Ramadan Mubarak & A Meal Plan

I hope it’s not too late to say Ramadan Mubarak to all dear readers :-)

I went blog-hopping today, and was inspired by Shafirul Suffian’s post in her blog "Tangan Panas-Panas Sejuk", where she shared her excellent Ramadan menu plan. Why menu plan for Ramadan? Because despite not eating from sunrise to sunset, Ramadan is traditionally one of the busiest times for wives/husbands/mummies/daddies everywhere because the family usually eats together to break fast (iftar), and again when eating the pre-dawn meal, (sahur). There are always easy ways out of preparing home-cooked meals:

1. Buy some of the many delicacies sold at Pasar Ramadan, or Ramadan Food Market. The array of food available is mind-boggling! Only thing is, we have stopped going to PaRams for the last 4 years. Main reason is that usually we are not satisfied with the quality of the food (taste, hygiene, MSG) and it can also be expensive. Plus when you shop for food while you are hungry, you'll usually end up with more food than you can possibly finish.
2. Go for one of the many Ramadan buffets, available in restaurants and hotels nationwide. The downside is again, cost, although quality-wise you generally get what you pay for. Problem is that Ramadan is supposed to be the Fasting month, and gorging ourselves silly at the time of breaking fast seems against the spirit of Ramadan. Plus, we have been trying to eat healthier for the past year and found that we could no longer pack in a decent amount of food in a single sitting. We are often satisfied with much less.

So we made a Ramadan meal plan, which is simpler than last year’s. Last year I had 14 items in my Ramadan meal plan. This year, only 7. Because we are creatures of habit (like our cats!) who don’t mind eating the same thing over and over and over again. This also makes grocery shopping a lot easier and reduces impulse buying as we shop according to the meal plan. All dishes will be eaten during iftar and the leftovers are eaten for sahur the following morning.

Mama Pongkey’s Ramadan Menu Plan:

1. Tomyum

2. Karahi chicken 

3. Soup (chicken, fish, beef or bone) 

4. Egg + tuna + salad wrap 

5. Tandoori chicken 

6. Stew (chicken, beef or lamb) 

7. Shepherd's/Cottage pie

Insha Allah, we normally break fast this way:

• Break the fast with a date and a glass of milk.

• Pray Maghrib.

• Eat the main meal.

• No other sweets, cakes or sugary drinks are allowed, only plain water. And perhaps some unsweetened tea or coffee.

Tip: Drinking the glass of milk takes away the hunger pangs and the date gives instant energy for prayer. Then we find we don't need to eat so much during the meal.

This way we hope we can adhere better to the spirit of Ramadan, while keeping grocery costs down and eating healthily at the same time. Insha Allah.

Karahi Chicken

Mama Pongkey's Karahi Chicken

This post was inspired by some comments in a post by Encik Iskandar of tanamsendiri.com fame:

ShahRose said: Coriander leaves (also known as cilantro) are great in murghi karai, a Pakistani dish.

Encik Iskandar replied: I am not yet familiar with Pakistani cuisine.

Karai... karahi... Karahi Chicken...

Karahi (Urdu for wok) chicken was one of my go-to recipes while I was a student in the UK. I usually had most of the ingredients readily stocked in my kitchen, especially since most of them are flavours I already love: tomatoes, coriander, onion, ginger and garlic. The original recipe was from one of those thick cooking tomes, bought for cheap at a discount book store, most likely this one:

I misplaced this huge book. Yes, how is that possible? Image taken from amazon.com

Blessed, good memories of love, friendship, neighbourliness surround this dish. But for some reason I hadn't made this dish in a long, long while. Partly because we went low-carb, and any curried dishes just increased my cravings for piping hot, steamed white basmathi rice. But since now I have reintroduced some rice into my diet this dish is a go.

