopped onion and garlic until golden brown. Place the sliced Swordfish in the frying pan and cover it. Put the peeled tomatoes after a few minutes. Cook for at least 10 minutes. Sprinkle chopped parsley and black olives on top before removing the Swordfish from the pan. Serve while still hot.

Nutritional Value:

Food	Gr	Kcal	Fat	Carb	Pro	Fib	Water
Swordfish	600	726	24.06	0	118.8	0	453.72
Ripe tomatoes	200	36	0.4	7.84	1.76	2.4	189
Onions	80	32	0.08	7.47	0.88	1.36	71.29
Black olives	50	117.5	8.25	4.6	5.9	0	29.1
Garlic	10	14.9	0.05	3.31	0.64	0.21	5.86
Total	940	926.4	32.84	23.22	127.98	3.97	748.97
A head (4)	235	231.6	8.21	5.81	32	0.99	187.24
Per 100 grams	100	98.55	3.49	2.47	13.61	0.42	79.68

About the Cooker - Felicia R. Mcclinton writes for the blog healthy mediterranean recipes , her personal hobby blog she uses to help people learn how to make Mediterranean recipes to eat healthy to prevent diseases.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

Ingredients :

2 pieces of chicken breast

2 sausages

2 pieces sliced cheese

salt

pepper

oyster sauce

flour

egg ~ lightly beaten

bread crumbs

oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Clean chicken breast.

2. Wrap the sausage with the sliced cheese.

3. Make a slit in the middle of the chicken and insert the wrapped sausage.

4. Rub the chicken with salt, pepper and oyster sauce. Marinate for 2 hours.

5. Coat the marinated chicken with flour.

6. Dip in the egg.

7. Roll into the bread crumbs.

8. Fry till golden brown. Serve with mashed potatoes or fries and coleslaw.

Mushroom Black pepper sauce

Ingredients :

2 cups chicken or beef/ chicken stock

1/2 cup fresh milk (I used low fat milk)

crushed black pepper

2 inches celery stick

sliced1/2 onion ~ diced

2 tablespoon sweet soya sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup mushroom ~ sliced

2 tablespoons flour ~ mix with water (as a thickening agent)

salt and sugar ~ if necessary

Method :

1. Pour the chicken/beef stock in a pot. Add fresh milk, diced onion and sliced celery. Let it boil.

2. Remove from heat and put through a sieve. Place it back on the stove.

3. Add black pepper, soya sauce, oyster sauce, butter, button mushroom, salt and sugar. Stir.

4. Last but not least, add in flour mixture to the thickness you desire. Remove from heat.

5. Pour onto the chicken and mashed potato.

Aiman's Rolled bread with chicken and mushroom filling

After watching Jamie Oliver doing this rolled bread, tried it straight away on the next day. But as usual with some modification in the recipe, apa yang ada kat dapur.... turned to be marvellous anyway. Brought some to Kak Na Abg Wahab's house and she liked it.

Ingredients:
1 kg flour

1 sachet 11g dried yeast

1-2 tspsalt

1 tbs sugar

2 tbs butter/ olive oil

2 cups warm water

Filling:

sliced carrots

sliced green peppers

sliced mushroom

celery

1 tsp thyme

basil leaves

salt, pepper

1 onion

2 garlic

3 pieces chicken breast

2 tbs maggie seasoning

grated ceddar cheese (optional)

Methods:

1. Fry onion and garlic, toss in the chicken slices and thyme.

2. Add the veges and mushroom.

3. Season to taste. Set aside.

4. Make a dough and let it rise for 1 hr.

5. Flatten the dough and spread the chicken filling on top and sprinkle some ceddar cheese.

6. Roll the dough like a swiss role.

7. Attach both ends together by intussuscepting one end into the other.

8. Apply some olive oil to make the bread roll crunchy when it is baked.

9. Sprinkle some crushed nuts on top.

10. Bake for 30 min and cut the rolled bread into slices and serve.

Carrot Som Tam

This is the last recipe I obtained from Noi Phak Len just before she left for Malaysia for good on 3rd April 2010. Simple and delicious, healthy as well. Thanks Noi, lepas jumpa Noi, terus balik masak tomyam Noi style...hehe...In Thailand, they use papaya instead of carrot to consume with boiled glutinous rice, here in the UK, carrots are sooo.. cheap as compared to papaya. If you use organic carrots, there is no need to peel off the skin.

Carrot Som Tam Noi

3 sticks of grated carrots / young papayas
1 cup of coarsely crushed peanuts
2 crushed garlic
2-3 crushed bird chillies
2 tbs dried shrimps- crushed
3 tbs Nampla sauce/ fish sauce
2 tbs brown/ demerara sugar
2 tbs lemon juice

Methods:
1. Mix all the ingredients together and serve.