This is one dish which is made at least twice a month at home. The creaminess of ground candle nuts, the caramalisation of kecap manis, The Heat of the Sambal it’s served with, balance with herbed rice so well. A very easy dish to make and eat. 😊. Make a side dish of TUMISAN. ( Indonesian stir fry vegetables) and you are sorted for a comfort meal. Try and use thigh pieces of chicken, with or without the skin.
Now.. In a bowl, take about 8 medium size chicken thigh on bone. Add.. 1/2 tbsp lime juice 1 tsp salt 1 tsp mushroom powder or msg(1/2 tsp) 1 tsp of black pepper powder. 1 tbsp oyster sauce. Paste of candle nuts…( A) Rub the chicken well, cover and keep aside for an hour.
Now take a non stick pan, Put the chicken pieces along with the marinate and cook till 80 percent done, while flipping periodically. Add about half cup water, mix and cover for few mins, till the water is almost finished, and chicken is cooked. Now add 4 tbsps of kecap manis, 1 heaped tbsp of margarine. Mix and cook till gravy is thick and coats the chicken. Serve with fresh chillie Sambal, some cucumber, and white rice. Finger licking good.
** in lieu of candle nuts maybe cashewnuts will do. ** if you don’t have kecap manis, try mixing soya sauce and honey together. **This recipe is adapted from a local Indonesian you tube channel.. Mrs Devina. I have just tweaked it a little.
Nasi kuning(or yellow rice) comes from the regions of jawa. Traditionally made during festivals and especially birthdays. In case it is made for a birthday, rice cooked with turmeric, herbs and coconut milk will be packed into a cone shaped mould and then inverted onto a base of rice in the form of a circle . The rice is then surrounded by various other food items, such as tempe( fermented soya cake), chicken, fish, fresh basil and cucumber. The person whose birthday it is slices off the top of the cone onto a plate without the rice disintegrating.. I have done a miniature nasi kunning plate to show you all.
Normally at home, we just put the rice, sprinkle some fried peanuts and fried onions, and surround with tempe, chicken in red sauce or tofu potato in red sauce, and sayur acar.( pronounced achaar) Fresh sweet basil is a must along with cucumber slices. Best eaten with hand. We can call this an Indonesian thali. Recipe is slightly long, but fairly easy to make. Do try it and enjoy.
YELLOW RICE Soak 2 cups of jasmine rice for 30 mins. Drain. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add 1 stick cinnamon, 2 fresh bay leaves, 4 kaffir lime leaves, 1 stalk of lemon grass( only bottom white part, bashed) . #( incase you don’t gave fresh herbs, use star anise, tej pata and cinnamon)
Saute for a few mins and add drained rice. Add 100 ml thick coconut milk And 100ml of water Mix well, add 2 tbsps grated fresh turmeric and salt to taste. When liquid dries up, transfer rice to a steamer and steam for 15 to 20 mins. Done. Keep warm.
AYAM MERAH( RED CHICKEN) 300 gms of boneless chicken..cubed 2 tomatoes .. cut into quarters 12 shallots 4 garlic pods..do not cut 4 garlic pods cut fine. 4 red chillies. 2 kaffir lime leaves Lime juice Salt and sugar to taste.
Take a pan, add chicken, tomatoes, whole shallots, whole garlic, and red chillies. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover and cook till everything is soft. Remove chicken and keep aside. Coarsely grind the cooked tomatoes, onions, garlic and red chillies.
Heat 2 tbsps of oil Add chopped garlic and 2 kaffir lime leaves. Saute for few mins Add the red paste and cook till oil seperates. Add the chicken back, season with salt and a little sugar. Lastly add a tbsp of lime juice. Keep aside.
TEMPE ORIK 300 gms tempe, cut into small batons ( can use potato or paneer) Deep fry and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan Add 6 sliced garlic pods( slice, do not chop) 10 sliced shallots 1 inch bashed ginger 2 green chillies, cut at a slant 2 red chillies cut at a slant Saute for few mins, till onions turn golden brown. Add the fried tempe( or potato or paneer) Stir fry Add 2 tbsp of kecap manis( or honey) 1 tbsp tamarind paste. Salt to taste Stir quickly and shut flame. Keep aside.
SAYUR ACAR( VEGETABLE ACHAR) 1 carrot. 5 french beans 1 cucumber, unpeeled and seeds removed ( cut all 3 above mentioned vegetables into medium batons) 10 shallots cut into 2
Grind together with little water 3 roasted candlenuts or 4 cashews 1 inch pc fresh turmeric 1 inch ginger 4 garlic pods 4 shallots.
Heat oil in a pan, add paste and saute well. Add carrots, french beans, shallots, and cucumber…saute well, add 1/4 cup water and cook till vegs are done,and no water remains. Vegs should retain a bite. Shut fire and add salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 tbsp of vinegar. mix well. Done. Keep aside..
OTHER INGREDIENTS sliced cucumbers Thai basil leaves Dried or roasted peanuts Fried onions.
