Chicken Samosa

This recipe makes about 12.

Ingredients:

• 500g minced chicken
• 1 onion, cut into small pieces
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground roasted cumin seeds
• 1 fresh chilli, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon chopped mint or coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• Salt and ground pepper to taste
• Juice of half a lemon
• 12 pieces of wanton wrappers

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan.  Add the onion and garlic. 
2. Mix in the spices and seasoning and fry until soft.
3. Add the minced chicken, stirring until cooked.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the mint and lemon juice.
5. Put a tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the middle of each wanton wrapper.  Dampen the sides of the wrapper and press the two sides to make it into a triangular shape.
6. Deep fry the samosas in hot oil until crisp and brown and take out and drain on a paper towel.
7. Serve warm.

Ayam Panggang (Malay Style Baked Chicken)

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken

Ingredients to be blended:-

• 200g fresh red chillies
• 50g shallots
• 100g garlic
• 50g yellow ginger (fresh turmeric)
• 80g buah keras (candle nut)
• 30g belachan (fermented dry shrimps)
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 30g blue ginger

Ingredients for Seasoning:-

• Coconut milk
• Fine salt
• Sugar
• Jintan manis (coriander seeds)

Method:

1. Marinate chicken with blended paste and seasoning, keep in chiller for a day for best results.
2. Before baking in the oven, mix in the coconut milk.
3. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.
4. Garnish with Chinese coriander leaves.

Limau Purut Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

• 1.8kg chicken, chopped into pieces
• 8 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
• 5 tablespoons Baba meat curry powder (2 tablespoons to marinate chicken and 3 tablespoons to mix in the chilli paste)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cooking oil (for frying paste)

Ingredients for Chilli Paste:

• A- 8 buah keras (candle nut)
• A- 25 dried chillies (soak in hot water for about half an hour, wash and drain)
• A- 10g turmeric
• A- 15g lengkuas (galangal)
• A- 180g shallots
• A- 30g garlic
• B- 1 stalk lemongrass, bashed
• B- 6 limau purut leaves (kaffir lime leaves) (remove stalk and tear leaves up roughly)
• Thick coconut milk from 1 coconut (250ml/1 cup)
• 800ml water
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

Method:

1. Wash chicken and drain dry.  Marinate it with curry powder and salt for a few hours.
2. Deep fry potatoes until half cooked.  Set aside.
3. Blend/grind the ingredients for chilli paste labeled as A-.
4. Add 3 tablespoons meat curry powder to chilli paste and mix well.
5. Heat wok and add oil.  When it turns hot, add ground spices and fry over low heat for about 10 minutes until oil emerges.  Add bashed lemongrass and limau purut leaves halfway through.
6. Put in chicken and fry till the pieces are well coated with chilli paste.  Add potatoes.
7. Add water slowly and bring curry to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, depending on how tender you want the chicken to be.
8. Add salt, bearing in mind it should be a little salty only as the coconut milk has yet to be added.
9. Add thick coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Don’t keep boiling.  Turn off heat.

Deep Fried Bananas (Goreng Pisang)

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 125g (1 cup) plain flour
• 80g (1/2 cup) rice flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 250ml (1 cup) water
• Oil, for deep frying
• 4 large or 8 small firm ripe bananas, peeled (and cut into sections if using large bananas)

Method:

1. Sift both types of flour with the baking powder and salt into a bowl.  Gradually stir in the water to make a thick batter.
2. Heat the oil in a wok.  Dip the bananas into the batter, turning to coat thoroughly.  When the oil is very hot, add the bananas and deep-fry until golden brown, about 4 minutes.  Drain thoroughly and serve warm.

Mee Siam (Rice Vermicelli in Sweet Gravy)

This recipe serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1 litre (4 cups) water
• 3 tablespoons small dried shrimps (hay bee), soaked to soften, drained and blended to a powder
• 2 tablespoons tamarind pulp soaked in 125ml (0.5 cup) water, mashed and strained to obtain juice
• 100g (2 cups) bean sprouts
• 1 spring onion, sliced into short lengths, for garnishing
• 300g (10 oz) cooked prawns
• 300g (10 oz) beehoon (dried rice vermicelli), soaked in hot water to soften, drained, then torn into lengths
• 1 piece (100g/3 1/3 oz) tau kwa (pressed beancurd), deep fried until golden, then thinly sliced
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered, for garnishing
• 2 limes, quartered, for garnishing

Ingredients for spice paste:

• 8 – 10 dried chillies, cut into short lengths, soaked to soften, then deseeded
• 8 shallots, peeled
• 6 candlenuts, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 60ml (1/4 cup) tau cheo (salted soy beans), crushed with the back of a spoon
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Method:

1. To prepare the prawns, cook the fresh prawns in a pot of boiling water until the prawns turn pink, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Then drain the prawns in a colander and set aside to cool.  Peel the prawns, discard the heads, gently devein then halve each prawn lengthwise.
2. To prepare the spice paste, grind the chillies, shallots and candlenuts in a mortar or blender, adding a little oil if needed to keep the mixture running.
3. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and stir-fry the spice paste until fragrant, about 4 minutes.  Add the tau cheo (salted soy beans) and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then sprinkle in the sugar and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.  Remove from the wok and place the mixture in a small bowl.
4. Place half the spice paste in a large saucepan.  Add the water and ground dried shrimps, and bring to a boil.  Then add the tamarind juice, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place.
5. Return the reamining spice paste to the wok, add the bean sprouts and stir-fry over high heat for 30 seconds.  Add half the spring onions and fresh prawns, and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  Add the bee hoon, a little at a time, stirring briskly to mix well, about 2 minutes.
6. Serve the noodles in individual bowls, topped with spring onions, and fresh prawns and garnished with tau kwa, eggs and lime.  Pour the gravy over the noodles at the table.

Malay-Style Sambal Prawns

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 600g (1 1/2 lbs) fresh medium prawns
• 1 tablespoon tamarind juice (1 tablespoon tamarind pulp, soaked in 65ml water, squeezed and strained to obtain juice)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tomato, cut into wedges
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Coriander leaves, for garnishing

Ingredients for Seasoning Paste:

• 12 – 15 dried red chillies
• 10 shallots, peeled
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 slices fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon belachan (dried shrimp paste)

Method:

1. Peel and devein the prawns.  Rinse and set aside.
2. To make the seasoning paste, slice the chillies into short lengths, then soak in hot water for about 10 minutes to soften.  Discard the seeds.  Grind the chillies and the rest of the ingredients to a smooth paste in a mortar or blender, adding a little oil if necessary to keep the mixture turning.
3. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and stir fry the seasoning paste until fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Add the prawns and stir-fry until they change colour, about 2 minutes.  Add the tamarind juice, onion, tomato, salt and sugar, and gently stir-fry until the prawns are cooked, about 2 minutes.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.