October 7, 2008
Opor and Ketupat is a special menu ta the day, this food was never behind, almost all in the family and the people who lived in Indonesia for Foreign Affairs would never skip the menu this one.
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims observe a strict fast and participate in pious activities such as charitable giving and peace. It is a time of intense spiritual renewal for those who observe it. At the end of Ramadan, Muslims around the world observe a joy for three days of celebration called Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Fast Breaking or in Indonesia called Idul Fitri / Lebaran
After the Eid prayer, Muslims usually scatter to visit various relatives and friends, give gifts (especially children), and make phone calls to distant relatives to give well-wishes on vacation. These activities traditionally continue for three days. In most Muslim countries, all on 3-day is an officer of government and school holidays.
It's easy to make this Ketupat and Opor Ayam, here is the recipe,
KETUPAT, these firm rice cakes are usually cooked in individual baskets of woven coconut leaves so that the rice swells until it fills the basket and becomes firmly compressed. Here is a simple and more practical way of producing similar results, called lontong.
Ingredients:
* 500 gr short or medium grain rice
* 4 cups water
* banana leaf or aluminium foil
Method:
1. Bring the water and rice to the boil
2. cover tightly with lid
3. turn heat very low and cook for 35-40 minutes until all water is ubsorbed
4. stir vigorously with wooden spoon
5. then press rice into a cake tin or pie plate to depth of about 2,5 cm (1 inch)
6. use a piece of washed and greased banana leaf or greased aluminium foil to cover the surface of the rice and put another plate on top
7. press down very firmly the plate
8. put a weight on top and leave at room temperature for a few hours, until very firm.
9. remove weight, plate and banana leaf and use a wet knife to cut rice into squares.
10. serve with Opor Ayam (Javanese Chicken Curry)
OPOR AYAM
Ingredients:
1 tsp coriander seeds
6 shallots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 piece galangal, about 1 1/2 inches long, peeled and roughly sliced (optional)
1 piece ginger, about 2 inches long, peeled and roughly sliced
3 tsp peanut oil
1 thick stalk lemon grass, stem end and brittle top cut off
2 pieces cinnamon stick
5 kaffir lime leaves
3 pounds skins-on chicken legs , thighs or both (if possible, have thighs cut in half and knuckle cut of legs) patted dry
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
method:
1. in a small food processor, whirl coriander seeds until finely ground. and shallot, garlic, galangal and ginger, process t smooth paste, adding a tablespoon or so water if needed.(ingredients can also be chopped finely, than pounded together in mortar and pestle)
2. heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. when oil is hot enough to gently sizzle a pinch of paste, add all the paste and cook, stirring often until golden. reduce head as needed to provent browning.
3. using a heavy object like a glass measuring cup, smash lemon grass stalk, crushing lightly just until bendable. Tie in a knot, pulling gently on both ends. Add to pot with cinnamon and lime leaves, cook 1 minute more, until cinnamon is fragrant.
4. scrape paste to one side and chicken to pot. Raise head and brown chicken lightly on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Add 1 cup coconut milk, 1 1/4 cups water, and salt, stirring well adn scrapping up browned bits from bottom of pot. bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered 40-50 minutes, until chicken cooked through and sauce is thickened. do not boil.
5. Add remaining coconut milk and heat through. taste for salt, let cool slightly and serve
September 23, 2008
Ingredients
- medium-sized can pineapple chunks
- riped papaya, peeled and chopped
- green apples, peeled and chopped
- small cucumber, peeled and sliced
- unripe mango, sliced
- jicama (bengkuang), sliced
- 100 g fried/roasted peanuts
- 200 g brown sugar
- 3 tbsp fried garlic
- 2 tbsp tamarind juice
- bird eye's chilies ( as many as you like)
- 1/4 tsp dried shrimp paste
- salt as desired
- water
direction:
- Add brown sugar, add a small amount of water at the time and increase until reaching the desired consistency.
- Add garlic and peanuts, until the process of doing (not the process of peanut soft, but some people might like the soft version). If the sauce is too thick, add water.
