Halal Food Recipe: Chicken Yellow Curry (Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Api)

The specialty from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia is the yellow curry as known as masak lemak cili padi, which is spicy rich yellow coconut gravy that is cooked with bird's eyes chilies. While this dish uses chicken, it can be substituted with beefs, muttons, crabs, prawns or a firm white fish.

Ingredients:

500 g chicken - cut into small pieces
3 potatoes - cut into wedges (optional, substitute with tomatoes for fish)
1 teaspoon salt
2 pieces asam keping (dried tamarind slices)
250ml thick coconut milk
500ml thin coconut milk
1 turmeric leaf
1 stalk lemon grass
Salt to taste

Spice Blend:
20 bird's eyes chillies
2 cm ginger
2 cm tumeric root
8 shallots
2 cloves garlic
Blend all the spice ingredients until fine.


Cooking method :

Rub the chicken pieces with salt and let marinate for 10 minutes.
Stir in the ground ingredients with potatoes, asam keping, torn tumeric leaf, lemon grass and thin coconut milk into a pot and bring to a slow boil.
Add chicken pieces and simmer until the gravy thickens. Add thick coconut milk and salt to taste.
Serve with plain boiled or steamed rice.

Halal Food Recipe: Pineapple Patcheri (Paceri Nanas)

Ingredients:

1/2 riped pineapple (or 1 can of pineapple)
2 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
5 curry leaves
1 packet of curry powder, mix with 1/2 cup warm water to make a paste
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon kerisik (coconut paste, see recipe below or sold at Asian groceries stores in small packets)
1 can of fresh coconut cream
Spice mix: cloves, cardamon, cumin, & cinnamon. A little of each.
2 tablespoon palm sugar (gula melaka), or dark brown sugar
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Cooking method:

1. Heat cooking oil in a shallow pot, fry the shallots, garlic, curry leaves, grated ginger & mixed spice until fragrant.

2. Pour curry paste in, stir vigorously. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. You may add a little bit of water if it looks too dry, but not too much.

3. Add in pineapples and coconut cream, keep on stirring. Cover for 10 about minutes or until the pineapple softens.

4. When pineapple is soften, add the kerisik (coconut paste), palm sugar and salt to taste. Stir until it dissolves and cover, let it simmer until the curry thickens, about 30 minutes on medium heat.

5. Patcheri is ready when the curry has thicken. Serve warm with steamed rice.

-- How to make Kerisik (Coconut paste) --

1. Toast about 5 tablespoons of grated coconut in a small frying pan, over a small heat for about 5 minutes. Stir it from time to time till the coconut is dark brown in colour.
2. Transfer the coconut to a mortar and with a pestle, ground till the coconut is a smooth paste and oily.


SERVING METHOD

This dish is taken with either plain white rice or with the traditional rice dishes such as Nasi Tomato and Nasi Briyani.

For those who wish to try something different, the pineapple fruit in this recipe is in fact interchangeable and sometimes replaced with brinjals, in which case the dish is known in Malay as Patcheri Terong.

Halal Food Recipes: Chick Pea Curry

Ingredients:

2 cups dried chick peas
3 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin
1 large onion - chopped
2.5 cm piece ginger – chopped
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves


Combine with 2 tbsp water to make a fine paste:

1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
¼ tsp chili powder

Cooking Method:
Boil chick peas in 6 cups water and salt. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Heat ghee in a saucepan and fry cumin for 1 minute.
Add onion and ginger and fry until the onion is golden.
Add paste to the pan and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add chick peas and liquid and bring to boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until chick peas are tender. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve.

Halal Food Recipes: Egg Curry

Ingredients:

6 eggs - hard-boiled and sliced in half
2 onions - finely chopped
3 cloves garlic- finely chopped
2.5 cm piece ginger - shredded fine
3 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
4 tomatoes - diced 1
½ cup hot water
4 tbsp oil or ghee
½ tsp garam masala
Salt to taste

Cooking Method:

Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions, garlic and ginger till soft and golden.
Add coriander, turmeric and chili and fry for a minute.
Add tomatoes and season to taste. Stir over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add hot water, cover and simmer till gravy thickens.
Stir in garam masala and the eggs. Bring to the boil, and then remove from heat.

Serve hot either with plain steamed or boiled rice.

Halal Food Recipes: Fish Curry

Ingredients:

4 pieces horse mackerel fish (tenggiri)
2 tomatoes - quartered
5 ladies' fingers
4 shallots - sliced
2 cloves garlic - sliced
2 green chilies
2 tbsp curry powder - blended with 2 tbsp water
2 cups thick coconut milk
4 cups thin coconut milk
½ cup tamarind juice
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tbsp cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil and fry the shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add in the blended curry powder and stir until fragrant without letting it burn. Add in the curry leaves.

Add the thin coconut milk and bring to boil. Add the tomatoes, ladies' fingers and tamarind juice. Cook for 10 minutes.

Put in the fish and bring to boil again. Add the thick coconut milk and as soon as it boils, switch off the heat.

Serve the fish curry hot with plain steamed or boiled rice or with bread or roti.

Halal Food Recipes: Malay Beef Curry (Gulai Daging Lembu)

Ingredients:

600 gram beef
1 cup water
½ cup cooking oil
300 gram potatoes
5 tbsp meat curry powder
6 shallots
4 cloves garlic
3 cm piece ginger
4 cups coconut milk - extracted from ¾ coconut
1 ½ inch cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
1 star anise
25 gram grated coconut - fried until golden and pounded
Salt to taste

Cooking Method:

Clean the meat thoroughly and cut into bite sized pieces and drain.
Blend the curry powder with 1 cup water.
Pound the shallots, garlic and ginger.

Heat oil and fry the pounded ingredients until fragrant. Add in the curry powder and fry further until fragrant.

Add the beef with a little bit of water. Add the pounded fried coconut, star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick. Stir slowly and add the coconut milk, potatoes and salt.

Simmer until the potatoes are cooked.

Serve the beef curry hot with plain steamed or boiled rice or with bread or roti.