Hari Raya BBQ

Hari Raya BBQ

During the Hari Raya holidays, we went out for our dinner quite often. Luckily didn't burn a hole in my pocket...:) So, in order to have some different type of food and yet not spend much outside, we decided to do some barbequing ourselves at home. Chosen meat was of course, (the main) lamb shoulders. In addition to that, we also had chicken wings and some squids.

Yeah, the marinating was done myself, the night before.
For the lamb, I used:
- 3-5 spoons of black pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch of ginger
And I grinded all the ingredients above.
After marinating the meat, (here comes the best part), I put them all into a large bowl and poured 1/2 a bottle of Coke. Why? to make the meat soft, I guess..

For the chicken I used the ready made “McCormick- HICKORY BBQ Buffalo Wings Seasoning Mix”  .....which I bought at Giant's Hypermarket.. It is highly recommended!

 

 

And finally... we didn't cook the meat on a BBQ set as usual. Instead, we used a hot plate on the stove. It's more convenient to control the flame, especially if you are living in a space constrained area such as condominiums or apartments. You get more evenly and properly cooked food doing it this way!

Read more »

Contact

Contact

Got ideas, questions, or feedback? Please contact us at the following email address:
mthilak [at] gmail [dot] com or abbhi09[at]gmail[dot]com.

Read more »

Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake

This time around, I baked my son’s 2nd Birthday Cake for my son. I’ve been baking cakes for sometime now, but these days, I enjoy decorating the cakes with icing as well.

 

I chose Barney’s theme for the cake this time as my son is one BIG fan of Barney! (Maybe for next year, I’ve to think about the other characters that he’s in love with).The cake itself is a butter cake. But guess what? All the guest were full of praises because they said that the cake was simply delicious!!!

 

By the way, the photos below are the results of my digging into our photo archives. Photos of some of the cakes that I have done previously:

 

View Full Album

 

The Pooh Bear cake, I baked myself on my son’s 1st birthday…just joking, it was from a bakery, but I thought the character was cute enough to not to be included here…

 

- posted by Abbhi

Read more »

Eggs for breakfast

Eggs for breakfast

View Full Album

If you are having eggs for breakfast, then you are probably having great start of the day. But mind you, I’m not referring to fried eggs or scrambled eggs as you have to make use of oil to fry. And that will probably increase your bad cholesterol level in your body.

 

I’m talking about half boiled eggs, and particularly the ‘Kampung Chicken Eggs’ or eggs of the chicken that has not been fed artificially. The ones that we get from the supermarkets or hypermarkets are usually the normal eggs which cost around RM 0.30 – RM 0.35 each. And they slightly darker in colour. Since these chickens are bred in poultry farms, they are not allowed to roam freely and therefore the nutrients that they get are not wholesome. In return, we also consume the not-so-healthy eggs.

 

Notice the difference between the 2 eggs above? On the left is the Kampung Chicken Egg, while on the right is the normal chicken egg.

 

You can get the ‘Kampung Chicken Eggs’ from the wet markets, and they cost as much as RM 0.70 each. If you ask the older generation, they probably had taken these eggs raw during their days as they needed the much required energy for their daily physical work. Their shells are lighter in colour and when you break the yolk, you will notice that it is darker yellow-orange than the normal eggs and tastier too.

 

However, nowadays the doctors and health authorities advise us to consume only fully cooked eggs. This is especially so during the bird-flu outbreak. The virus will still be active if you eat them raw or as half boiled, according to them.

 

As for me, I serve half boiled Kampung Chicken Eggs to my husband and son during the normal days and cook them fully when there is any viral outbreak occurring out there. Yes, I understand that I’m taking a bit of risk here, but they also provide the vitamins and protein and helps in recovering after an illness.  

 

- posted by Abbhi

Read more »

Durian, The King of Fruits

Durian, The King of Fruits

.

View Full Album

The name translates to “ With Thorns” in the local Malaysian language. And yes, the King definitely has its unique qualities that befits to be called the King. It has a large fan base and at the same time there are some who don’t dare to enter anywhere inside its territory. Some people can’t stand its smell. But for those durian lovers out there, the smell probably adds “oomph” to the taste.

 

Foreigners usually not used to this fruit can’t stand the smell and that’s why we can see signboards at the hotels that disallow their guests to bring this glorious fruit to their rooms!

 

There are various varieties of this fruit. The ones from Thailand are usually bigger and has thicker flesh compared their local counterpart. However, the local variety definitely taste better. Ah, I almost forgot – they are seasonal fruits.

 

Eating durians with alcohol is not advised as it may be fatal as some people claim. However, if you are eating durian, you can eat the mangosteen as it is believed to be cooling and overcome the heat produced in your body after eating durians. Another suggestion would be using the white, inner part of the durian skin to scoop up water and drink straight from it as it will also cool your body.

 

If you happen to visit Malaysia, don’t miss your chance of tasting this delicious fruit!

Read more »

Scrambled Sardine

Scrambled Sardine

Ingredients:
1 can of sardin (large)
1 onion -chopped
1/2 red chilli - chopped
1 tspn of chilli powder (add more if you prefer spicy)
oil
salt according to taste

1/2 cup of water

Optional:
1/2 potato – sliced finely
1 egg

Method:

1. Pour some oil into the frying pan. Add the onion and fry them until brown.

2. Add the chilli and the sardines together with the sauce. With the ladle, mesh the fish.

3. Pour water into the pan and add the potatoes.

4. Add salt and let it boil for a while until the potatoes are cooked.

5. Finally, add the egg and stir for about a minute.

6. That’s it. The dish is ready!

Suggestion:

The dish can be served with rice, chappathi or even plain white bread.

