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A Brimful of Acar

Since this is chutney week, I was asked to make one. However, I feel that we've covered quite a lot of chutneys in Magnificent 7 so my sister suggested an acar. No one can quite pinpoint the difference between the two. They both use a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, sometimes are cooked or not, some have vinegar or sugar. The Indian 'achar' means pickle but there are some aspects of chutney that is pickled too.

One source says that 'achar' uses oil as a pickling agent.…  More »

Pengats Galore

Generally when you come for tea at a Malay household, chances are there will be a pengat or a bubur of somekind. While bubur can encompass most things in a gravy from sweet soups to savoury congee, pengat is exclusively sweet. Generally we use pengat for something, a fruit that's been simmered in santan (coconut milk) and gula melaka (palm sugar).

Bubur jagung or pengat jagung made from corn used to be my grandmother's favourite. Corn is healthy and naturally sweet so of…  More »

Laidback Lamb Briyani

I find that I make briyani when I have something to celebrate- an announcement of a wedding or a birth or just when my family gathers after a long time away. In my family, we prefer it to nasi minyak or nasi tomato. One of my Uncles love it so much that he'll eat it ' terduduk sampai mengah', sort of like lean back from shortness of breath because he'll eat it so fast.

I like to cook the meat together with the rice because you can use one pot and the flavour of the meat will…  More »

The Art of Laksa Johor

I learnt how to make laksa Johor from a friend of mine named Mariam. She’s of course from Johor. We used to exchange dishes for buka puasa (break of fast) during Ramadhan. Ah... the art of exchanging dishes for puasa. I wonder if people still do that. I used to have a neighbour from Terengganu and would trade a rendang tok for her nasi dagang. That’s how you get to have a great spread for your family for buka.

Now I don’t think people do it as much and it is yet another…  More »

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Like anyone, I am not against taking short cuts in the kitchen. I might make a dough from scratch but use filling from a can- nothing wrong with that. Or I'll whip up a white sauce full of thyme and rosemary, add chicken and stuff it in a ready made puff pastry. For pumpkin pie, making it from scratch is satisfying but if you don't have the time, you can get pumpkin pie filling from a can and add some fresh spices to brighten it up. It depends on your taste really.

Strangely…  More »

Daging Hitam (Black Beef)

My late Aunt, married to a policeman used to live in the police barracks. At the time, grocery shopping is not as convenient as today so most of the time the ladies there cooked from rations. This is one of the dishes born out of using what's available. There were always a lot of onions and dried chillies plus bottled and canned goods like sardines and soy sauce were plentiful.

This dish uses just a few ingredients and quite simple to make. It uses soy sauce to tenderize…  More »

Ghoulish Goulash

Halloween is a big deal in the States. When I was there and staying with my foster family, pumpkin carving was our main activity. We used to buy five or six gigantic pumpkins for next to nothing (about 30 cents each) because there were so many of them! I suppose being so far away from home, lining up pumpkins outside the house with a candle in each glowing from within is like a version of lighting pelita's during Hari Raya.

As you can probably tell, this recipe has nothing…  More »

Succulent Seafood Paella

Sometimes I run out of ideas of what to cook at family gatherings. Although this is hardly a problem. My sisters are more than happy to suggest new things that I can try out. I'm the sort of person though who needs time to get to know a new dish. If I haven't tried it before, I like to spend some time with it in the kitchen figuring out ways to make it good.

Often on lazy afternoons when I don't have orders or errands to run you will find me in the kitchen trying out a new…  More »

Yummy Meatloaf

Meatloaf is really easy to put together. Some people think that it's made from leftovers like some casseroles but it's hardly the case. When I was growing up I remembered that my mother used to make the most delicious meatloaves from meat, tuna, carrots and beans. It always had a delicious crust from baking it just a little longer in the oven.

The other day, I decided to make one for fun and it literally disappeared before my eyes. Though most people don't really make them…  More »

Father’s Day Tagine

I feel that tagines are very exotic and yet it utilises ingredients that we use everyday. So in reality, you can easily make it in your kitchen. Don’t worry about not having a tagine pot, the conical claypot synonymous with this dish. You can use a nice casserole dish. No problem at all. And don't fret either if you don't have preserved lemons in your pantry (though it’s easy to make- basically stuff whole lemons in a jar with lots of salt and let it sit for a month or two), you can…  More »

Holiday Cupcake Fun

Here's 5 Fantastic and Simple Ways to decorate cupcakes. I came up with this easy-to-follow guide because school holidays is the time I have parents begging me to take their kids for an afternoon baking class if only to not go nutts in their own houses. I find most kids get really, really excited if we're doing cupcakes. It never gets old for them because they get to decorate a whole little cake or two.

It's really that simple to do cupcake decorating in your own home. Firstly…  More »

Getting a Good Ribbing

Ribs is not something people serve at home mainly because not many people know how to cook it well. The comments I always get is that, it's too tough or there's not enough meat to merit all the work put in. However encountering it on the home table always feels a little more special than the usual steak or roast. Another thing about ribs is that it cost so much that if you bomb it, you bomb the entire dinner.

Here's the thing. Most people don't know how to get good cuts.…  More »

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