Thanks for the latest recipe. My partner really enjoys beef rendang when we’ve been in Malaysian restaurants in the UK but we’ve never cooked it. Again, it is going to have to wait until things are more normal and I can get out to one of ther Asian shops - fresh turmeric and galangal are not available from normal supermarkets here. Or could I use dried turmeric instead, and more ginger instead of the galangal? I know it won’t be quite the same .
Yeah, I understand the problem in your country, some items will not be easily available unlike in my country. This recipe is for those who are unable to source the optional ingredients -
Beef Rendang
1kg beef (cut into small cubes)
750 gms coconut milk
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp tamarind juice
Salt as required
1 cup oil
Grind to smooth paste:
6 pcs shallot
7 cloves of garlic
2 big size onion
4 pcs lemon grass
1” fresh turmeric or 1 tsp turmeric powder
1 ½” ginger
6 pcs dry cili
6 tbsp grated coconut –lightly toasted
1 ½” tsp coriander seed
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
Optional :
3 kaffir lime leaves
3 tumeric leaves (chopped)
1 ½” galangal
4 pcs cili padi
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Heat oil, add the grinded paste and cook till oil separates.
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Add beef, coconut milk, brown sugar, salt and cook the meat to tender.
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Lastly, add tamarind juice, kaffir leaves, turmeric leaves and cook till sauce thickens.
I have tried cooking rendang without the optional items and the taste was equally good. So guys, you can still enjoy the rendang.
I forgot to attach a picture in my earlier post, for those who are not sure what is “rendang” .
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We used to go to a little restaurant in lower Manhattan which was owned by a husband & wife. She was Maylasian & he was French. She did the cooking & he did the baking. It was just terriffic.
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Roti canai is a “Flattened bread”. Making roti canai is an art. The dough is flattened by method of throwing the dough in the air in a spinning motion, with the objective of getting thinner and bigger flat dough.
Roti canai is a very popular breakfast in Malaysia, often available in restaurants throughout the day and it is also everyone’s favourite. It is usually eaten with dhall curry, fish curry, chicken curry and sambal.
Ingredients:
4 cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ cup water
3 tbsp butter (melted)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp condensed milk
Instructions:
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In a mixing bowl, add in flour, salt, egg, melted butter, condensed milk and water.
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Mix to incorporate and knead for 10 minutes using electric dough maker. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and knead for another 5 minutes.
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Divide the dough into 10 small balls. Coat each ball generously with oil and rest for 1 to 2 hours.
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Spread some oil on the working surface. Take one ball and lightly flatten it. Press and push the dough with the heel of your palm to make it bigger. Stretch it as thin as possible, until you can almost see through it. Now and then spread some soften butter on it to help the stretching. You can lift up one edge of the dough and gently pull to stretch it even more. Scrape and push the upper end of the dough to the middle. Do the same to the lower end, forming a wrinkle thin log. Starting at one end of the log, roll it into a circle and tuck the other end inside. See picture below after this process.
5. Take one rolled circle and flatten it into more or less 10-15 cm diameter. Place the flatten dough on the pan with low heat. Cook till lightly brown by adding drops of oil in between.
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Thanks a lot. This is definitely one of those practice makes perfect cooking.
How long one can make those in advance? Or they have to be consumed instantly after cooking?
I’ve made Cape Malay rooti in South Africa which is quite flaky - although not as flaky as this looks.
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The dough can be kept overnight in room temperature before cooking.
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It is best to be consumed instantly after cooking, in order to enjoy the soft and flaky texture.
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I’ve made Cape Malay rooti in South Africa which is quite flaky 
Give a try to this too!
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Today, I would like to share the recipe on “kuih seri muka”.
This dessert is made of two layers. The bottom layer is made of glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk. The top green layer is made of sweet green flavoured custard cooked with coconut milk which makes it creamy. Screwpine leaves are used to extract natural colouring for the top custard layer.
Ingredient:
A
400 g glutinous rice
100 ml coconut milk
70 ml water
Pinch of salt
B
9 screwpine leaves or green colouring
3 tbsp water
150 g sugar
400 g coconut milk
5 g corn flour
40 g rice flour
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
- Soak glutinous rice for at least 4 hours. Strain the glutinous rice and mix coconut milk, water, salt, a knotted screwpine leaf and steam for 40 minutes or until cooked.
- Prepare screwpine leaves extract by blending the leaves with 3 tbsp water or substitute screwpine leaves with green coloring. In another bowl, mix the extract or colouring along with sugar, coconut milk, corn flour, rice flour, salt and eggs.
