Wak Eton's Roti Jala / Roti Kirai with chicken curry

Roti Kirai/ Roti Jala is  a comforting staple. Beautiful and soft latticed pancakes. Theyre awesome.

Wak eton (my mum's eldest sister with her angelic cooking hands) does it like this:

Ingredients:
500g flour
2 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
Pinch of tumeric powder
2 tsp salt (to taste)
Water as needed
Oil to cook

Equipment:
Flat pan/gridle
Roti jala scoop
Fish slice

Throw all this in a food processor and let it do the hard work. It should have the consistency of pancake batter. Once its ready, grease the pan, use the scoop/bottle to form a lattice (google it yo!) And once cooked, fold it in eighths and youre good to go.

Traditionally, we have this with curry. This is my aunt's curry

200g shallots (ground)
7 cloves garlic (ground)
1 inch ginger (ground)
1 tsp each cardamom, star anise and cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 stalks curry leaves
4 tbsp curry powder
500g chicken
3 potatoes
2 carrot
3 tomatoes
1 bunch coriander leaves/stem
200ml yoghurt
500ml water
Salt
Oil

1. Grind the shallots, garlic and ginger to a smooth paste.
2. Mix the paste with the curry powder.
3. Add the chicken into this paste for at least 30 min while you prep the rest of the stuff
4. Peel and quarter the potatoes and carrots
5. In a large pot, heat the oil.
6. Add the cardamom, star anise, cloves, cinnamon and fry at low heat till fragrant. Be careful not to burn!
7. Add the curry leaves before adding the chicken. Mix constantly to make sure you dont burn it!
8. Once the chicken is 3/4 cooked and the spices are fragrant, add in salt, water and vegetables and let it simmer. Do stir occassionally.
9. Once the gravy has thickened, add the yoghurt and coriander. Mix thoroughly and thats it!

Cereal chicken

The husband requested for cereal chicken todqy and because I have an enormous can of nestum cereal from the last time he had a yen for cereal prawns,I obliged haha

Ingredients:

A )Fried chicken

500g boneless chicken cut into chunks
2 heaped tbsp flour
1 tsp tumeric powder
3 tsp garlic
1 inch ginger
1 egg white
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

B) Cereal Mix

2 tbsp butter
2 egg yellows
1 egg white
4 chili padi (sliced)
4 stalks curry leaves
8 tbsp nestum cereal
Sugar and salt to taste

Duration: 30 min

Equipment:
Mortar and pestle, Deep fryer and wok

Method:

A) Fried chicken

- using a mortar and pestle, ground the garlic and ginger
- mix the other ingredients together and leave the chicken to marinade for 30 min
- fry the chicken in hot oil and put it aside once it's done

B) cereal mix

- melt the butter in a wok
- fry the egg yellow followed by the egg white in the melted butter. Be sure to scramble it out.
- add in the chili and curry and fry till it's fragrant
- add salt and sugar to taste before turning down the flame
- add in the cereal and fry till it's lightly toasted
- lastly, add in the chicken till it's heated through

Done! Now it's ready to makan!

Shix Cooks: Roast Chicken with minty yoghurt

I adapted this recipe from this from Nigel Slater's simple suppers here http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/grilledprawnswithyog_92524

Ingredients:

 

To marinade:

1kg chicken wings

6 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

6 red chillies

1 tbsp each of cumin, coriander, black pepper corn and tumeric 

A bunch each of mint and flat leaf parsley (cilantro)

Juice from 2 lemons

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp salt

Dip:

2 tbsp yoghurt

Bunch of mint and flat leaf parsley

Method:

Blend all the ingredients for the marinade.   Marinade the chicken overnight.  Bake at 200 deg C for 30min. 

For the dip, finely chop the herbs and mix into the yoghurt. 

DONE! 

Shix Cooks: Ayam masak kelantan

This chicken dish is a pansy version of lemak chili padi (chicken in a curry of creamy birds eye chili).  Nicely spiced with just enough heat to prevent the dish from being overly rich. 

Cooking time: 45 min

Prep time: 10 min

Ingredients:

3 tbsp oil

10 cloves shallots

3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger 

5 red chillies

1 lemongrass

1 tumeric leaf

Approx 700 g chicken (1/2 a whole chicken or 8 pcs chicken wings)

100ml coconut milk

100 ml water

Method:

In a pot, heat up the oil. 