Assembling Take a plater, line with a banana leaf. Pile rice in the center. Surround with tempe orik, cucumber slices, red chicken, sayur acar, basil leaves, sprinkle peanuts and fried onions . And serve. Can serve red chillie sambal too with some fryums.
Se..run..deng, refers to crispy floss. Normally the residue left behind after boiling chicken which has been cooked with ground spices and herbs. The chicken is removed after its tender and the stock is further cooked till all water evaporates…Reverse cooking😊. This residue is then deep fried or sauted untill its crisp. Normally this is sprinkled over the fried chicken and served with steamed jasmine rice, chillie sambal and some lalapan( salad) We all relish eating this with our hands, as the Indonesians do..Eating food with the hands is much favoured here. Now, crisp floss itself can be made differently using 2 or 3 main ingredients.. Coconut, galangal or candlenuts. Today I will share the coconut and galangal one .
I whole chicken with skin , cut into 10 pieces. Or use thigh, breast, anything.
3 kaffir leaf pairs. 3 fresh bay leaves 2 stalks of lemongrass…cut into 4 to 5 pieces, bashed. 60 grams galangal …grated. 1 bowl grated /scraped coconut.. about 150 grams. 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp mushroom seasoning or msg 2 tsps or to taste salt.
FOR THE PASTE..GRIND FINELY 2 inch piece ginger 2 inch piece fresh turmeric 10 shallots  8 garlic cloves 5 candlenuts or cashewnuts 1 tbsp corriander seed powder. 1 tsp white pepper powder  1/4 cup oil
Take a sauce pan or wok, add the ground paste and saute till fragrant. After 5 mins add the fresh herbs kaffir lime leaves, bay leaves, lemon grass. Saute for a while. Add 1 tsp sugar About 2 tsps salt. 1 tsp mushroom seasoning or msg
Add the chicken pieces, mix well and add 2 cups of water..bring to a boil. Add the grated galangal and mix well.
Once mixed properly, add grated coconut.
and let chicken cook completely
The water should reduce to a thick gravy.
Remove chicken pieces and keep aside. Cook the gravy till really dry.
Heat oil in a wok, flash fry the cooked chicken .
In the remaining oil, add the semi dried gravy.. and fry on medium heat till light golden.. Remove and keep aside. This is the floss or Serundeng. Stir constantly so the semi solids don’t burn. â—‹ It took me about 15 mins to fry the floss, when the bubbles started disappering while floss was being fried and the colour was golden, I removed it on a strainer. It will be slightly soft, but should become crisp upon cooling. This can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and used as a topping .
To serve, put the chicken on a platter, sprinkle floss/ serundeng on top.
We enjoy eating this with steamed rice. Labu siam ( chayote) stir fried, some spicy sambal, and a lalapan( salad) of cucumber and fresh lemon basil. Try eating with your hand and relish every bite.
This recipe , is of a delicious stew made sindhi style. A very very simple and easy recipe. Today I was craving this, so made it. Aur( rai, mustard seeds ) imparts a very good flavour to this dish , hence the name. Feel free to use any vegetables in this preparation. Though I like using the basic, potato, carrot, french beans, whole shallots and wadi. Here I would like to point out that we don’t get wadi in Jakarta, and though I can bring them from India, am not really fond of the dry wadis. So since years I have been making fresh moong dal kachoris and adding to the stew at the last moment just before serving. Now about Authentic recipes. Normally an AUR JI bhaji, will be differently cooked in different houses, there are sindhis who don’t use any tomatoes in the preparation and there are some like me who grew up eating this dish based on a tomato gravy. Have tried making both ways and both ways are delicious. So I cannot really say which of the 2 is authentic. Today I will share the tomato based aur ji bhaji. You can serve this with rice or with phulkas. I love eating this with chapati torn in pieces and added to a bowl of aur ji bhaji..yummm.
Soak 1/4 cup dhuli hui moong dal for 2 hours, drain and grind with minimum water, add a piece of ginger and 1 green chillie while grinding. Season with salt. Mix well.
Fry teaspoons of the mixture to get about 16 fresh wadi/ kachori.Keep aside.
Blanch 2 tomatoes, discard the skin. Put in a mixer jar along with one roughly cut tomato.and a small piece of ginger. Grind and strain the juice. Discard seeds.
Put tomato puree in a sauce pan, add about 3 cups of water, and vegetables. 1 carrot cut into batons 1 peeled and cut potato About 15 peeled shallots 4 french beans( cut each into 3 or 4) Bring to a rolling boil. Add 1 tsp turmeric powder 2 tsps red chillie powder. Salt to taste. Once vegetables are tender, add a slurry of wheatflour. Till the gravy is thick. ( 1 used about 1.5 tbsps in 1/2 cup of water). Add freshly cut corriander leaves and let simmer while we make the tadka.
