Asam Pedas Ayam (Spicy Tamarind Chicken) Curry

Asam Pedas or spicy tamarind gravy is one of the favourite dishes mong the Malays in Singapore and Malaysia. A dish so understated and yet complex in its taste. Like most other Malay and Asian dishes , it's the trick of getting the balance of flavours right which is the hardest skill to master. 

The versatility of this dish definitely gets my vote. A minor tweak to the recipe and you can add fish or prawns instead of chicken. The spicy gravy is highly addictive. Before you know it, you will be slurping it like soup!! Paired with warm white rice and have the perfect marriage. In this household, we waste none of it, leftover gravy will be savoured with warm Indian roti the next morning.

Ingredients:

To blend fine:

• 1 medium red onions, roughly chopped
• 10-20 dried chillies, de-seeded & soak in hot water for 10 minutes (depends on the heat you referred)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• ½ tbsp turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp shrimp paste
• ½ tbsp whole black pepper

Others ingredients:

• 800-1000g chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces or you can use chicken on bone
• ½ cup cooking oil
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 lemongrass, bruised
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 2-3 kaffir lime leaves
• ½ cup tamarind juice
• 1 wild ginger flower, optional
• 1 aubergine, quartered
• 6 okra, half (optional)
• 500ml water
• 1 tbsp kerisik*
• handful of daun kesum (Vietnamese mint), optional
• salt & sugar to taste

Method:

De-seeded the chillies and soak the chillies in hot water while you prepared the rest of the ingredients.

To get the tamarind juice, mix 1 tbsp tamarind paste with ½ cup water and mix it well and soak for 10-15 minutes. As the tamarind soak, the water gets darker. Use your finger & mix the tamarind with the water to squeeze all the goodness from the tamarind. Set aside while you preparing the rest of the ingredients.

In  a blender put together the onion, garlic, shrimp paste, black pepper, ginger and dried chillies. Blend into a fine paste with some water.

Heat up the oil in a medium pot big enough to fit the chicken. Add in the fenugreek seeds.

Add in the chilli paste on medium heat and fry until fragrant, cooked through and it has begun to dry up but be careful not to burn it. Add the bruised lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and the chicken pieces. Continue cooking until the spices nearly dried up and the chicken is half cook. 

Add in the tamarind juice, aubergine, tomatoes, Vietnamese mint and wild ginger flower. Mix well and simmer until the chicken is cook and tender and the vegetables is soft. Add some water in between if it looks too dry. Then add in the kerisik.

Add in sugar & salt to taste. At this point you can add a bit more water if you like more gravy for the curry. Also add in the okra. Cooked until the okra is soft.

Serve immediately. 

Jemput makan!!!

 Notes:

• When adding water, make sure is not too watery, The gravy should be nice & thick not soupy.
• Lessen the chillies if you wish for something milder
• Kerisik is a condiment made of grated coconut which us toasted. It is a secret to the nutty caramelized flavour of a curry. If you can't find fresh coconut, you can replaced with desiccated coconut. Toast the coconut on a medium heat until deep golden brown but not burnt.  Once ready add the toasted coconut to a pestle and mortar. Pound until the oils are released and a paste form. Alternatively, you can add this to a food processor. Once you have a dark paste, the kerisik is ready to use

Gulai Ayam Nenas ( Curry Chicken with Pineapple)

This Malaysian chicken curry with pineapple is a popular curry among the Peranakan or the Malay. The pineapple will add a bit of sweetness and sourness to the curry.

Ingredients:

• 600g of chicken breast or chicken thigh
• 1 pineapple, skinned and cut into bite size
• 400ml coconut milk
• 2 lemongrass, bruised
• 2 pieces of asam gelugor, or 2 tbsp of tamarind juice
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsp cooking oil

To grind:

• 1 onion, diced
• 1inch of ginger
• ½ inch galangal
• 4 buah keras (candlenuts)
• 6 dried chilies, soaked to soften
• ½ tsp turmeric powder

Method:

Put all the grind ingredients except turmeric powder into a food processor, blend or mortar and pound and blend into a smooth paste, add a splash of water if needed. 