So here I am reconstructing this recipe from the cobwebs of my mind. The dominant flavours are onion, tomato, and coriander. The amounts are approximate/guesstimate, because I don't really measure as I cook. Here it goes:

Mama Pongkey's Karahi Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken, cut into small pieces so it will cook quickly 
• 3 large onions, diced
• 1 tablespoon ginger & garlic paste
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 star anise
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• 1 handful of fresh cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped
• 4-5 green chillies, sliced in an attractive manner
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Brown the onions properly, this is a key step in most Pakistani and Indian dishes

• Heat up coconut oil and ghee in a wok (okay I am in the process of replacing my non-stick wok, so I am using a claypot instead. :-P)
• Add in diced onions, and stir fry these until they are oh-so-slightly burnt. Or brown, if you prefer.
• Add in ginger-garlic paste, cardamom pods and star anise.
• When the whole thing starts to be a bit sticky, add in the chicken.
• Add in the chopped tomatoes when the chicken pieces have browned sufficiently.
• When the chicken is halfway cooked, add the powdered spices, and stir, stir away! 

• Add some water, I added about 1 cup, and the bay leaf. Leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.

• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• As a last ditch effort, dump in the chillies, stir for a minute and switch off the heat.
• Just before serving, garnish with cilantro.

And here is our dinner, served with white rice and chilled raita:

Karahi Chicken with Raita and White Ponni Rice

A Bone-y Affair aka Ain't No Use Eatin' It if Ye Can't Absorb It

Oh yeah my cat loves to clean her teeth with the miswak :-)

A simple bone mineral density test about 6 months ago gave me a scare, because it said I was osteoporotic(!) While my MD friends pooh-poohed the idea due to my age and dietary intake, (plus those portable machines aren't really that well known for their accuracy either); I thought it would be a good idea to make a conscious effort to adapt a more bone-building lifestyle. So some pals who are into clean, healthy eating gave me some references and ideas, and I formulated a simple plan.

I increased intake of:

• Gouda cheese, which is said to be high in vitamin K2, an essential bone-building nutrient
• Vitamin D3 supplements at least 400 IU per day, which helps with mineral absorption
• Magnesium
• Homemade yoghurt almost daily, for both the probiotic properties (balanced gut flora helps with digestion and absorption of food) and bone-building nutrients within
• Ghee and butter, used liberally in cooking and taken raw
• Kampung chicken eggs, 2 whole eggs daily
• Tapai (fermented glutinous rice) a few times a week to help with gut flora

I really like the changes I made, because seriously fat makes food taste so much better, and it satiates away the hunger pangs. I did notice cravings for fat when I started the vitamin D3 supplement, to which I responded by having some cheese, butter or eggs. Also I noticed feeling less cranky/irritable when I get enough fat. One of my favourite quickie dishes are bullseye eggs with sauteed onions and chillies in butter and coconut oil. Mmm hmm the aroma is amazing. Also butter with stir-fried veggies not only tastes luxuriant, they are also extremely good for you. And Gouda cheese in scrambled eggs with butter and coconut oil, and fresh veg from the garden, taste so satisfyingly good. Oh, and about the vitamin D3, although I live in a land of perpetual summer, it is good to supplement because apparently even Hawaiian surfer dudes (at least I assume they are) are found to have low vitamin D status.

Mmm. Soft boiled eggs with butter is good too. Look at the deep rich colour of the yolk, indicating high nutrient content.

I also started doing some kettlebell exercises a few times a week, using a 10kg kettlebell. To be honest I am not really one for exercise (lazy!) so I prefer really, really short workouts. So some sample workouts would be:

• 20-30 kettlebell swings
• 20 wall pushups
• Tabata sprints involving jumping jacks 

Or I'd garden or take a walk instead. A few weeks ago some people organised a 3-hour Zumba workout at my husband's place of work. I thought I would be wasted during the 1st hour. To my surprise, I lasted almost the full 3 hours, but I had to cut it short and go home a bit early.