Read more »

Betel Leaf Authentic Chettinad Restaurant at Lebuh Ampang

Betel Leaf Authentic Chettinad Restaurant at Lebuh Ampang

As were looking for a place to dine last Thursday, we noticed a new restaurant at Lebuh Ampang- Betel Leaf Authentic Chettinad Restaurant. It is on the 2nd floor, just above an imitation jewellery shop.

At the entrance

We were quite late in arriving there, and being a weekday, it was not crowded at all. The setting of the place is rather quite posh, and caters for the high class.

Arrangement & decor inside

Hand drawn paintings could be seen decorating the walls. Apart from that, they also had a section of those bronze/metal statues that was show-cased nicely, which was for sale as well.

Decorative items on display

We ordered Garlic Nan that was accompanied by Pudina Chutney and Green Peas Gravy. The Nan was quite soft and went along well with the spicy Green Peas Gravy. Chicken Briyani that I insisted with the leg pice came with some really hot & spicy chicken curry and a boiled egg.Just for your info, I'm a BIG fan of chicken briyani and won't miss a chance of having a plate, whenever and wherever I can. But not those plain briyani rice with fried chicken. The one that I'm referring to is the type where they cook the rice together with the chicken in it.Yummy!

Garlic Naan with Pudina ChutneyChicken Briyani served with chicken curry and onion raita

I was quite satisfied with the Briyani, but disappointed that I could not have their fried Goat Brains.It is available only on Sundays ( and they didn't mention it on their menu), and they get it fresh & straight from their farm, according to the manager on duty at that time. So, one of these Sundays, if you see anyone ordering the special item, it could be me!!! One other item on their menu that I am aiming for is their 'Prawn Thosai'.

What's left on my plate after dinner

If you are looking for a decent Indian dining which is a bit on the 'high side', you can give Betel Leaf Authentic Chettinad Restaurant a try.

Read more »

Ghee Rice

Ghee Rice

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked rice

• 1 medium sized onion, sliced finely

• 3 tablespoon ghee
  

• 1 cinammon

• 1 clove

• 1 cardamom
  

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp chopped cashewnuts

• 3 green chillies, minced

• 1/2 tsp ginger paste

• 1/2 tsp garlic paste

• Salt to taste

• 2 tsp chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method

1. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cinammon, cloves, cashewnuts, cumin and cardamom.
2. Fry for 10 seconds and add the ginger-garlic paste.
3. Fry for another 10 seconds and then add the green chillies and onion.
4. Fry till the onions turn light brown.
5. Now add the rice and salt to taste.
6. Let the rice fry for about 5-6 minutes and get coated with the ghee mixture.
7. Now add 4 cups of water and pressure-cook or cook in the microwave till the rice is completely done.
   
8. You can also cook it on the stovetop, by keeping it covered on a low flame.
   
9. Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

Read more »

Tenggiri Fish Cutlet

Tenggiri Fish Cutlet

Craving to eat some hot and spicy snacks in the evening? Or just thinking of adding a side dish for your dinner tonight and have limited time to spare? Why not try this Tenggiri (MACKEREL) Fish Cutlet, you will surely love it!

Ingredients:

- 4 slices of Tenggiri fish

- 1 potato

- 1 onion

- 2 chillies

- 1 stalk of coriander leaves

- 1 egg

- salt to taste & oil for frying

Method:

1. First, boil the fish and remove the bones. Then mesh up the fish.

2. Boil the potato.

3. Cut the onion, chillies and coriander leaves.

4. Mix all of them together with salt. Add the egg. Make into balls and then flatten before deep frying.


5. When the cutlet turns golden brown, remove them from the frying pan.

6. Fish cutlet is ready. Serve hot.


Tip: Can be eaten on its own or as a side dish with rice.

Read more »

Gandhi's Restaurant at Brickfields

Gandhi's Restaurant at Brickfields

What a better way to start this blog than writing about my dinner experience on Mother's Day? As usual, we were undecided on our destination for our dinner for the night. So, I suggested Gandhi's Restaurant at Brickfields. Location? If you are coming from the Central Market area, it is located along the same road as you turn in to your left immediately after the Petronas station. Though the restaurant is big and has ample sitting place, it is not a posh place. It is more for the middle class group, affordable, even for daily meals. And another important criteria that made me choose this place is the ample availability of parking spaces.

This place offers vegetarian food only. But instead of the common vegetarian menu, here they offer wide variety of dishes. Both, Indian style and Chinese style cooking is available. They cook as you make your orders and not pre-cooked like in other restaurants of similar capacity. The only complaint that I have is that you have to wait quite while before your orders comes to the table.

We ordered Chicken Masala, Mutton Varuval, Claypot Tauhu and Mixed Vegetables. The first 2 dishes were quite spicy for me, while the rest were more of Chinese style cooking, with ketchup and corn flour added. For a total of 6 adult who dined, the bill came up to RM65.00, which is quite reasonable if you ask me.

Would I go again? Yes and I'd recommend you guys to try out too.

Read more »