Add 3 tbsp cooking oil into a frying pan. Heat the oil and add the spice paste. Stir until fragrant, about a minute on high heat, turn down the heat and add the chicken pieces and the lemongrass. Mix until the chicken is well coated with the spices.

Add the coconut milk and asam gelugor. Once the curry is boil, add in the pineapple pieces and continue simmering until the chicken is cook. Add salt to taste and also a sprinkle of sugar. 

Mix well and serve with rice.

Kuih Lopes

Kuih Lopes has many versions but the Northern Malaysia version is pandan flavoured glutinous rice cakes, rolled in coconut and served with gula melaka syrup. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cup glutinous rice
• 2 cup coconut milk
• ½ cup pandan juice
• ½ tsp lye water
• ½ tsp salt
• few drop of green colouring
• grated fresh coconut add with a pinch of salt

Method:

Wash the glutinous rice and soak the rice in the water with a few drop of green colouring and the lye water for at least 30 minutes. 

Pour the soaked rice into a pan. Add in the coconut milk and pandan juice. Mix well. Steam the rice in a steamer until cook or ¾ cook. 

When the coconut milk is nearly dry up, stir the rice to mix well. Set aside to cool slightly.

While waiting the rice to cool slightly, clean and prepare the banana leaves. Cut to 10" x 6" pieces. Run over flames to soften the leaves.

Take the amount of about a cup cooked glutinous  rice (or to the amount you think is enough for the banana leaf) and roll it in the banana leaf. Roll it tightly and snugly into a cylinder shape . Tie firmly with strings on both ends like a giant sweet.

Arrange the rolls in the steamer and steam for 15-20 minutes. Let the rolls cool completely before unwrapping the lopes. 

Cut slices with a thread to about ½ inch width.  Roll the lopes with grated coconut. Serve with drizzle of gula melaka syrup.

Kuih Kemboja/Kuih Bakar

This is the Malay kuih that we found at pasar malam in Malaysia.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 1/4 cups of coconut milk
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 tsp pandan paste + 1 cup of water (mixed together)
• sesame seeds

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C/C fan oven and greased a baking pan.

Beat eggs and sugar until dissolves but not fluffy.

Mix pandan paste, water into coconut milk and stir until mix well.

Add in the flour and the coconut milk mixture alternately into the egg and sugar mixture. Combine well.

Pour batterv  into the greased baking pan and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

Bake for about  45 minutes until golden brown or skewer comes out clean.

Cool it down before cutting.

Nasi Tomato (Tomatoe Rice)

Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• cardomom pods
• 2 cinnamon stick  (2-in) length
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2-in ginger knob, peeled and bruised
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• tomatoes 3, chopped
• 150g  tomato puree
• 2 bay leaves
• 500g rice, washed and drained
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 4cups chicken stock
• 170g evaporated milk
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 100g cashew nuts, toasted

Method:

Heat the oil in a pot. Saute onion, cardamon pods, cinnamon, garlic, ginger and chilli powder until fragrant.

Add tomatoes and tomato puree. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Put in bay leaves and rice. Mix thoroughly.
Add tabasco sauce, chicken stock, evaporated milk and sugar. Bring to boil and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.

Cover the pot, cook over low heat for 10 minutes or in the oven for 20 minutes at 180C.
Garnish with toasted cashew nuts and serve with Chicken in Spicy Tomato Sauce (Ayam Masak Merah)

Curry Puff 2

This version of curry puff reminds me of my school days where I use to buy them from the Malay stall in the school canteen for only 10sen. This curry puff pastry is different from the spiral curry puff Ingredients for the pastry:

• 11/2 cup of plain flour
• 5o g shortening
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 tsbp water

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp dried prawns, soaked and pounded finely
• 2 tbsp meat curry powder
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 springs onion, sliced finely
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp oil

To make the filling:

Heat oil and fry chopped onion until sweat through. Add in the dried prawns, curry powder and 3 tbsp water and saute until fragrant. Add potaties and 1 cup water and cooked until potatoes are tender. Add salt and sugar to taste. Cook until the filling is dry. Leave to cool before use.

To make the pastry:

Using food processor, add in the flour, baking powder and salt, pulse to mix. Add in the shortening and pulse until it looked like breadcrumbs. Add in water and pulse until the dough is combined into a ball. Let the dough rest for 1/2 hour.