Some friends measure success by looking at their teeth and watching for more density. I became concerned that glycerine in toothpaste might block mineral absorption by teeth, not to mention the purported evils of fluoride. So I gave up both toothpaste and toothbrushes. Especially since my hubby read a book called The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg, which details the story of the development of toothpaste as a consumer product. What toothpaste makers are actually marketing is the 'cool, tingly sensation', so that people associate the minty taste with cleaned teeth. Marketing ploy alert! You can read the story of Pepsodent here, which is an excerpt from Charles Duhigg's book. Quote from the book: "Even today, almost all toothpastes contain additives with the sole job of making your mouth tingle after you brush."

Instead I am using the miswak, or kayu sugi as it is known in Malay. I challenged myself to 1 week without toothpaste, then a week became 2, and now it has been about 6 weeks. I do feel my gums getting stronger, and somehow because there is no foam from the toothpaste, I became a bit more diligent about brushing in the most awkward of corners of my mouth. So far so good. I cut off the used portion of the stick once or twice a week, so it is like getting a new toothbrush each time I do that. Plus the great thing is that it is SUNNAH. I could definitely use the free pahala :-)

Another cat photo: Chunkey looking extremely annoyed because she senses Yinkey enroaching into her sacred territory: the worktop.

Meatzza Mania! (Egg-free Recipe)

Today is a special day, so DH wants to have a nice meal. The last pizza we indulged in was the excellent Sunset Diavolo (thin crust) at Little Croc a while back. We are also curious about the oft-mentioned Meatzzas, a grain-free carnivore extravaganza that promises to cure any pre-Paleo/low-carb longing for the delights of crusty pizzas.

I am using the double zz in Meatzza because I think it lovely dish like this deserves an extra Z in its name. We used Mark Sisson's Greek Meatza with Creamy Feta, Kalamata Olives and Red Onion recipe as a starting point, and modified it somewhat. For starters, DH is not a huge fan of olives, and we definitely don't have feta cheese. We aimed for a more Italian feel. And we didn't use any eggs, because while making our own burgers we never needed to use any sort of binding agent. I got up nice and early and got our meat fresh at the Farmer's Market. DH ground our meat in our small meat grinder, and de-seeded the tomatoes for the sauce. You could also use any pasta sauce of your choice, just watch out for any wheat, MSG or any other unfavourable additives. Start off with the sauce first, if you are making your own, then while the sauce is simmering on the stove top you can start on the meatzza base. So here goes:

Mama Pongkey's Meatzza Mania

Ingredients for Simple Tomato Sauce:

• 0.9 kg tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 3 small red onions, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoon mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, oregano, sage)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon palm oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 teaspoons tomato puree
  
• dash of fish sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Method for Simple Tomato Sauce:

Heat up the oils, and add in the chopped onions and garlic. Saute until slightly browned.
Add the rest of the ingredients in, and cook on low heat until tomato pieces are softened.


Ingredients for Meattzza base:

• 1 kg minced beef
• 2 cloves garlic, pounded
• 1 tablespoon crushed fried red onions/red shallots
• 2 teaspoons mixed herbs
  
• 2 teaspoons Himalayan rock salt, or to taste
  
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, or to taste

Ingredients for topping:

• 250 g shredded cheddar cheese
• 125 g shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 green pepper, sliced
  

Method for Meatzza:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celcius (or 340 degrees F)
Mix all ingredients thoroughly by hand.
Place mix into a tray of choice, preferably with edges to catch the drippings.


















Bake for 10-12 minutes.



















(I think we left this one in the oven a wee bit longer than 12 minutes. If you look closely, you can see the cracks in our base. I think it looked like a delta.)

Take the meatzza out, spread the Simple Tomato Sauce on top.
In the meantime, set the temperature of your oven to grill at 220 degrees Celcius (430 degrees Farenheit).



















Place veggies, cheddar and mozzarella on top. Top off with a sprinkle of mixed herbs.



















Grill for approximately 5-7 minutes. This really depends on how you like your cheese, just softened and melted, or slightly browned as we do.

Cooking Frenzy: Lontong (no pics, sorry!)