- Serve with sliced fruits
September 19, 2008
In Indonesia, when Ramadhan comes, we can find the traditional desserts from around the world, especially street vendors. They sell the variation of sweet before Iftar. This type of dessert known as jajanan pasar, jajanan means to buy some food from street vendors, pasar means market), because normally the food they sell in the market instead of street. Today, I will going to make some of Indonesian traditional food, they called this food as KOLAK PISANG.
Ingredients:
1 pandan leaf (screwpine leaf)
2 big cubes of Palm Sugar
1 can of Toddy Palm Fruit
15 bananas
5 large sweet potato
1 can of coconut milk, add 2 cup of water
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Directions:
- Peel skin from sweet potato, wash clean, cut into small cubes, place in a boiling pan
- Peel the banana skin, make small cuts and place in the boiling pan along with sweet potato
- Cut half each toddy palm fruit if desire, if not, leave it as its natural round, put into the boiling pan as well (without the water)
- Tie knot the screwpine leaf and add it into the pan
- Add sugar, salt, palm sugar, coconut milk, and the water into the pan
- Bring to boil everything inside the pan until sweet potato become tender, taste the soup if its sweet enough for you, turn off the stove.
- serve warm or cold is desired
September 18, 2008
Ingredients:
1. 1 3/4 Lb Lamb, fresh
2. 2 onion
3. 3 thai chile
4. 3/4" knob ginger, fresh
5. 1/2" knob lemon grass
6. 1 lemon grass, stem
7. 2 garlic clove
8. 8 macadamia nut
9. 2 tomato, ripe
10. 1/3 c oil
11. 1/2 td cardamom, groud
12. 1/2 ts cumin powder
13. 1/2 ts turmeric
11. 1/4 fennel powder
12. 1 cinnamon stick; 2 "
13. 4 cloves, whole
14. salt, pepper, back; to taste
15. 4 c coconut milk
Direction:
1. Cut the lamb into bite-size pieces
2. Chop the onion, chilies, ginger, lemon grass root and lemon
3. Crush the garlic and crushed macadamia nuts
4. Skin tomatoes and cut the flesh into small dice
5. Heat the oil in a large pan, add onions, chilies and garlic and saute until the onion becomes transparent
6. Then add the lamb, ginger, lemon root, lemon grass and tomato and cook for another three minutes, stirring frequently
7. Add the spice powder, cinnamon and cloves rajita and season to taste with salt and pepper
8. Pour in coconut milk and bring to boil, stirring constantly, then lower heat and allow to cook over a low heat until the meat is very tender, about 45 minutes.
9. Serve immediately with cooked rice
2. water as required
3. 1/2 tsp slaked lime water
4. 100 gr rice flour mixied with 25 gr corn starch
5. vegetable oil for frying
spice paste:
1. 4 candlenuts
2. 1 clove garlic
3. 1 tsp coriander seeds
4. 1/4 tsp tumeric pow
5. salt to taste
6. 1 cm fresh kencur
direction:
1. Slice the tempe in thin 3½ x 5 cm squares. Set aside.
2. Mix the spice-paste together with the water and slaked lime water. Add the rice flour and cornstarch and blend till smooth.
3.Heat the oil in a wok, dip the tempe in the batter and deep-fry until it is golden brown and crisp.
Note: Make sure that the oil is not to hot, otherwise the batter and the tempe will not be done at the same time.
September 17, 2008
Gado Gado is traditionally Indonesian salad, mixed vegetables with peanut sauce dressing. They are sold widely in Indonesia and or can easily find a restaurant to a market seller. The flavor is sweet in the eastern part of Java and salted in western Java. The traditional way of doing Gado Gado millstone was used to prepare the peanut sauce. The peanut sauce poured on top of vegetables served before.