- Stir mixture in a pot over low heat until it turns semi-solid. Remove pot from stove and mix thoroughly.
- Once glutinous rice is cooked, transfer to an oiled cake pan.
- Pour cooked custard mixture onto compacted glutinous rice. Steam for about 50 minutes to an hour. Allow the dessert to cool to at room temperature before cutting into smaller pieces.
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A simple dish made with prawn, curry leaves and some basic ingredients.
Curry leaves are very aromatic and have a unique flavor by itself. It is widely used in Indian cooking and nowadays in many fusion cooking in Malaysia.
Curry Leaf Prawn
Ingredients:
A
200 gms Prawns
Pinch of salt
1/2 bowl of oil
B
3 stalks curry leaves
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon light soya sauce
- Marinate prawn with salt for 10 mins.
- Heat up oil, fry curry leaves and transfer to a plate.
- Fry prawns till light brown and transfer to a plate.
- Saute ginger, garlic, chili powder, oyster sauce, light soya sauce and add the fried prawns, curry leaves and cook for 1 mins.
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Sure!
Is it possible to freeze fresh curry leaves?
KUIH LAPIS is a traditional Asian dessert popular in Malaysia. It is usually prepared as a layered cake.
Ingredients:
300gms tapioca flour
100 gms rice flour
230 gm sugar
250 ml water
750ml coconut milk
Pinch of salt
1 screwpine leave
½ tsp pink colouring
Method :
- Mix the tapioca flour, rice flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl until well combined
- Boil 250ml of water with the sugar and screwpine leaves until sugar is dissolved. Remove the screwpine leaves from the syrup.
- Add in the coconut milk to the batter and stir till well combined.
- Add the dried ingredients. Mix well. Using a sieve, strain the batter to make it smooth and lump-free.
- Divide the batter into two equal portions.
- Add the pink colouring to one portion and the other portion white
- Lightly oil 8 x 8 inch cake pan and place it in a steaming pot for few minutes over high heat.
- Pour about 140ml of the white batter into the heated pan and steam for about 4 minutes or until batter is cooked.
- Add 140ml of pink batter on top of the first layer and steam for another 4 minutes. If you want thinner layers, reduce the amount of batter used. Repeat steps till the batter finish.
- Once the last layer is steamed and cooked, remove the pan from the steamer and allow it to cool completely before cutting.
Tips: The batter should not be stirred too much for best result.
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Its best to store in the vegetable section of the fridge to maintain the freshness and aroma. It can last for 2 to 3 weeks.
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I love Malaysian food, and sadly we only have 1 Malaysian restaurant in my area (that is now temporarily closed too). These look great - thank you so much for sharing these recipes.
You are most welcome. Try some of the recipes as in the link. Its all easy and simple.
Nasi kandar is a popular food originated from the northern part of East Malaysia in a state called Penang. Nowadays, one can find it everywhere around Malaysia. There are lots and lots of variety of curries and types of food being served.
This classic Malaysian dish combines steamed rice and an assortment of different curries and vegetables like cabbage, ladies fingers and beansprouts. The rice is steamed and occasionally seasoned, and the choice of curries includes various combinations of 4 to 5 curries like fish curry, chicken curry, lamb curry, prawn curry and black gravy. Nasi Kandar is also well known for its Fish Head curry and fried chicken, fish and squids.
Today’s recipe is Fish Head curry.
The ingredients :-
A
500gms whole seabass fish
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1 glass water or additional water as required
B
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon mixture of mustard seeds, fenugreek & cummin
2 stalks curry leaves
1 onion chopped
1 tomato cut into 6
30gms tamarind & little water
1/2 glass coconut milk
Method:
- Add salt, ginger & garlic paste, turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder and water to the fish and mix well.
- Heat oil, fry the ladies fingers for 3 mins and transfer to a plate.
- Add mustard, fenugreek & cumin seeds to the oil, followed by curry leaves and onion. Cook for about 2-3 mins and followed by the marinated fish. Let the fish cook for 10 mins by flipping the fish over and adding tomoatoes, tamarind juice and coconut milk subsequently.
- Lastly add the ladies fingers to the dish.
You may also check out at https://youtu.be/YoTNwE-HXps
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Thanks a lot for the recipe! Looks delicious.
Combination of curries, you mean in 1 dish?
The combinations of 4 to 5 curries are added to the steamed rice as shown in the picture. This is the speciality for Nasi Kandar.