Heat 2.5 tbsps of oil in a small pan Add 1 tsp of mustard seeds 1 tsp of cumin seeds 1/4 tsp hing 2 sprigs of tender curry leaves 1.5 heaped tbsp of finely minced garlic
Saute till fragrant, add to simmering gravy. Done.
To serve.. Add few kachoris in a bowl and pour hot gravy over them. Enjoy
I have been wanting to share this amazing recipe for sometime now. PEPES refers to food, mainly chicken, fish or tofu, marinated in spices and steam cooked in banana leaves.( something like the parsi patra ni machi) The marinade will include fresh herbs, and mostly lemon basil, which is the star here. Some tart flavours like green tomatoes or BLIMBING WULUH( Also known as bilimbi, tree sorrel . This is an edible sour fruit.) , truely bring out the freshness of this dish. So these pepes are normally eaten hot with steamed rice. . You can either wrap them in rectangles and seal the edges with a toothpick, or pack them like pyramids. Will add a video in comments section.
Fun facts.. Kemangi or lemon basil is a very close cousin of our tulsi. Its mostly served in a lalapan, which is a raw salad consisting of torn cabbage leaves, green or red tomato wedges and Daun kemangi..these are eaten raw with any cooked chicken or meat dish.
Today I have used both..green tomato as well as Blimbing wuluh. Just for your idea. The main idea is to add tartness to the pepes.
Ingredients
1 chicken with bones cut into small pcs ( about 700 gms) I cut the chicken into 12 pieces…
Marinate with juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper.
Keep aside for 15 mins.
CHOP AND GRIND TOGETHER
10 pods garlic 12 shallots 8 candlenuts or about 10 cashewnuts 6 red chillies 1 inch piece of fresh turmeric 1 inch piece of galangal. 1/4 cup oil. Blend untill its a fine paste.
Now take a wok, add this paste and another 1 to 2 tbsps of oil, saute on a low heat till cooked, fragnant and colour changes from yellow to reddish brown. Cool this paste. Which will now look dry. Once cool, mix in the chicken along with the marinade. Add some salt, msg( if using) and coat the chicken pieces nicely. Add the spring onions and all the basil leaves, mix properly . Ready to pack.
OTHER INGREDIENTS .. Big squares of banana leaves 2 to 3 stalks of spring onions cut into chunks Some lemon grass, bashed and cut slantingly. Some fresh bay leaves. And lots of Daun kemangi aka lemon basil or thai basil . These basil leaves are small and very fragrant. About 50 gms of leaves and tender stem. 2 or 3 green tomatoes cut into wedges. ( or use blimbing wuluh aka blimbi fruit) Bird eye chillies as needed.
To assemble.
Take 2 sheets of banana leaves one on top of the other( check comments section for photos). Put one or 2 fresh bay leaf Add sliced lemon grass, top with chicken pieces, along with spring onions, basil leaves. Again top with green tomato wedges and some bird eye chillies. Pack the banana leaf in such a way that there should be no leakage of juices.
Steam these packets for about 30 to 40 mins.
Have hot with steamed jasmine rice.
You can make indivual packets with one or 2 pieces of chicken inside.
A very close cousin to our desi Payasam, this bubur( porridge) is made with green moong dal aka Kacang ijo( pronounced KA-CHANG). Here in Indonesia Buburs are very popular, and made with lot of pantry friendly ingredients..such as rajma, green beans, banana, glutinous rice, coconut etc. These are mainly made or sold for breakfast and tea time. Todays recipe uses ginger as a flavouring as well as for healing and warmth. Ginger is used alot in teas and buburs to aid in digestion and for warmth. Have this warm and relish it. Soothing and delicious. Perfect in the awesome rainy weather in India.
1 cup green moong beans soaked overnight or minimum 6 hours. 2 pandan leaves knotted or use 4 cloves. 100 gms ginger…peeled and bashed in big chunks. 1/2 tsp salt. 250 gms jaggery.( chopped or grated) 3 tbsps white sugar ..if required.( I used, as it yin to the yan of jaggery)😊 200 gms thick coconut milk( I used a tetra pack) 100 ml water for coconut sauce.
Rinse the soaked moong dal Add to a pan along with bashed ginger and pandan leaves. Cover with enough water and boil till soft and mushy. ( I boiled for 3 whistles in a pressure cooker)
Meantime take the jaggery in a pan and add 1/4 cup water. Boil till dissolved, and strain, to remove impurities.
Now take the cooked moong beans, another 2 cups of water, salt , jaggery water in a pan and cook further till it becomes thick. Keep aside. To make the coconut sauce topping, Put 200 ml thick coconut in a saucepan, add about 100ml water, a knotted pandan leaf( or 1/2 tsp vanila essence)Â 1/4 tsp salt. Simmer on a low flame for 10 mins. Remove in a bowl.
To serve.. Put some warm bubur in a bowl, top with 1 or 2 tablespoons of coconut milk..
No sugar is added to coconut sauce. This helps in balancing the sweetness of bubur.😊
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