Tomato Rice with Spicy Chicken & Mix Vegetables

This is one of our all time favourite lunch. Nasi tomato with ayam masak merah and mixed vegetables. I especially couldn't get enough of this when I was younger, those days when mum used to cook more of this cos she knows I loved it so much.

I thought this was difficult or tedious to prepare and cook. I see the way my mum cooks and I just go "I don't think I can make the same one..." Yeah, I can't cook exactly the way mum cooks, but I can surely come up with something similar.

Tomato rice has a very unique, rich flavor. It's the blend of tomatoes, herbs, spices and some raisins and almonds.. all in one pot. As for the chicken, it can be almost any type of chicken dish to enjoy with tomato rice. It can also be with beef or just veges only.. I like my chicken to be spicy, which is complimentary to the rich flavour of the rice.

This is a very simple recipe, I made it for the first time in ages, and it tastes good to me. Well, I thought I put too much tomato paste. But, hubby loved it so much that he finished 2 plates of the rice. And guess what? He hates tomatoes. Ah well. They say a way to a men's heart is through his tummy. I believe that. ;-)

:: Recipe ::
Serves 2-4

Tomato Rice
2 cups basmati (or any type ) rice
1 cup tomato paste
1 cup water
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cardamon pods
4 cloves
1 pandan leaf (screwpine)
some curry leaves
*2 tablespoon blended mix of red onion/ginger/garlic
1 tablespoon ghee (optional)
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup whole almonds
pinch of salt

* chop about 1 red onion, 1 inch fresh ginger and 3 garlic in a blender/food processor until smooth. Can be kept frozen for a few weeks. Can be used to make curries, briyani and more.

1. Heat a pan with ghee and oil. Throw in cardamon, cinnamon and cloves until they start cracing. Add the blended ingredients and curry leaves and stir until aromatic.
2. Reduce heat and add tomato puree, stirring.
3. Transfer to rice cooker, add in rice, water, salt, and yogurt. Place the pandan leaf in the cooker. Let it cook halfway and then finally, add raisins and almonds.
4. Check your rice to see if the water level is enough. If it's too dry, add in a litle bit of water and stir.

Spicy Chicken
1/2 a chicken, cut into 8-10 pieces
1 green chilli, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon red chilli paste
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt

1. Precook the chicken by frying them in a non-stick pan, turning sides until 3/4 cooked. Put aside.
2. Heat up a wok with some oil. Fry the onions and garlic and add chilli paste, stirring.
3. Add tomato sauce and yogurt and some water. Throw in the cooked chicken pieces, covering them with the sauce.
4. add green chillis and salt. Combine well and let sauce thicken, about 2 minutes.
5. Serve hot with tomato rice.

Stir fried prawns with tomato sauce

I always say that I don't like prawns. I don't eat prawns. 99% of the time that is. Somehow, I do eat prawn fritters, belacan (shrimp paste), mee udang (prawn noodles) and a variety of prawn products. Except fresh prawns itself. Weird me. Why? I guess I had a bad first time experience tasting prawns? I'll never know...

I may not eat much prawns but since I started cooking them, I eat a little of them along the way. Not bad actually... Especially garlic prawns and tomato sauce prawns... like this one :-)

This is a very simple recipe, all you need is tomato sauce, onions and a little bit of water. Don't remove the shells because that's what gives it flavour...

:: Recipe ::

About 12 medium sized prawns, without the head
1/2 of a green onion, sliced
3 tablespoon tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon water
pinch of salt

1. Clean the prawns and marinate with turmeric.
2. Stir fry onions until aromatic, then add the prawns and stir until half cooked.
3. Add tomato sauce, water, and salt and stir until the sauce thickens and prawns are cooked.
4. Serve immediately and enjoy the juicy succulent tomato prawns.

Keropok Lekor (Fish Cake)

During my recent holiday trip to Terengganu, one of my "must-do" was to buy lots of keropok (crackers) home. Terengganu is famous for it's keropok ikan (fish crackers), especially keropok lekor (fish cracker, but texture is like fisk cake... and thus I am referring to it as cake).