Lettuces
A small bunch of long beans
Young cabbage
1 cucumber
Tofu
100 gr soyabean cake
2 eggs
5 pieces of red chili pepper
5 pieces of small chili pepper (jalapeno or scotch bonnet)
3 pieces of shallots
100 gr peanuts
lemon
brown sugar and salt
Direction:
1. Fry an egg and soyabean cake
2. Cut into small pieces
3. Boil one egg and slice it
4. Boil young cabbage, long beans, and slice them
Peanut sauce:
1. Fry peanuts
2. Slice shallots, and brown with chili peppers
3. Mix and grind all these with brown sugar, lemon, salt and pepper, and boil with a little bit of water.
(Use this sauce with satay as well)
September 16, 2008
Tempe (fermented soya beans), traditional Indonesian food rich in protein and calcium. want to know more about tempe click http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Tempeh
One of my favorite tempe was mendoan, fry tempe coated with flour
1. 250 grams tempeh, slice wide and thin
2. 100 grams all purpose flour
3. 1 tsp garlic paste
4. 2 crushed candle nuts
5. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
6. salt
7. water as required
8. spring onion
9. oil for frying
instruction:
Mix water and flour to make thick batter, add all ingiderent and stir well. Coat tempeh into batter and deep fry until golden colour. Serve while still hot with hot chilli sauce.
100 grams tapioca starch
1 tbsp all purpose flour
75 ml water
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, pasted
30 grams soya beans, soak in water until tender
1 stick of spring onion, finely chopped.
We could also give the contents inside before being fried with chicken, sausage, cheese, and/ other
Karedok is the Sundanese salad (another Bandung food). Not to be confused with the ubiquitous Gado-Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut dressing), Karedok is the Sundanese take on the salad with peanut dressing. The main difference is, vegetables in Gado-Gado is cooked, but in Karedok, is raw. Moreover, Karedok has more bite to it and definitely more spicy. Here is the original recipe:
ingredients:
Vegetables
* 100 g cucumber,
* 100 g bean sprouts
* 3 cabbage leaves
* 100 g string beans
* 25 g basil leaves
Sauce
* 2 red chilies
* 1 cloves garlic
* 5 small chilies
* 1/2 tsp kencur
* 200 g peanuts, roast
* 1 tbs tamarind juice
* 1 tbs palm sugar (or brown sugar)
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp shrimp paste
* 1-2 tbs vinegar
* 150 cc hot water
Garnish
* fried emping chips or kerupuk
Directions:
1. Parboil beansprouts and string beans.
2. Slice cucumber, cut string beans into 3cm pieces, and chop cabbage leaves into
pieces.
3. Grind red chilies, garlic, small chilies, kencur, peanuts, palm sugar, salt shrimp
paste and vinegar in a blender.
4. Add tamarind juice and hot water into 3 and mix until smooth.
5. Mix all the vegetables and Serves with fried emping or krupuk on top.
Gudeg (green jackfruit stew) is a dish very sweet young jackfruit, cooked with palm sugar and seasoning until it becomes dark brown and can not be distinguished from cassava leaves, boiled together with it, and red beans, ingredients that are optional.
This food is easy to make although a bit time consuming. But it's definitely worth the time and effort.
- 5 shallot
- 10 candlenut
- 10 garlic cloves
- 4 Indian bay leaves
- ½ lb. (250 g) jackfruit
- 2½ tsp. (12 g) coriander seeds
- 1¼ tsp. (6 g) cumin
- ¼ cup (62 ml) coconut sugar
- 2 cup (500 ml) coconut milk
- 2 tsp. (30 g ) tamarind
- 2 lb. (1 kg) chicken (cut into small pieces with bone)
- 5 cups (1.25 l) water
- 2 inches bruised galanga
- Cut jackfruit into one-inch-thick pieces and wash.
- Boil until tender.
- Grind shallots, candle nuts, sauté paste, salam leaves, and galanga until fragrant, then add chicken pieces.
- Stir-fry until chicken changes color.
- Pour 4 cups of water and coconut sugar onto chicken and bring to a boil.
- Add jackfruit and simmer until chicken and vegetables are tender.
- Add coconut milk 5 minutes before it's done; bring back to a boil.
- Serve hot with rice.
This dish is sweet and usually served with shrimp crackers.
