I am coming home!

It is time to go back home. And I can't stop myself from reminiscing about my stay here. I loved staying in Malaysia very much. I had a wonderful, relaxed, laid back time here. It was a sort of a long awaited vacation for me.

This country is so unique in its own ways. It has mostly 2 weathers- summer and rainy.

Its predominantly a Muslim country, but with almost equal population of Chinese and Indians settled here over a long time. I tried out Nasi Lemak, known as the national dish. Rojak, Cendol and Nyonya Laksa Mee were also awesome. The clay-pot cooking style is very unique. The food is slightly roasted at the bottom of the small clay pots and cooked wonderfully above. I became fast friends with a Chinese family here. They helped me to try out various Chinese cuisines. I looooouvvveeed Chinese food! (And we laughed about how Chinese food in India is actually Indian food and not Chinese! Ha ha!) I also got to eat some tropical fruits I had never heard of- Dragon Fruit, Durian, Rambutan, Longan, Mangosteen, Cempeda, etc. I loved all of them, especially Mangosteen!

Food was the top-most thought in my mind. So, now that I am over it, I also admired how the city I lived in (most parts) was squeaky clean. Mostly everyone stands in a queue in a bus stop, in a traffic signal or in KFC. People are polite and funny. (I found their sense of humor weird but funny!) There are so many shopping malls here. One can never get bored of window shopping (or real shopping, if you don't mind spending), and must I remind that its a good exercise?

There are quite a few lovely locales to visit in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is a busy place and has some important monuments to see. I lived around 30-40 kms away in a much quieter city, Shah Alam. I posted some pictures of my trip to Langkawi and Penang in this post. Penang is a lovely place for food lovers. And the transport within the city is very convenient because of the abundant local buses. Langkawi has so many gorgeous beaches! I also visited a cooler place called Genting Highlands, which mainly has theme park and a casino, and pleasant weather.

This picture was taken when my husband visited Cameroon Highlands. Here, he and friends actually picked Strawberries from the farm for a small amount; dewy, farm-fresh Strawberries! Also, the vegetables here are so so fresh! I did not get to go there :(.

I could not visit the other places like Terengganu and Melaka due to shortage of time.

Well, since I did not own a car here, I had to depend on cabs a lot. Some cabbies can be deceitful, finding ways to charge you extra. (So, beware. Always, climb in a cab that has a meter, and always carry change with you! It would be helpful if you learned Malay.)

Coming from another country (India), I also found some things strange, like:

• Many motorists wear their wind cheaters the wrong way, with the zipper side back.
• Nobody honks.
• All houses have a safety gate outside the main door, and none have door bells.
• You have to order a drink when you go to a restaurant. None of the restaurants offer you water on their own, or they charge you.
• The government encourages 5 kids per family.
• It is acceptable to eat out almost daily.
• The Muslim women wear swimsuits that cover them from head to toe.
• The locals' English is different from what I am used to. Also they spell certain things their own way- "post"-pos, "monorail"- monorel, "lift"- lif, "section"- seksyen, etc.

Although I am excited about going back home, I surely will miss Malaysia.

"Fast" food

I am in this crazy mood of laziness these days. I haven't even been trying to write blogs. I have been feeling so lazy that I would rather starve than make an effort to cook something and eat! Umm, not starve exactly, but I would eat fruits or crackers or anything, but cook! Well, while shopping for groceries a week ago, I happened to notice (I was oblivious to it previously) the various sauces in the sauce counters.

I have become a fan of Chinese food lately, as you might have noticed from an earlier blog of mine. A friend introduced me to oyster sauce, chilli sauce, soya sauce, etc, she uses to cook her kind (Chinese) of vegetables and curries. Oh what a God-send she is! I can't thank her enough for saving me (hahaha)!

I generally wait till my hunger pangs become too intense to ignore before I start searching for food. And then I go to my kitchen and I think "Oh, cooking that is going to take at least a half hour more! I cannot wait," and eat an apple, or a pear or something. So, now all I do is, have my rice ready and the rest is super fast, tasty and healthy! Behold, I am sharing my "fast" food recipe now.

This is all I do, and I can do, when I am at the point of going "FOOODDD!"

Garlic is always good to have. In a pan, add a little cooking oil, some smashed garlic and some chopped red chillies. And as per my mood at that moment, I decide what sauce (oyster, chilli or soya) I want to add! (Fancy me!) Fry for a few minutes and then add any green leafy vegetable (Pak choy, Choy sum, Kailan or even Brocolli, French Beans or whatever you have) and then stir fry till the vegetable is slightly cooked, but crispy.

Ta..daa.. its ready! Serve with rice and eat away.

Hope you find this easy recipe useful!

Avocado chapathis

So what's for dinner tonight?

Cooking is always interesting as well as challenging (want to try out new things often) for me. But I lose enthusiasm very quickly with elaborate cooking methods and recipes that require slogging for hours in the kitchen. Despite what people might say, I say its not worth it, even if it tastes like heaven! Cooking should be fun and enjoyable too, I think.

I like variety and get bored very easily. Since a few days, I have been making rotis/chapathis for dinner. I was really bored of rice dishes. I was going through some brilliant food recipes website for inspiration. Lo and behold! I found Tofu chapathis!