In a food processor, blitz the garlic, shallot, ginger and chillies and put it in the oil. 

While the paste is frying, take only the lower half of the lemongrass and bruise it. 

Then, thinly slice the tumeric leaf. 

Place the lemongrass and tumeric leaf in the pot and let everything fry for about 10 mins. 

Once everything is fragrantly frying, add in the chicken. Mix then cover the pot. Let it cook for 20 min. 

Add in the coconut and water and let everything simmer for 10 mins. 

Lastly, add some salt to taste. 

Stir it well and we're done!

Shix cooks: Chinese Style sweet & sour Chicken

This easy sticky chicken is awesome!

Prep time: 1h 15 min

Cooking time: 30 min

Ingredients:

Part A:

500g chicken fillet cubed

2 tbsp corn flour

1 egg

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

Salt & pepper to taste 

Oil for pan frying

Part B:

4 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 thumb sized lump of ginger

1/4 cup tomato or chilli sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce 

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

Method:

In a bowl, mix the chicken, corn flour, egg, garlic and salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside for an hr to allow the chicken to marinade. 

In a pan, put in just enough oil to cover the base and fry the chicken. Wait for the chicken to brown slightly on both sides before leaving it to rest. Remember not to overcrowd your pan to allow it to crisp. 

Once all the chicken is cooked, put the garlic and ginger into the pan to allow it to fry in the chicken oil. Once done, add in the rest of the items. 

Wait for the sauce to bubble before adding the chicken. Mix it up till it's nice and coated then turn off the flames. 

Serve with rice over a bed of greens. 

Shixcooks : Chicken Biryani

By request, I made biryani for Mr R a few weeks back. 

Other than the saffron basmati first-timer biryani rice (HAHAHAHHAHA), I made a raw pineapple salad (paceri nanas), chicken in a spiced coconut sauce (rendang ayam) and prawn masala. If you're counting, there's an extra dish coz it was leftovers from the day before - nyonya chicken. Room for improvement but not bad I thought! 

Shix cooks: Turmeric Thai-style chicken

I'm trying to come up with something easy and interesting to fill up my leftover pitas so here it is:

Turmeric thai-styled chicken

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 15 min

500g chicken breast, cut into chunks

1 piece Tamarind slice 

4 pieces calamansi/lime leaves

Juice from 4 calamansi 

Finely ground paste:

2 cm ginger

10 cloves shallots

4 cloves garlic 

2 stalks lemongrass

8 birds eye chilli (add more or less depending on how much heat you want)

Oil to fry

Salt

Sugar

Optional: a handful of cherry tomatoes

In a wok, heat up about 2 tbsp of oil and fry the paste. About 3 mins in, add in the tamarind and leaves. Fry till fragrant. Then, add in chicken chunks and continue stirring till it looks cooked. Add in the tomatoes, juice then salt and sugar to taste.  Once you're happy with the product, turn off the heat and you're ready to eat! Serve with rice or pita/tortilla /flat bread

I need to tell you that I got some of the herbs and spices from a community garden! 

Check out my haul:

See you soon!

New recipes

Some recipes I've tried out over the week that could be prepared ahead of time and only took a few minutes to cook. Cleanup was also a breeze. 

1. Pan-fried Lemon chicken

2. Nyonya chicken

3. Orange chicken

Shix Cooks: Easy Peasy Chicken Porridge

Today, Mr R wasn't feeling too well so I decided to make the hearty and comforting Chicken Porridge. What's so awesome about it? I only took 30 mins MAX.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice rinsed
10 cups water
2 cubes chicken stock
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 cm ginger thinly sliced
4 chicken wings
dash of thyme and nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:
Use your imagination! Some ideas:
- fried shallot
- sliced spring onion
- sambal belacan
- fried anchovies

Steps:

- Pulverize the onion, garlic and shallots
- Place ALL the items into a pot, cover and cook at medium flame
- Once it boils (abt 20 min), reduce the flame and open the cover slightly to allow steam to escape and water to reduce (abt 10 min)
- While everything is cooking, prepare your garnishes. I used sliced chicken katsu and sambal mangga.
- Then, serve and MAKAN!