I found some succulent 'Solo' seawater prawns at my local market, and remembered I had some grated coconut in my freezer, and so, what better than to use the prawns and fresh coconut milk to make Sayur Lodeh, to be eaten as Lontong. I bought a few more ingredients to go with it, and made the following recipe, which is adapted from this Sayur Lodeh recipe. Mine has much less ingredients and is much simpler, because I think the freshness of the ingredients makes the dish a real winner. Plus I am just too lazy, okay? :-)

This is what Lontong looks like: rice cubes in coconut milk gravy topped with spicy anchovies.
Hmm.. sorry no suitable picture, most people put bean sprouts and eggs in their lontong, which I consider strange. And somewhat off-putting. Whyyyy sprouts and hard-boiled eggs in absolutely everything??????


Mama Pongkey's Sayur Lodeh (serves 6)

To be finely chopped/minced:

• 10 dried chillis
• 2 large onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cm old ginger
• 2 cm galangal (lengkuas)
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp (udang kering)
• 2 tbsp dried anchovies (ikan bilis)

• 2 stalks lemongrass - crushed
• 400 gms prawns (I used large 'Solo' prawns ~ yummy!)
• 1 carrot - sliced
• 10 French beans - cut into 5 cm pieces
• 100 gm cauliflower - diced
• 1 firm tofu - diced
• 3 packets of tempeh (the ones that come wrapped in banana leaves, they taste much better) - diced
• 1 large piece of dried fermented soy 'pucuk' - broken up into squares
• 1 handful of suhun (dried vermicelli)
• 1 tablespoon organic powdered turmeric (the nonorganic variety usually has added cornflour, and much less taste)
• 1/2 cup prawn stock (I boiled the shells and heads of the prawns to make the stock)
• 1 liter coconut milk (mine is rather thin, so if you are using creamed coconut you might want to thin it down)
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• Salt to taste
  

Method:

• Heat up the oil in a pot and saute all the minced ingredients until fragrant.
• Dump in the lemongrass and asam keping and stir for 2 minutes.
• Dump in the coconut milk, turmeric powder, carrot, cauliflower, suhun, pucuk, tofu and tempeh. Turn the heat to low. The trick to cooking with coconut milk is not to overboil it, as it then starts to curdle and loses its flavour. Low temperatures are key.
• When the mixture has been gently bubbling for a few minutes, it is time to dump in the rest of the ingredients. Watch the prawns, and turn off the heat when the prawns are just nicely cooked. Overcooked prawns taste like rubber, yucks.

Ta-da! Sayur Lodeh is traditionally eaten with compacted rice cubes boiled in coconut shoots (ketupat) and spicy dried anchovies cooked in chili (sambal tumis ikan bilis) or peanut sauce.

Mama Pongkey's Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis Bertempe

• 1 cup dried anchovies
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup cili boh (boiled dried chillies ground into a paste)
• 1 pack tempeh, diced
  
• 2 pieces of asam keping/asam gelugor for its sour taste.
• 1/2 cup water
  
• oil for frying (1/2 cup, depends on the anchovies the oil needs to immerse)
• Salt to taste
• Brown sugar (optional)
  

Directions:

• Heat the oil, then dump in the rinsed anchovies. Make sure the anchovies are dry, or things could get real ugly!
• Turn down the heat and saute the anchovies crisp.
  
• Add in the chopped onion, garlic and tempeh. Continue saute-ing.
• When the onions are soft, and the tempeh has firmed up a bit, add in the chilli paste and water, and continue stirring.
  
• You'll know it's ready when the chilli paste darkens. If the dish is too hot, just add a tablespoon of brown sugar.
  

Didn't I tell you I was lazy? I had mine with rice, not rice cubes. I am not about to hunt for coconut shoots, and I plain forgot to buy the banana leaves which could also be used to make rice cubes.

Verdict:
I was too busy wolfing down the whole thing to take pictures. I only remembered when it was all gone. Hahaha. Papa Pongkey didn't mind eating the whole thing with rice instead of rice cubes. He loved the Sayur Lodeh, he said the taste was spot-on. :-) Alhamdulillah... burpp! (It's not considered rude for us to burp after a meal.. hehehe.)