Roll dough out into a long sausage and cut into small portions size of a ping pong ball. Roll each portion into a thin circle and put the filling in the centre. Fold the pastry over to make a 1/2 circle and crimp the edge.

Deep fry until golden brown.

Ayam Masak Merah ( Malay style Red Curry Chicken)

This is a lovely dish that goes very well with coconut rice, tomatoe rice or even plain white rice. Ingredients: To grind together:

• 6 shallots
• 4cm ginger
• 6 dried chillies
• 5 fresh chillies
• 3 cloves garlic

• 10 chicken thights/drumstick
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• red onions, cut into rings, keep some for decorations
• 3 tomatoes, quartered
• 4 tbsp tomatoes purees
• 2 tbsp tomatoes ketchup
• 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 350ml water
• salt & sugar to taste

Method:

Coat the chicken with the turmeric and marinate for about 3 hours.

In a wok, fill enough oil to pan fry the chicken until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

In a pot put about 4 tbsp cooking oil. When the oil is hot add in the grind ingredients. On a low heat cook until the oil surface the paste. Then add in the onions and tomatoes. Cook until soft.

Add in the tomatoes purees, tomatoes ketchup and dark soya sauce. Also add in the sugar & salt to taste. Mix well and add in the water. Bring to boil then reduce the heat and cover for about 10 minutes.

Add in the chicken, mix well to coat the chicken with the sauce. Bring to boil and put on the lid and cook for another 30 minutes or until the sauce has reduced and thickens.

Serve immediately.

Kuih Puteri Ayu

Don't ask me why this was called kuih puteri ayu. You need to have the special mould as the above picture to make this kuih.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 100g castor sugar
• 125g self raising flour, sieved
• 150ml coconut milk
• 1 tsp ovallette
• a drop of pandan paste
• 50ml water
• some fresh grated coconut
• 1 tsp tapioca flour
• a pinch of salt
• some oil for greasing the mould

Method:

Mix salt, tapioca flour and grated coconut together. Add about 1 tsp of the grated coconut into a greased mould and press hard on it. Set aside

In a mixer beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy. Then add in ovallette and continue beating until creamy.

Add the pandan paste in the water and mixed with the coconut milk.

Stir in flour and alternate it with the coconut milk mixture. Fill the mould until almost full of 3/4 full. Steam over high heat for about 15-20 minutes.

Kuih Rose/Kuih Loyang

Ingredients:

• 200ml tin coconut milk and add 175ml water
• 100g castor sugar
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• oil for deep frying

Sift:

• 125g rice flour
• 125g plain flour

Method:

You need the kuih rose brass mould as show above picture.

Combine sugar and coconut milk. Use a handheld wire whisk to mix both ingredients until sugar has disolved. Add in the egg and whisk until well blended. Stir in sifted flours and mix to form a smooth batter. Strain the mixture through a wire mesh sieve to prevent any lumps. If the batter is thick, just add a little more water until the consistency is just right.

Heat oil in a wok. Put in the brass mould to heat up. When it becomes hot enough, remove the mould and dip into the batter. Make sure that the sides are coated with batter.

Return the mould to the hot oil and deep-fry the batter till its turn golden brown and crispy. Shake a little to remove the pastry from the mould. Remove the kuih rose from the oil , then drain and leave to cool on absorbent kitchen paper. Store in airtight container.

Cucur Badak

This is one of my favourite malay kuih.

Ingredients :

For the dough

• 600g sweet potatoes (steamed and mashed)
• 10 tablespoons plain flor
• small shrimps for garnishing (with shells and heads on-optional)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• a pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 1 grated coconut (I used whole coconut as coconut that I get here is real small size)
• 1/2 cup of dried shrimps

Pound together:

• 1 garlic
• 3 shallots
• 6 fresh red chillies (or dried red chilies)
• 1 lemon grass (use only the white part)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
• 5 slices of peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 cumin powder
• 1/4 fennel powder

• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method: For the dough
Mix the mashed sweet potatoes with flour, sugar, and salt till a soft dough is formed. The dough shouldn’t be too sticky. If too sticky, add more flour to the mixture.
For the filling Soak the dried shrimps in hot water for 15 minutes and then pound them. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and add in the pounded ingredients plus the pounded dried shrimps. Fry till fragrant.
Add in the grated coconut and mix well. Add in salt and sugar to taste. Set aside and let it cool.
For the wrapping
Dust your hands with some flour and take a bit of dough (about the size of a small ball), flatten it and put the filling in the middle.
Cover the filling and press one small shrimp on top of the dough. Heat oil and fry till golden brown.

