~ seeking peace spice by spice by spice
This is one dish which I think many Malay homes would like…except mine. That said, there were no leftovers for this dish. Haha.
It’s essentially chicken in yogurt sauce. In true fashion, I did two substitutions. One, instead of santan (coconutcream) I used a bit of no fat milk. And instead of potatoes, I used zucchini. The dish is fragrant and tastes good with hot rice. It’s not spicy at all. I’ve included the original recipe from the cookbook but it’s in Malay.
Friends have been recommending this to me for months and finally, I decided to get one. It was the best thing ever! Of course I was a bit cautious and only got the 2l version. But if ever I have no choice but to cook every single day, I would so buy the bigger pot.
My first try was making chicken porridge. I added too little rice to the broth and hence had a very thin porridge. My second try was barley water since The Boy was ill. And unfortunately today, he was stull unwell and so I made plain porridge.
I will be continuing to experiment with recipes using this thermal pot but in the meantime, I am just so sold by this that I am doing a shoutout to whoever invented this fabulous cookware.
i got the la gourmet 2 litre pot
in the inner pot boil chicken bones, bay leaves, carrots and then remove add rice
cover and place the inner pot inside the outer one. close and lock.
after four or five hours later flavourful chicken porridge albeit too thin
boil barley and water, add sugar
after a few hours in the thermal pot and voila! freshly made barley drink!
eaten with a bit of fried ikan bilis/anchovies
plain porridge. rice water and salt
Somehow I stumbled upon a site which touts making your own cream cheese. And then I started googling and searching more about labneh – or strained yogurt.
Apparently it’s a staple breakfast dish of the Arabs and hence I thought I’d try making some for the family.
The process was really simple. Just a tub of yogurt, some salt and a muslin or cheese cloth.
Mind you, labneh is sour. I am going to try different flavoured labneh later.
Updated the next day
Breakfast this morning…a sweet version! (It still is sour, though)
I am really lousy at cooking fish but occasionally I do get it right. Or, I take the easy way out. Like fish porridge!
At the market near home, I bought a few handfuls of white fish ready sliced and boneless (but with any fish you have to check and eat carefully. I found a teeny bit of bone in a slice). And so I decided to make fish porridge.
For porridge, you have to use normal rice with regular starch content. Thai jasmine is best. In a pot, I added two cups of rice to lots of water. For the fish, I seasoned with light soy, white pepper and sesame oil. For this, use white pepper. When the rice has been boiled to porridge consistency, add the fish to the rice pot and stir carefully till cooked. I added slices of french beans for some crunch. When the porridge has reached a nice slightly thick consistency, season with lots of salt (all it’ll be totally bland!)
To serve, garnish with fried shallots, fried small ikan bilis and fresh coriander. Lots more of white pepper too! A satisfying dish that warms the heart.
add fish and beans
This morning I baked a simple butter loaf cake. I followed the recipe from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19421/butter+cake faithfully.
Unfortunately, my oven temperature is skewed. Although I turned the knob to 180 as required, the heat was way off. And hence I intend to invest in an external oven thermometer next time to check.
Even though the temperature was high and my cake was overcooked, it wasn’t so bad. It was still moist in the centre, and the leftover batter which I put in cupcake papers produced an even nicer result due to the sugary crunch on top.
Overall, this is certainly a recipe worth keeping. 🙂
The Occasional Cook 