In a future entry, I will describe how I use the leftover spicy anchovies for another favourite dish, Nasi Lemak.

Trawlings, Readings and Gastronomic Delights

Homemade Condiments - check out the fish stock recipe... mmm must try, but omit the wine.

Pickles via Lacto Fermentation - the salsa looks yummy! I have some extra cucumbers.. hmm..

Losing Weight Naturally from Wellness Mama - I am exploring this new-found blog. It is nicely laid out and organised, and she writes really well. She is also a Nutritional Consultant to boot, successfully helping clients lose weight and conceive.

Life as Mom's 5 Favourite Low-Cost Meals - how to make meal planning work for you, and avoid food wastage.

Australia's National Sustainable Food Summit 2010 - some interesting points of view here. 7.5 million tonnes of food is wasted very year, yet 1.2 million people are regularly at risk of not having enough food.



Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book - I finished this yesterday. I just love the way he writes, quite spooky and yet with great economy of words. The flow is just amazing. Another favourite is Neverwhere.

Made Wild Mushroom Soup for the first time, which turned out pretty well. I got the recipe off of French Food and Cooking by Clements & Wolf-Cohen, a book we grabbed for a bargain last week. I made a huge pot, and froze them in smaller containers. I find that I use these quite a lot for my soups and stews. Previously I have depended on good ol' Campbell's. There are still some cans left in my pantry, which I will use up anyway but hopefully after this will be able to depend on my own homemade version. If I don't get lazy, that is.



The mushrooms I used consisted mainly of grey oysters (900gm) , dried black chinese mushrooms (4 flowers) and about 300gm of wild 'tawun' mushrooms (pic above) which I stumbled across at the local market. 'Tawun' is a corruption of 'tahun' (meaning 'year') because this species grows only once a year. On rotting palm oil trunks. I tried googling for other names for this fungus, and found that it is apparently cultivated in Sarawak, on palm oil waste (spent fruit and kernels, perhaps?). Anyway, the results are goooood. Sorry I forgot to take some pics.. heheheh. Instead I'll leave you with a pic of one of my meals this week, Boiled Beef with Vegetables, from Food Lovers One Pot. Oh yum. I did omit the parsley and marjoram because I didn't have any. Instead, I added 4 cardamom pods, 1 star anise and a cinnamon stick.

Weekend Going-Ons

What I have been reading over the weekend:

This Garden is Illegal: Neem for Garden Pests
~ time to get rid of the malathion

Gardening by the Moon
~whoever knew planting by the lunar calendar would be effective?

Ten Steps to an Organic No-Dig Permaculture Garden

Cheeseslave: Fermented Salsa Recipe

Food Renegade: What is Real Food and How to Tell

Food Renegade: How to Cure Tooth Decay
"If you want the healthiest teeth possible, eat:

• whole foods freshly prepared,
• yellow butter,
• organs and glands like bone marrow and liver,
• mineral rich bone broths,
• raw dairy, and
• a variety of sea foods."

GNOWFGLINS eCourse: How to Cook Real Food (how to prepare foods to optimise their nutrients and yet are tasty too!)

Eat Fat to Lose Fat: the Lowdown on Fats that are good for you (that includes coconut oil, y'all!)

What I have been doing over the weekend so far:

• sent hubby to his all-day strategic planning thingy (yes!!! how dare they do this on weekends!)
• popped by the organic shop to purchase some veggies
• stopped by parents' for lunch with sisters
• went out to get birthday cake
• picked hubby up
• went to birthday dinner for the twins (my nephews)
• went to weekend 'farmers market'. Got these plants: camellia, breadflower, lime & kaffir lime. Planted the flowers in the cat enclosure by the back fence, have yet to decide where to place the limes.
• had lunch.. it was beef bone broth. Yummy.
• made onion & celery fritters.
• messing around on this blog!
  

Eid Mubarak

Happy Eid to One and All.. may your fasts and worship be accepted, may you have found Lailatul Qadr, and may Allah place you and yours under the shade of His Mercy always... amiin.

