Peanut Sauce (for Satay)

Ingredients
Spice Paste:
½ cup chopped shallots or red onions
1 Tbs, grated lemon grass
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp. grated galangal (Thai ginger)
1 tsp. Thai chilli powder

1/3 cup oil

2 Tbs. concentrated cooking tamarind 

½ cup water

2 cups dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

2/3 cups light brown sugar (for a more authentic taste use Palm Sugar [Gula Melaka/Java] )

1 tsp. salt


Instructions:

1.  Blend all the ingredients for spice paste in a food processor into a smooth
     paste.

2.  Heat the oil in a large pan or wok over medium heat.

3.  Add in spice paste and cook over medium heat until fragrant.

4.  Add in tamarind, water, peanuts and sugar.  Bring to a boil.

5.  Simmer until the sauce thickens.  Taste and adjust seasonings according to taste.
     Serve warm or at room temperature.

You can use 1½ cups freshly ground crunchy peanut butter (usually available in Health Food or Gourmet Food Stores instead of peanuts).  If you do not have any tamarind on hand you can substitute with some lime juice.

Satay (Malaysian Style)

I have such good memories of Satay.  When I was a kid the word Satay equals Kajang  ('Satay town' - located about 13 miles away from the capital city Kuala Lumpur) where I used to live.  It means an outing for my brothers and I.  We look forward to it with great anticipation.  It is a promise of delicious food and freshly squeezed sugar cane juice! Satay is definitely a favorite of my family and I hope it will become yours too!

Curry Puffs

INGREDIENTS

Pastry:
4 cups all purpose flour
10 Tbs. fat (cold butter, margarine   or vegetable shorterning or a combination of  any two)
½ teaspon salt
About ¾-1 cup cold water

Filling
3 Tbs. oil
½ cup of finely chopped onions
1 Tbs. curry powder or desired amount
½ tsp. turmeric powder (optional)
¾ pound (about 340g) of diced or ground lean meat
2 medium potatoes, boiled and finely diced
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar

oil for deep frying


 1.   Prepare the filling first.  Heat oil and saute the onion until transparent. 

 2.   Add curry and turmeric powder and lower heat and fry until
      fragrant.  Add in chicken and fry until cooked.

 3.  Add in potatoes and seasonings or according to taste.  Cook another
      5 minutes.  Leave aside to cool.

 4.   Process the flour and salt together in a food processor until combines.
       Add in the fat (cut into smal pieces).

 5.   Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Continue to pulse,
       adding water through the feed tuble 1 Tbs. at a time, until the dough comes
       together and forms a ball.

 6.  Cover the dough in a bowl and let it rest for at least ½ hour.

 7.  Roll dough into a long log, cut it into about 30 even-size pieces.

 8.   Lightly roll each piece between your hands into a ball, use the palm of
      your hand to flatten into a ¼-inch disk.

 9.  Take a tablespoon of filing and place in center.

10. Fold pastry over to make a half circle and crimp at edges.
      (You can freeze some curry puffs at this point for a later snack or meal).

11. Deep fry in medium hot oil (300 degrees F) until golden. 
      Drain, cool and serve.

   

KAYA

I decided to make Kaya in my new Breville rice cooker and it just took a sweet 10-15 minutes. For green and slightly lumpy Kaya enthusiasts ~

1.   Sieve 1 cup beaten eggs (about 5 large ones) in the rice cooker on COOK setting) with 1 - 1.25 cups of sugar. Stir until sugar is melted (mixture should start bubbling).

2.   Meanwhile, in a blender mix in 1 cup of thick coconut milk and 5 to 6 pieces of pandan leaves. Blend until the pandan leaves are all chopped and well mixed into the coconut milk. This process really deepens the green color and flavor of pandan. (I used frozen pandan leaves and it still works great)

3.   Sieve in the coconut/pandan mixture into the now bubbling egg and sugar mixture. Watch, if mixture is bubbling too much, switch the button to the KEEP WARM setting so that it does not get overly thick and lumpy. Cook until it bubbles again and to the desired texture. Note that the consistency of the Kaya will further thicken after it cools,make allowance for that.

NOTE: If you are a smooth, silky Kaya enthusiast, keep a more watchful eye on the kaya, stir it a little more consistently and used the WARM setting a little more often. Good news, if Kaya gets too lumpy for your liking just run it through the blender when mixture is cooked and you don't have to tell!

Have A Happy KAYA Day !
        

Pandan/Screwpine leaf - 'Vanilla of the East'    

Popular in the cooking of South East Asian (particularly Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai), screwpine leaves have a floral aroma and are used most often to flavor rice dishes, puddings and desserts. Their intense green hue also makes them useful as a natural food coloring. Screwpine leaves are available in Asian markets — sometimes fresh, frozen or dried.