I came across a recipe for Black Beef Cry Curry over at Fuss Free Cooking, and I immediately knew that this was a dish I really wanted to make one day. As I am a bit low on cash at the moment, I'm pretty much in-between jobs, I figured if I could make some minor adjustments to the original recipe I would be able to make it with the stuff I had in my pantry/fridge.
So, instead of the beef I used chicken, and I did not know exactly what kind of Malaysian curry powder she was referring to so I used the Malaysian meat curry powder I made a while ago. Also, I had never heard of Ketjap Manis, nor did I have money to buy it from the shop were I to come across it, so I decided to make my own from a recipe I found online. This did not turn out all that good, I think I just let the "sauce" reduce way too much, so instead of a syrup kind of liquid it turned out like thick, thick, thick syrup. I had to dilute it with hot water to even get the spoon into it. The moral of this story is; buy the Ketjap Manis at the shop!
Here's my version of Fuss Free Cooking's Black Beef Dry Curry.
3 small chicken breasts, or 2 medium, diced
1 ½ tbsp Malaysian meat curry powder
water
2-3 tbsp Ketjap Manis
about 5 curry leaves
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 ½ garlic cloves, chopped roughly
½ inch ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small green chilli, de seeded and halved
1 tomato, quartered
salt and sugar, to taste
1. Start by soaking the curry powder in the water for 30 minutes.
2. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the curry leaves. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and green chilli. Fry until fragrant.
3. Add in the curry and water mix and stir to combine. Fry for 10-15 minutes until the oil starts to separate.
4. Add in tomatoes, chicken, ketjap manis, and some salt and sugar. Also add in enough water to just cover the chicken and cook until the liquid has just about halved and the chicken is cooked through.
5. Serve with spiced rice or with a side of fresh salad.
I added some sweet corn at step 4 because I found an open box of sweet corn in the fridge that needed to be used up.
Tonight I found myself with a piece of pork, some noodles and about a ton of button mushrooms. I decided to make a noodle stir fry. It turned out great, but be aware of the chilli bean sauce as it's super hot.
Spicy pork noodles Serves 1
100 g ground pork 1 pack (60 g) uncooked egg noodles 4 button mushrooms, cut into 4 1 small red onion, sliced finely 1 spring onion
Sauce: 1 tbsp hoisin sauce ½ tsp chili bean sauce ½ tsp soy sauce 1 tsp sugar 75 ml water
1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat a wok, when hot drizzle in some oil and fry the onions for about 30 sek. Stir in the pork and allow to brown (about 5 min). After about 3 min, add the mushrooms to the wok.
4. Stir in the sauce, and add in the noodles. Wok until the noodles are hot.
I found this recipe on the back of the Satay Seasoning Mix package. It turned out to be the Thai version of a similar cucumber salad I had with some Chinese friends a few years ago. It's really delicious and sweet with a little bit of a kick from the chilli.
Thai Cucumber Salad
Adapted from the back of Satay Seasoning Mix package
4 tbsp vinegar (I used white wine vinegar) 5 tbsp sugar 3/4 tsp salt 1 cucumber, in slices 1 red chilli, finely chopped 1-2 shallots, finely sliced (I used red onions)
1. Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan.
2. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
3. Arrange cucumber, chilli and shallots in a bowl. Pour over the vinegar mixture, stir, and serve.
Last year, while being unemployed, I got a little bit obsessed with the website showmethecurry.com. I could spend hours browsing through all the recipes and I even forced my friends to share in my excitement.
What I like about showmethecurry.com is that almost all the recipes come with an instruction video on how to prepared the dish. It's fabulous and so easy to follow.
Ok, this post isn't about why showmethecurry.com is such a wonderful website, I just felt I needed to give homage where homage was due.
I came across this recipe for Chicken Biryani the other day over at.... you know where. I was a little bit unsure about it, seeing how it contains a daunting 29 ingredients!!! But I remember my boyfriend having Lamb Biryani (he loved it) on our 4 year anniversary some 20 days ago, and decided I'd give it a go.
It turned out great, although the recipe said to keep it in a 120 C oven for an hour. I tried it, it was only lukewarm, I upped the oven to 200 C and it only took 10 min to get the dish nice and hot. Also, next time I'll add in some more spices to give it that extra kick.
PS. Sorry guys, I'm usually not one for copying recipes from someone else's site and posting them here, but I couldn't be stuffed to re-write the entire recipe....
Enjoy!
