Egg Filled Curry puff

Available from Harmoni Cafe on campus

RM1.80 a piece

This big curry puff contains potatoes and a boiled egg. They are bigger than the usual curry puffs which contain only potatoes, or potatoes and beef.

The egg and potato filling and margarine content in the shell contribute to fat and cholesterol consumption. 

1 big curry puff will suffice for brunch, morning coffee, lunch or evening tea. It is filling.

In the 1960s, they also sold large curry puffs, but that had potato and beef filling - no egg.

Chicken Chop

Available from Harmoni Cafe on campus

RM12 a pack

Contents

1 big but thin piece of fried chicken chop (more batter than chicken)

1 plastic bag of mashed potatoes (replaced with potato wedges if mashed potato runs out)

1 plastic bag of black pepper sauce ... quite a lot of sauce

1 plastic bag of coleslaw ... light and nice

1 big piece of salad green (fresh lettuce)

 2-3 pieces of tomato wedges

The vegetables are packed separately as they will turn limp if packed with the hot chicken chop.

Fried Bihun

Homemade fried bihun is easy to make, but making it delicious is not so easy. It involves manipulating the salt/sugar/soy sauce/tomato sauce ratios, herbs & vegetables content, and wateriness. Sometimes added beef or chicken can spoil the overall taste of the fried bihun. I will share my recipe for making fried bihun for my family.

Many children and adults do not like capsicum in their fried bihun - omit this or use red/green chillies instead.

Ingredients

Optional:

• Some chicken flesh or beef - cut into small pieces and season with soy sauce and pepper or chilli and tumeric
• Some vegetables - cabbage, sawi, kangkung, taugeh etc - cut thin strips or 1" length
• Taufu - add salt, and fry, then cut into small thin pieces

1 packet of bihun ... check for Halal logo. Do not use non Halal bihun. Soak in hot water and drain before frying.

1 medium Bombay onion - diced

3 cloves garlic - crushed

2 Tablespoons palm oil for frying (Murni brand)

1 Tablespoon soy sauce (HABHAL kicap masin)

1 Tablespoon tomato sauce (Life or Del Monte brand)

1 teaspoon sugar (gula halus)

1 teaspoon salt (light pink Himalayan salt)

some hot water for gravy

Additional food

tomatoes - cut into wedges

cucumber - cut thin slices

capsicum - boil first or add to fried bihun towards the end of cooking

Utensils

kuali

bamboo spoon

How to

Heat oil in kuali and fry onion and garlic till fragrant.

Add beef or chicken and fry till cooked.

Add salt to taste.

Add other seasonings - pepper, tomato sauce, soy sauce.

Add vegetables and stir to mix.

Add hot water for some gravy and to prevent sticking.

Once the beef/chicken is cooked, add bihun and stir to mix.

Cook for an additional 10 minutes until mixture is totally cooked.

Remove from fire and serve hot with slices of taufu, capsicum, tomatoes and cucumber.

Parmesan Elbows

This was a dish that my daughter Farah cooked for us. It was delicious. She has the recipe, probably downloaded from the Internet. But I will share my idea of what the ingredients are based on what I think went into the dish. I have named it Parmesan Elbows.

The ground beef and parmesan cheese mixture can also be combined with potatoes and used as filling to make curry puffs (karipap).

Ingredients

Pasta (hollow tube elbows)

Ground beef (Ramli ground beef patties)

1 big Holland onion - chopped into fine squares

3 cloves garlic (optional) - chopped finely
some ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese

salt to taste (quanto basta)

2 Tablespoon palm oil for frying

stainless steel pot for boiling pasta

kuali for frying ground beef

bamboo spoon

some hot water for gravy

How to

(i) Pasta

Boil pasta in metal pot till al dente hardness. 

Add a Tablespoon of cooking oil to prevent sticking. 

Add a pinch of salt.

Once the pasta is cooked al dente, remove and drain. 

Save some pasta water for cooking the ground beef.

(ii) Ground beef and cheese

In kuali, heat oil and fry onion and garlic till fragrant and caramelised.

Add ground beef and stir to mix.

Cook till beef is done and soft - may take 30 - 45 minutes.

Add hot water and pasta water for some gravy and to avoid sticking.

Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
Add pepper.

Season with salt.

Add sufficient parmesan cheese (crumbs) and stir to mix.

(iii) Adding pasta 

Add pasta and stir mixture thoroughly.

