Chicken Curry - Cook and Share a Pot of Curry 2012 event

Today is "Cook and Share a Pot of Curry 2012" event on FB. So I cooked chicken curry and shared with hubby. hehe.. The Curry Team have also created a new Curry page, check it out and LIKE them.  =) I know I posted chicken curry recipes before but this is another version. The following recipe is a mixture from recipes that I collected. I changed and add just a bit here and there to suit my taste. 

Here is our chicken curry with colorful roti jala. =)

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cleaned & chopped into smaller pieces

3 potatoes, peeled & cubed

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled

1 cup coconut milk

3-4 cups water or chicken stock

4-5 tbsp curry powder

2 stalks lemongrass, light part & bruised

1-2 bulb shallot, peeled & slice thinly

8-10 curry leaves

2-3 tbsp ghee or cooking oil

1 tbsp fish sauce

a little sugar

salt to taste

Paste: To grind in the blender or use Mortar and pestle :

3 bulbs shallots, peeled

5 cloves garlic, peeled

3-4 candlenuts

3cm ginger, peeled

1-2 fresh red or green chilli (Omitted, cos if not, it will be too spicy for us)

Method:

1. Mix curry powder with 2-3 tbsp of water to form a smooth paste. 
2. Heat ghee or cooking oil in a large pot, saute the paste mixture, curry leaves, lemongrass until fragrant, stirring constantly.
3. Add the curry paste, sliced shallots and chicken pieces.
4. Cook for 10 minutes to sear the mix. 
5. Add in water and potatoes. Covered and bring it to a boil. 
6. Then add the fish sauce, sugar (amount of sugar is how sweet you want but not too sweet) and salt to taste. Add hard boiled egg.
7. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, semi-covered until chicken and potatoes are done. 
8. Serve with roti jala or steamed rice. 

Here is the link for ROTI JALA. 

Steamed Coconut Blossom

A while back, I came across this Steamed Coconut Blossoms from Bisous À Toi and even asked my cousin to send me a tub of ovalette from Singapore (which its very hard to get in US). I did made my first steamed coconut blossoms at my friend's place while visiting her but I was unable to take much pictures. So yesterday, I tried to make them again. 

I had a packet of the frozen coconut flakes in the freezer so I decided to use that for the filling. But I think I should have bought a whole coconut and shred the coconut meat, much more finer. If you are making Steamed Coconut Blossoms, I would suggest that you make the filling first and let it cool down first before you start with the batter.

When hubby came home from work, he thought it was a cupcake so he grab one and with the look on the face, I can tell, he did not really enjoy these steamed coconut blossom like I do. :(

Ingredients:

3 nos. cold eggs

250 gm sugar

10 ozs (about 280 to 300 gm.) Softasilk flour or any superfine flour (Hong Kong flour) (I used cake flour)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp ovalette

130 gm (5 ozs.) coconut cream (I used coconut milk)

30 gm pandan juice (blend about 6 pandan leaves) (I did not use)

1 tsp pandan paste (mixed with coconut milk)

Special equipment: 3-tiered steamer

Boil water in the 3-tier streamer.
Beat all the ingredients together until thick and fluffy.

Scoop 1 tbsp of batter into madeleine mould (lined with paper cup), top up with 1 tbsp of coconut filling and then another 1 tbsp of batter.

Steam over high heat for 15 mins.

Coconut fillings:

250 gm grated coconut

30 gm castor sugar

100 gm gula melaka

60 gm water

1 tsp cornflour

2 pcs pandan leaves - cut into small pieces

Cook sugar, gula melaka and water in a wok till sugar melts.

Add in grated coconut and pandan leaves and fry till dry.

Sprinkle cornflour on top and stir till well mixed.

Cool before using.

Inspiration from: Bisous À Toi 

Source: Aunty Yochana

Serunding (Coconut & Beef)

I always like to put a lot of serunding when I eat longtong, ketupat, rice or even on the bread.  I love the serunding  made by my mom's friend. She made it so yummy!! Serunding also reminds me of Hari Raya, because when ever there is longtong and ketupat, there's always serunding.

At first, I thought of combining the beef and coconut but than I decided to separate the two.  One is the original serunding that is is basically a dish of grated coconut fried with spices. The other one, serunding daging. It is the bone-dry, floss version of rendang that has a long shelf-life and needs no refrigeration. You may think cooking the serunding is hard but it is actually easy. The part where you have to shred the coconut and the beef, just takes a long time and your fingers ouch!! hehe...