This year I didn't have my customary open house. I decided to join forces with my parents and contribute dishes to serve to family/friends/guests who might drop by on our auspicious day. I made Red Spicy Chicken and DH made Roast Lamb (I made the gravy to go with it). *Big grin* Turned out I should not have bothered with the chicken, my mum also served Lamb Rendang and Lamb Curry, so with lamb dominating the menu the chicken was quite neglected. Well, waste not, want not, so in the freezer it goes for a rainy day. :) Went to my neighbour's who made excellent Chicken Kabsah, and my cousin's who made Nasi Dagang (Steamed Rice with Coconut Milk served with Traditional Tuna Curry and Cucumber Salad).

Tonight though, is something to look forward to. The same neighbour is hosting a neighbourhood block Eid party, and everyone is invited. We are banning beef from the menu as some Hindus and Buddhists will also be attending, so it will be a barbecue with plenty of lamb and chicken. I will go out and get the lamb chops in a bit and marinade the whole day. Then over to my neighbour's to help out with the preparing for the party. Perhaps a coleslaw would not go amiss, as well as some gravy and spicy sauces. If I have time, I might also make myself a new headscarf to wear for the occasion, insha Allah.

Hope everyone had a great weekend..

The Chosen Ones...

This past week has been quite hectic for me! I tend to get engrossed in one single thing almost to the exclusion to all others... so much so that I simply forgot to post this list.

My shopping day is on Tuesday, so meals are planned that way. Since this is already Wednesday, and this week we will be travelling, eating out and being with other family members in their houses, so this menu plan is for next week, September 8-14, 2009.

Chicken rice, with Home-made Garlic Chili Sauce and Tossed Salad
Jacket Potatoes and Tuna Salad with Cheese
Chicken Stew with Mushrooms
Fried Rice with Chicken and Homemade Coleslaw
Burgers with Organic Veg aplenty!

I am quite please with the above list, as I haven't had all those for quite a while!
What do you think?

Menu Planning 101

P/S: A list of the Chosen 5 Meals for next week here.

As mentioned in the Happy Housewife's Blog, here is my list of 15 meals below. I will try to link up the recipes if I can find them online, and if not then I will type them out here.

List of 15 Meals

Chicken/Beef Mushroom Stew
Hainan-Style Chicken Rice with Vegetables
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Fried Chicken with Salad
Chicken Casserole
Pasta Bake
Tuna Salad
Clear Chicken Soup
Chicken Curry
Asam Pedas (Fish in Tangy Hot Chili Sauce)
Grilled Chicken with Spices
Chicken/Lamb Kabsah/Biriyani (I add 2 tbsp mint to this)
Grilled Fish
Grilled Lamb
Jacket Potatoes

And another 5 meals (whoops! It's gonna be more than 5 I am afraid):

Clear Beef/Mutton Bone Broth (omit the curry powder, poppy seeds & coconut milk)/Sup Tulang
Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice with spicy sauce)
Nasi/Mee Goreng (Fried Rice/Fried Noodles)
Fish in Tangy Tempoyak (fermented durian) Sauce
Burgers
Fish n Chips

And Some Side Dishes:

Mirepoix as Soups or Stir Frys
Tabouleh & a Cheesy version here
Salsa
Asian Salsa aka Sambal (minus the prawn patty - allergy!)
Tossed Salad with olive oil dressing
Potato Salad
Coleslaw
Vegetable Stir Fry (Oriental-style, with soy or oyster sauces or both)
Fruit Juices
Japanese (mini) cucumbers
Cherry Tomatoes
Homemade Garlic Chili Sauce (great with Hainan-style Chicken Rice)
Homemade Roast Tomato Sauce
Kerabu (Tangy Thai-Style Salad) with Mango, Chicken or Seafood (replace budu with fish sauce or Worcestershire Sauce)
Kuah Asam (Chopped Onions, Chili and Tomatoes in Tamarind Sauce)
Sambal Kicap Soto (hot chili peppers and garlic blended in sweet soy sauce)
Watermelons
Papayas
Mangosteens
Pineapples
Apples