Remove from fire and serve while still hot.

Can serve with chili sauce.

Beef and Mutton Stew

This stew is good for children and adults. It can be served for Aqiqah and picnics. It takes a long time to prepare and cook, but it is worth cooking it for the family. 

Ingredients

1 big Holland onion (1 labu bawang besar putih)

1 medium Bombay onion (1 labu bawang merah sederhana besar)

5 cloves garlic (5 ulas bawang putih)

1 piece ginger (sekeping halia)

2 pieces galangal (2 keping lengkuas)

Mixed meat:

•     750 g beef .... quanto basta (ikut suka)
•     250 g mutton .... quanto basta

3 big potatoes with dark brown skin

2 big carrots

1 packet of black pepper mix

1 packet of Soup Siam mix

2 Tablespoons of palm oil (cooking oil)

1 coriander root, stems and leaves .... cut 1" long 

Utensils

kuali

bamboo spoon

1-2 electric jug of hot water (1.7 litres per jug)

Additional food

Light and fluffy baby buns ... estimate 2 buns per person

How to 

Dice onions and garlic.

Heat oil in kuali and fry onions, garlic, ginger and galangal until fragrant and brown.

Dice meats thinly and add to fried onion mixture. Stir to mix.

Fry until meat changes colour to grey and looks cooked.

Add coriander root, stems and leaves. Stir to mix.

Add hot water and let cook for 1 hour. Add more water if necessary and cook until meat is soft.

Add soup Siam mix and black pepper mix. Stir to mix.

Add salt to taste (quanto basta), but take care not to add too much salt. Let mixture boil at least once after adding the dried mixtures.

Add diced carrots and potatoes. Boil till the carrots and potatoes are of al dente hardness (tak keras dan tak terlalu lembik)

Soup Siam and black pepper mixtures contain a lot of SALT.

The potatoes will soak up a lot of SALT as they cook.

DO NOT add any more salt once the potatoes are added! 

The potatoes will break up when cooked through, and thicken the stew. 

DO NOT add any cornstarch flour or wheat flour to thicken the stew as it will taste horrible. 

DO NOT add any Graham crackers to thicken the gravy as crackers are high in margarine/fat, and will add to weight problems.

Switch off the fire and cover. Let the stew cook in its own heat.

Serve hot with light baby buns. The buns can be warmed up in the toaster oven.

Keep any extra stew in the refrigerator. Heat up in the microwave in small portions. There is no need to heat up the entire bowl if only 1 or 2 persons want to eat.

Fried Bihun

Lightly fried bihun

RM2.70

Fried bihun is a balanced meal and can replace a rice meal, especially for lunch. Eating additional cucumber or greens will suffice. A small packet of tasty sambal makes the food delicious. Otherwise, fried bihun is a dull food and does not sell well.

50 g of rice

Southeast Asians and Malaysians eat rice daily. Some hardly eat bread. The Indians eat rice and flat breads. The Chinese eat noodles and rice.

Rice falls into the carbohydrates category and has a high glycaemic index. This means eating rice can quickly convert rice to give blood glucose. Rice is therefore fattening if eaten in large amounts, and not much exercise is done daily. It is better to take small amounts of rice at any meal time.

Each person needs only about 50 g of rice at meal times. There is no need to weigh accurately. You can eyeball what 50 g is by taking a handful of cooked rice - this is approximately 50 g.

Eating more then 50 g of rice will lead to weight gain. In the long run (eg 10-15 years), weight gain can only worsen, and lead to being overweight and then obesity. Obesity can lead on to gross obesity (super fat).

If one is already obese or overweight, reverting to eating 50 g of rice at meal times is a good start for weight loss.

Drinking apple cider vinegar drink at meal times, will further reduce abdominal fat (belly fat). Fat will not disappear rapidly, but will disappear bit by bit and can be unnoticeable. Taking weight measurements daily and continuously will help you to monitor your weight loss.

Eating 50 g of rice at meal times will also help the liver to correct itself and further aid in burning excess fat in the body.

Thus, the easiest way to weight loss in obese and overweight persons is to reduce carbohydrate intake (eg 50 g rice at meal times in Asians) and taking apple cider vinegar drink as much as possible daily.

Approximately 50 g of rice on a normal dinner plate 

Approximately 50 g of rice held in the palm 

Approximately 50 g of rice with many different cooked vegetables filling the plate. Adding a piece of chicken or meat will suffice.