Shix Cooks: Lemongrassy Chicken Curry

Today's dish for tomorrow's tapau is a light chicken curry but it's just as tasty 

Ingredients:

 

Set A

1 onion

3 stalks of lemongrass (just the white part)

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 inch garlic

5 red chilli (add more if you want to)

1 tbsp meat curry powder

Set B

1/2 of a whole chicken

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 cup water

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tomato quartered

Method:

1. Blend all the items in set A. Stir fry with some oil till it caramelizes. This will take a while. 

2. Marinate chicken with salt and pepper and leave aside in the meantime. 

3. Add in chicken. Mix and cover for 15min. 

4. Add in the other items from set B and cover. Leave to simmer for about 30mins. 

5. Uncover and let the sauce thicken and it's ready to eat!

Suggestion: serve with rice and a side of vegetables. 

Shix cooks: ayam kicap (chicken in spiced soy stew)

I need to learn to take better photos lol

Today, I made ayam kicap berempah

Ingredients:

Set A:

1kg chicken

1tsp turmeric powder 

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt

1tbsp cornflour

Set B:

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

2cm ginger

4 dried chillies soaked

1cm turmeric 

1tsp coriander seeds

Set C: 

3cm cinnamon seed

2 Star anise

4 cloves

Others:

4 tbsp sweet soy sauce

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 cup water

2 potatoes, peeled and sliced to abt 1cm thickness

1 Carrot sliced

6 button Mushrooms quartered

1 tomato, wedged. 

1 tsp each Salt and sugar

Method:

Mix all the items in set A. Deep fry till cooked and set aside

Blend items in Set B. Heat a wok with about 3 tbsp oil and fry paste together with items in Set C till fragrant.

Add in both sauces and mix for about 2 minutes before adding water. Let the mixture come to a boil.

Add in potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Cover and let simmer  for 15 mins. 

Add in chicken and simmer (do not cover) for another 10 mins. Add in salt and sugar to taste before adding tomatoes. 

Turn off flame and it's ready to eat!

Shix Cooks: Butter Chicken

A simple butter chicken recipe adapted from  http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/45957/chicken-makhani-indian-butter-chicken

Ingredients

Set A

3 tablespoons butter

• 1 tbsp blended shallots
•  1 tbsp blended onion

2cm ginger

• 1/2 tablespoon blended garlic
  Set B
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (I used tandoori powder)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
  Set C
• 2 cups milk

• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch black pepper

2 tbsp sugar 

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 500g chicken drumlets
  Set D
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (tandoori powder again)
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
  In a wok, place all items in set A. Fry till fragrant. Then add items in set B and fry for another 5min. Lastly, add in items in Set C and leave it to simmer with a low flame. 
  In another pan, pan fry the drumlets in the oil for another 10 mins. Mix all items in set D together before pouring it into the chicken. Then, add about a cupful of the gravy from the wok and leave the chicken to cook. Do cover. 
  Once chicken is cooked, add it to the gravy and stir before turning off the flame. 
  Optional: throwing in cherry tomatoes and Ming sprigs before turning off the flame. 
  
  It's REALLY good. 

Shix Cooks: Masak merah

This is my spur of the moment decision to masak merah instead of sweet sour lol. 

It was different. Sour and spicy all at the same time wooooo!

Ingredients:

Set A

1 large onion

2 shallots

4 cloves of garlic

2 cm ginger

4 red chillies 

1 large tomato

Set B

2 tbsp aminah's masak merah powder

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

5  pieces of 3 joint chicken wing

Set C

1/3 of a capsicum diced

1 large tomato wedged

Method: 

Blend the items in set A together till smooth. 

In a wok, put about 3 tbsp of oil. Then, fry A till fragrant. 

Add in the items in set B then fry it some more. 

Once you're satisfied that the rempah/spice paste is nicely fried and has oxidized to a nice deep colour, add in the chicken. Reduce the flame and cover for 15 mins. Add in set C and cover for another 10 mins. 

Taste to make sure there's enough sugar and salt in there. 

Optional: throw in some fresh mint leaves. 

That's it! Prep in less than 10 minutes and cooking for about 40 mins. Serve with a side of plain rice and a raita. Woot!