Roti Jala

Roti Jala is a yellow lacy crepe or pancake, usually served with chicken curry. Roti jala is more likely to be sold by the Malays, though Nyonya Chinese has also adopted this dish for themselves.To make roti jala, one needs to get its mould or roti-jala cup, which is made from metal or now, increasingly, of plastic as shown on picture above. The mould allows the batter to flow through in tiny threads, where it solidified on a hot pan. I found my mould when I went back to Penang 5 years ago.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1 1/2 cup milk (may use low fat if you wish)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tbsp oil
• oil (to grease the pan)

Method:

In a big bowl, mix all the above ingredients (except the oil for greasing) well and sieve

Heat up a pan with medium heat and lightly grease it with some oil. Pour some batter into the mold and transfer the mold to the pan. As the batter flows through the holes of the mold, make circular rounds around the pan to form the netty patterns. (Click on this video clip for the cooking guide).

After the top is set and done or when the bottom turns light brown, transfer the Roti Jala out and fold it into triangle shape. Arrange a few Roti Jala on a serving plate and add some curry chicken on the side. Serve immediately.

Satay

This is best for the summer BBQ. You can make the satay with chicken, pork, beef or even lamb.

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken, beef or pork, sliced into 2.5cm pieces and lightly scored to tenderise the meat

Marinade (combine in a bowl):

• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chilli paste
• 1 tsp cumin powder (jintan putih)
• 1 tsp fennel powder (jintan manis)
• 1 tbsp lemon grass (serai), sliced and pounded finely
• 3 thin slices galangal (lengkuas), pounded finely
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp pati santan

Method:

Mix meat with marinade and thread meat onto satay sticks or skewers .Allow to stand for more than an hour. For best result, leave it over ight in a fridge. While grilling, brush occasionally with oil.

Chicken Rendang

This dish is best compliment with nasi lemak or lemang.

Ingredients:

• 600-800g chicken, chopped into serving pieces
• 300ml coconut milk
• 1 cup desiccated coconut, dry fried for kerisik**
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 turmeric leaf, cut into two
• 2 assam keping (assam gelugor)
• 4 tbsp cooking oil

Spices (ground):

• 10 dried chillies, soaked
• 3 fresh red chillies, seeded
• 8 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 stalks lemon grass(serai)
• 3cm piece galangal (lengkuas)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Seasoning:

• 1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the ground spices until fragrant. 

Add in the chicken pieces and coat well. Pour in the coconut milk and ring to a low boil. After it has boiled, lower the heat and add in the leaves and assam keping. Simmer until the gravy turns thick. Keep stirring to prevent sticking. 

Add kerisik and mix well. Cook until meat is tender, gravy is thick and oil rises to the top. Add seasoning.

** to make kerisik, fry the dessicated coconut until golden brown. Pound/blend until fine.

Spiral Curry Puff

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Step 11

Ingredients:
For water dough:

• 300g plain flour
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup of cooking oil
• 1/2 cup luke warm water

For oil dough:

• 150g plain flour
• 100g shortening

For filling:

• 400g potatoes, cubed
• 150g big onions, cubed
• 3 tbsp curry powder
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 50g dried prawns, soaked and pound finely ( can be replaced with fresh prawns)
• Salt and sugar to taste
• water

Method:
To make water dough: Place flour in a mixing bowl. Add in the water, salt and cooking oil. Knead into a smooth dough. Leave aside to rest for 10 minutes. Divide into 5 equal portions. (refer step 1)

To make oil dough: Rub shortening into the flour to form an oily dough. Divide into 5 equal portions. (refer to step 1)

To combine into pastry:
Wrap oil dough inside water dough. (Refer step 2)
Roll into a neat ball (Refer step 3)
Flatten the dough (refer step 4) and roll up like swiss roll (refer step 5).
Flatten the dough again (refer to step 6). Roll up the dough again. (refer step 7)
Cut the rolled-up dough about 1cm thickness (refer step 8).
Use a rolling pin to press it flat. Shape into a circle (refer to step 9).
Turn the flat dough over and add filling and seal the sides (refer to step 10).
Pinch the edges to form a scallop design (refer to step 11). Deep fry puffs in medium hot oil.