In Kuala Terengganu itself, at the famous Pasar Payang (market), there are just so many keropok sellers... everything looked the same and being a first timer, I didn't know which one to buy. They all looked the same to me!

My brother told me to look for keropok lekor that is whitish and short. Lekor is something like fish paste, it's wet instead of dry, and the shape is long, like sausages. It's then cut into an inch long and deep fried, and dipped in sweet chilli sauce. It's simply delicious... A must-try.
So not knowing what to buy at the Pasar Payang, we decided to head to Redang Island first for our holiday. It's a really gorgeous island, surrounded by clear blue waters and soft white sands... A very breath-taking vacation for me and hubby after such a stressful half year of working...

Here's my top 3 favourite picture from Redang:
The nice blue sea
Colours of batik sarong
The jetty at the island

After the island trip, before heading back to Penang, we drop by a house along the main street selling Keropok Lekor. We had some food tasting of the keropok and it was good. Decided to buy some there in Merang itself instead of heading all the way back to Kuala Terengganu...

It was a lovely trip and I wish I could go there again soon! But for now, I am back n Penang, with some sun tan skin, watching TV and enjoying some keropok lekor.... :-)

Rambutan

Hello there! I'm a cute little fella... don't you think so? Well, it can be a nice hat or a new hairdo... But I'm calling it rambutan. My hair may be long and ... very funky.
Inside the rambutan - the flesh looks like lychee or longan. White, soft, very juicy, and very sweet. Mmmph! Delicious desserts or even on its own... In countries where its not origin, it's one of those exotic fruits that costs a lot to buy!
These rambutans are from my parent's garden. It's been there way before I was born, and I'm 30 this year! Very old tree, but still surviving the test of time. I know I'm supposed to wait till the fruit turns totally red, but I just couln't wait to eat them... so I told dad to pick some for me! Thats why you see the greenish hairs... :-P
I love rambutans. They're good to make desserts like jellies, pudding, or... as coctail drinks... Anyone has any recipes calling for rambutan in this peak season of Malaysian local fruits??? :-)

Creamy Garlic Prawns

This is a hit - any corner of the world you go, I think people love prawns. Except for a few... including me! I thought I'd give it a chance sometimes, especially because my beloved ones do eat these cute little prawns. Such bliss to be away from the office in the middle of the week. Until of course, colleagues started to call and sms telling me there's a FULL DAY course to attend this Saturday. Ugh. Don't you people understand the words "on annual leave"? It means, I'm outta the office, please don't disturb me!!!

Anyways. There goes my beautiful Saturday OFF WORK. Ugh. Now, Back to my prawns...

My fridge isn't Jamie Oliver's or Nigella's... and I'm not as hardworking as the Take Home Chef, so, cooking is usually based on what's left in the fridge. With nothing much in the fridge, and wanting to get rid of the prawns my mum gave some time ago, I googled up "garlic prawns" and found some interesting recipes for prawns!

Two of my favourite (because they look so delicious and savouryyy) were the Garlic Prawns from Exclusively Food, and another Garlic Prawns from Taste.com.

The first one called for lots of garlic and some cream and fresh basils. I knew I could make this one as ingredients were very minimal... so I headed to the kitchen, and I came up with a "modified" recipe, according to what I have at home.

:: Creamy Garlic Prawns ::

10 medium sized prawns, peeled and cleaned
1 tablespoon butter or extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of parsley flakes
2 tablespoon whipped cream

1. Heat up the butter/oil in a medium frying pan. Throw in the prawns and cook until prawns are half cooked, about 2 minutes, turning on to the other side to cook.
2. Add finely chopped garlic and stir for about less than a minute on a low-medium heat, ensuring that the garlic is just soft and not browned (it gets bitter when browned).
3. Add in whipped cream and stir, combining all the garlicky flavours and lastly, sprinkle the parsley flakes and mix.
4. Turn the heat off, and serve warm as entre or with steamed rice.

I've got to confess, this is my first try and the taste is awesome. Simple, easy and delicious! My kinda cooking!