My gurl friend gave me the recipe for serunding daging after I saw the photo. Looks yummy and I just had to give it a try... Thanks gurl.. :)

Serunding daging (Beef Floss)

Ingredients:
1 kg lean beef
500ml coconut milk
1 tbsp coriander seeds
vegetable oil
sugar and salt 

Spice paste:
15 dried chillies, seeded and soaked
2 inch ginger
5 lemon grass, finely sliced (I didn't use this since I can't get it here)
1 inch galangal, sliced ( I didn't use this since I can't get it here)
500 gm onions
10 cloves garlic

Cut the beef into large chunks. Place in a casserole pot and pour in enough water to cover the beef. Bring to a boil, or until beef is tender. Remove beef, drain and cool. When cooled, lightly pound the meat to break up the grain. Shred the beef finely.

Dry roast the spices separately until aromatic. Coarsely crushed the coriander seeds.

Blend all the spice paste ingredients finely – add a little coconut milk to make sure the paste is fine. Combine the shredded beef and spice paste. Toss to mix well. Heat a little oil in a wok. Fry the marinated beef, stirring constantly. Pour in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Then season to taste with salt and sugar. When the mixture is almost dry, add the coarsely coriander seeds. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture is very dry, crumbly, and has turned to floss. Remove from heat and cool completely before storing in a dry, air-tight container.  

Serunding (Coconut)

No exact measurement for this serunding, as this is my recipe. After searching so many serunding recipes, I just decided to do my way..  It is not the best, but its good for me..

Freshly shredded coconut (from 1 coconut)
blended onion, garlic, ginger and dried chillies
turmeric powder
coriander seeds and fennel seeds

Dry roast the coriander and fennel seeds until aromatic. Coarsely crushed the spices. Heat oil and fry blended ingredients till fragrance arise.Add shredded coconut. Mix well. Season with salt and sugar and add the coarsely crushed spices. Constantly mixed all the ingredients, fry over low heat and till dry. Remove from heat and cool completely before storing in a dry, air-tight container.

Coconut

In Singapore, I never had to open a coconut and shred it myself. It is much easier to get fresh shredded coconut from the store or market. There is a store, next to my block in Singapore that has the coconut shredder machine to shred the coconut meat in seconds. He would have some already open, just waiting to be shredded.. and when ever I'm getting fresh shredded coconut, he would always asked me, " Mau ada kulit atau tak da kulit?" (want with or without the skin) and I would say "Tak mau kulit" (without the skin). In Tennessee, I do not have an "apek" store next block so I have to do it all by myself. So how to open a coconut???? The first time, it took me so many hours to open using the hammer and knife and then still have to shred. Lol!!! After learning the steps of opening a coconut from the web, it  is so easy and took me shorter time than before.. hehe...

To open the the coconut, you'll need towel, hammer, large nail and screwdriver. Be sure to have the hammer, nail and screwdriver clean before using on the coconut.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Using the hammer and nail to poke a hole in all the eyes of the coconut. Use the screwdriver to enlarge the holes. Drain out the coconut water in bowl. Place it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until you hear a pop sound (that means it had cracked).

Using a pot holder to remove the coconut from the oven (be careful because the coconut is hot). Hit it with a hammer until it splits. Do not knock the coconut on the counter top, please use the hard floor. Tap the shell with the hammer until the meat falls away from the shell. Pry the white coconut meat from the inner husk by using a small knife.

After rinsing in clean water, the pieces of coconut can then be shredded using a  shredder. Shred the pieces of coconut slowly and patiently. I still do get small cuts from shredding the coconut meats.. so be careful when handling the knife and shredder. You can also use the the food processor to grate the coconut meat; use pulse to your desired texture.

Once you taste freshly shredded coconut, you will never want to buy the dry dessicated coconut flakes from the store again.. and you'll be able to enjoy fresh coconut anytime.

My relatives in Malaysia had made nice little astray from the coconut husk. It look really nice so I took one as a souvenir and bring it to the US for decoration.






Notes:

• Make sure the coconut water smells and taste sweet. If the coconut water does not taste sweet, then the coconut is inedible.
• Do not throw the coconut water away, you can drink it immediately or use it to mix with the grated coconut to make the coconut milk/cream.
• It is best to use right away when it's at its freshest. 
• Fresh coconut meat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to six days and kept in the freezer for one to two months.