To make filling:

Heat pan with 2 tbsp oil. Fry onions and garlic until fragrant. Add in potatoes, driesn prawns, curry powder and curry leaves. Stir well to coat. Add in enought water to cover the potatoes. Add in salt and sugar to taste. Cook until the potatoes is soft and the gravy is dried up. Leave to cool before use.

Nasi Lemak with Sambal Ikan Bilis

Nasi Lemak is the national dish of Malaysia. It's eaten any time. If you are a citizen of Malaysia, you'll eat Nasi Lemak at breakfast, lunch, dinner...... Any time of the day! It's cooked in coconut milk, with pandan leaves and even ginger or a stalk of lemon grass. Nasi Lemak is available on almost every street corner and in almost every local-themed restaurant, served with everything from chicken to beef to cuttlefish.

Sambal Ikan Bilis ingredients:

• 3 big onions, cut into half & sliced
• 1 cup of anchovies (ikan bilis), washed & dry with kitchen towel
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste, add 1/4 cup of water & squeeze for juice
• 11/2 cups of cooking oil
• 1 cup of water

Blend together:

• 10 dried chillies, soaked till soft
• 5-6 shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp prawn paste (belacan), optional
• salt & sugar to taste

Method:

Heat the cooking oil. Fry the ikan bilis until crisp and put aside.

Using the same oil, fry the grounded ingredients until fragrant. Add in the slice onions and stir well to coat. Add in the tamarind juice, salt, sugar and water.

Cook stirring occasionally until the gravy is thickens. Add in half of the ikan bilis and mix well. Reserve the other half of the ikan bilis for garnishing.

Serve with steaming hot Nasi Lemak.

Nasi Lemak Ingredients:

• 2 cups of rice
• 2 pandan leaves (screw pine leaves)
• salt to taste
• 2 cups of coconut milk
• 1 cup of water

Method:

Clean the rice and drain.

Put the rice in a rice cooker. Add in the coconut milk, water, pandan leaves. Finally add in salt.

If desire, you can also add in some sliced ginger.

Serve with hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, sambal ikan bilis and some peanuts.

Beef Rendang

There are many types of rendang. People of different States have their own styles of preparing rendang. basically chicken or beef cooked in coconut milk, chillies, shallots and other ingredients. This dish is popular to go with nasi lemak or during the Raya festival, it usually goes with lemang.


Ingredients:

• 1 kg of beef ( I used the part that suitable for stewing)
• 1 big can of coconut milk
• 5 tbsp of kerisik*
• 2 assam gelugor/keping
• 4 lime leaves (daun limau purut),roughly torn
• 1 big daun kunyit (turmeric leaf), cut into 2; optional if unable to obtain

Blended together:

• 10 dried chillies, soaked until plump
• 10 shallots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2cm galangal (lengkuas)
• 2 lemon grass (serai), sliced into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Method:

Cut beef into cubes about 3cm in size, removing any visible fats. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok and add in the ground ingredients. Cook for about 10-15 minutes over medium heat until fragrant and the oil starts to surface. Add in the beef and cook, stirring until meat is firm and most of its liquid has evaporated.

Add in the coconut milk and assam gelugor and leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes until the meat is tender. Add in kerisik, lime leaves and kunyit leaf. Continue cooking until the rendang is quite thick. Add salt to taste.

*To obtain kerisik, dry fry 11/2 cup of desiccated coconut (here I used desiccated coconut as freshly grated coconut is unavailable. If you have , then used the freshly grated coconut) over low heat, stirring continuously until the coconut is golden brown and crisp. Cool slightly and pound or whiz in chopper/food processor until very fine.