Chicken Biryani Serves 4 Adapted from showmethecurry.com
4 small chicken breast 1 ½ cup Basmati Rice 6 cups water 1 cup Yogurt 1 medium potato 1 ½ tbsp oil 1- 1 ½ tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee) 1-2 tbsp grated garlic 1-2 tbsp grated ginger Green Chili – to taste 5 cm Cinnamon stick 2 Bay leaves 1 Black Cardamom 3 pieces Mace (optional) 2-4 green cardamoms pods 4 Cloves Whole Peppercorns – to taste 1 tbsp Golden Raisins 1 tbsp Cashews (heaped) Salt – to taste 1 tbsp Black Cumin 1 tbsp Cumin Powder 1 tbsp Coriander Powder 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp Saffron (Kesar) 2 handfuls chopped Mint Leaves 1/4 cup chopped Cilantro/Coriander ½+ ½ cup Fried Onions (divided)
1. Wash and soak the Rice for a minimum 1/2 hour. 2. In a pan, bring 8 cups of water to boil. 3. Once boiling, add Green Cardamoms (2), Bay Leaves (1), Salt and Oil (1tsp). 4. Add in the washed Rice to boiling water. 5. Once the Water starts boiling again, time and cook for 5 minutes (the Rice needs to be 3/4 way done). 6. Drain the water from the Rice and keep aside. 7. In a separate bowl, mix Saffron and Water (1tbsp), keep aside and allow it to soak. 8. Heat a pan on medium heat, add in the Oil and the Clarified Butter. 9. Once hot, add in the Cashews and Golden Raisins, fry for a couple of minutes till the cashews get a light golden colour. 10.Remove from the Pan. Make sure you drain all the Oil. Keep aside. 11.Add in the balance of whole spices – Cinnamon Stick, Mace, Bay Leaf, Black & Green Cardamom, Peppercorns & Cloves. 12.Fry for under a minute. 13.Add in Black Cumin (use regular Cumin if Black is not available). 14.Allow them to sizzle. 15.Add in Ginger & Garlic, fry for another minute. Keep stirring. 16.Add in the washed, cleaned pieces of Chicken. Mix well. 17.Once the Chicken looks sealed, add in the following while stirring constantly – Yogurt, Fried Onion (1/2 cup), Cilantro (save some for garnish), Mint, Green Chili, Potatoes and the dry spices – Coriander, Cumin, Turmeric, Red Chili & Salt. 18.Mix very well. Cover and cook for about 10-15 minutes (the chicken should be 3/4 of the way done). 19.Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (aprox 121 degrees C). 20.Coat an oven-proof dish with a little oil. 21.Start by layering the Chicken at the bottom of the dish along with a few pieces of Potatoes (saving the gravy for top layer). 22.Fluff up the Rice and add a layer of it on top of the Chicken with half of the Rice. 23.Layer the balance of the potatoes and all the gravy on the rice layer. 24.Next spread the balance of the Rice. 25.Layer the Cashews, Raisins, Fried Onions, Cilantro and Saffron. 26.Drizzle a little bit of Oil. 27.Cover with an air-tight lid or a foil and bake for 1 hour or till the potatoes are cooked. 28.Once out of the oven, take a ladle and mix it gently but well. 29.Allow it to sit for 5 minutes and serve with Cilantro and Mint Raita
Saturday's dinner. Delicious, quick and so simple anyone can make it!
Kerala Prawn Curry
Adapted from BBCGoodFood Serves 2
1-2 red chillies, de-seeded and cut into larger pieces
1 small red onion, peeled and cut in four
2.5 cm ginger, peeled and cut into pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½-1 tsp black mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
14, or less, curry leaves
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cracked peppercorns
250 g jumbo prawns, or scampi
150 ml coconut milk
1. Blitz chillies, the onion and the ginger in a food processor. Add a little water, but no more than 3 tbsp.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to the hot wok. Be careful, the seeds will crack and pop. Fry for about 10 seconds before adding in the chilli paste. Turn the heat down a little bit, then cook for 5 minutes. Pour in some water if it starts sticking to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the turmeric and the peppercorns. Stir to mix in the spices before adding the prawns and the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute until everything is heated through and the prawns are done.
Serve with rice, sprinkle some coriander/cilantro and a wedge of lime on top.
Malaysian meat curry puffs (adapted from Spicie Foodie) makes about 13 puffs These can of course be made vegetarian-friendly.
Filling 5 tbsp oil 1 medium onion 1 tbsp grated ginger 3 ½ tsp meat curry powder ½ tsp chili powder ½ tsp turmeric powder 2 large cooked potatoes, diced 2 tsp sugar ½ tsp black pepper 1 tsp salt
400 g cooked meat, I used meat from a rotisserie chicken 60 ml water
1. Fry the onions and ginger until the onion is golden. Add curry, turmeric and chili and cook until fragrant. Next add potatoes, sugar, pepper and salt and cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken and water and cook until the mixture is almost dry. Set aside to chill.
Dough 500 g flour 150 g butter 200 ml water ½ tsp salt (ONLY if you use unsalted butter)
Mix all ingredients into a smooth pastry. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes in a warm place. Cut the dough in half. Roll out the pastry, using a cookie cutter (10 cm) cut out circles. Take 1 tbsp of the filling and place in each cut out circle.
2. Fold in half
3. Using a fork, press the edges together.
4. Place the puffs on an oven tray.
5. Bake the puffs for 30 minutes at 180 c. Serve warm or at room temperature with a spicy dipping sauce.
Malaysian Chicken Curry
1. Fry the onions and ginger until the onion is golden. Add curry, turmeric and chili and cook until fragrant. Next add potatoes, sugar, pepper and salt and cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken and water and cook until the mixture is almost dry. Set aside to chill.