And well, guess what! I ended up making Avocado chapathis. (This maybe new only to me! *blush*)

What you need-

Atta (wheat flour)
Milk (optional)
1 Avocado
Salt
and a few vessels

What to do-

This is similar to making rotis/chapathis. Add the avocado pulp (feels nice to pulp it with your hands), salt and flour in a round bowl. I used milk to knead the dough to get a soft consistency. You can use water if you like. Then as usual make chapathis out of it using rolling pin. Bake it on a heated pan with very little oil. Voila! Avocado chapathis ready. No major change in taste or look. But, well it is so simple, so soft and gets ready in minutes.



I made Daal makhani (thick, spicy lentil soup with butter) to go with it. You may like palak paneer, kurma, chole, bhindi masala, etc, to go with it.

I think making chapathis using that fully ripe banana or mango (which is horrible to eat) in the same way should be given a try. It might taste a little funnily sweet. Of course, you can always improvise upon this recipe by adding spices [like jeera (cumin), coriander seeds/powder etc], chilli powder/ green chillies, onion, garlic, etc and making it a wholesome parartha.

Beware: Avocado chapathis and Daal makhani is a dangerously fattening but deliciously mouth-watering combination!

Spicy potatoes

My friend in Australia says the weather is pretty gloomy at her place today. So, she made oven-baked (healthier) potato (aloo) wedges, a lovely snack for all weathers, because potatoes are after all potatoes. She also made chilli sauce to go with it. And, well, after listening to all that, who can resist a snack attack? I too decided to make a potato side dish for dinner. (I wonder if I am Irish sometimes!)

It turned out quite nice. So, thought of sharing my recipe here. Unfortunately, we ate away everything and I did not take a picture! (It looks like Aloo-jeera fry; see the borrowed pic.) And also mine isn't the healthier version. I fried them as usual. This recipe contains many spices. Thus, will call it Spicy Potatoes.

Okay. You need:

4 Medium-sized potatoes
Cooking oil/Olive oil
4-5 Garlic cloves (minced)
Jeera (cumin seeds)
Rosemary
Oregano
Pepper corns
Chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Salt
and a few vessels

What to do?

1. Peel and cut potatoes into cubes.
2. In a bowl, add a teaspoon of cooking/olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary, oregano and salt. Mix well. Add the potatoes. Mix again. Keep it aside.
3. In a pan, add cooking oil. I used Sunflower oil. But if you have Olive oil, use it. It gives a distinct flavor. Let it get hot. Add, jeera (half teaspoon), a pinch of turmeric powder, chilli powder (amount, more or less according to your taste) and pepper and fry for a few minutes.
4. Next, add the kept-aside potatoes, add a little water, salt to taste and cover and keep till the potatoes cook.
5. Once, the potatoes are cooked, let the extra water evaporate and fry for some more time till the sides turn brown.

It turned out quite spicy. I like it spicy. The garlic gave it a nice zing. You can make it as you like. You can delete a few herbs if you don't have them. If you add only jeera along with chilli powder, it will be Aloo-Jeera fry. You can also add coriander leaves/Chinese parsley, squeeze a little lemon, etc. Potatoes are very flexible vegetables and quite tasty too!

What's your favorite recipe?

Foodelicious!

What an awesome weekend it was, thanks to our local friends! I have never tried to explore the sense of taste with foreign delicacies on my own, mainly because I don’t eat pork and beef and lots of other stuff. So, I am always a little skeptical to try out dishes outside my comfort zone. I, although, wanted to try out the local delicacies before I go back to my country. Another problem I always face is I don’t understand Mandarin or Malay, and unfortunately many locals can’t understand a word of English. So, I don’t know what or how to order!!

So, our friends were kind enough to take us out to an authentic Chinese restaurant (Restoran Baby Sea Food) with the deal that I would cook Indian dinner for them some time. And it was a treat for sure. The best of the lot was the Thai style fish, which is a steamed fish on a fish-shaped wok.



It is garnished with veggies like pak choy (cabbage) and onion stems and some other veggies the Chinese use. The wok is kept warm on a charcoal fire. It is supplied with a bowl of sweetish, sour, spicy soup with mushroom and pickled garlic in vinegar. The soup is to be poured into the wok. The fish soup is to be enjoyed along with rice or just as such! It was one of the tastiest soups I have had. I must confess to being addled by the taste senses enough to not even ask the names of the dishes I had. But my friend was more than helpful to let me know their names.

We also ate the Marmite Chicken Wings, which is chicken wings roasted in marmite sauce. Really delicious.

Our friend also ordered Sambal Petai Prawn, which was yummy. The petai is also called stink beans. Supposedly, they have many medicinal properties. They are good for the kidneys (for elimination) and for diabetics.



You can read more about petai from here- http://www.petertan.com/blog/2005/07/11/peter-tans-petai-masak-pedas/

Kung Poa Mantis was another Mantis prawn dish, which is crunchy and crispy and spicy and sweet, all at the same time.

Baby lettuce stir fried with garlic was a light and nice supplement with the heavy dishes of chicken and prawns.



And to end with, we ordered Egg Noodles, which I must say tasted like nothing I had before!

My friend carried with her a tin. It contained tea leaves. The hotel just gives the tea pot into which she added a very few leaves. She filled it with hot water. We sipped this light tea from the start till the end of the dinner. Its light flavor cleans the taste buds, for a clean palate to help you experience these awesome Chinese flavors. Definitely, a treat worth reminiscing about!



Here is a link to the various types of Chinese teas fyi-
http://tea-brewery.com/tag/chinese-tea/