A mouthful of Devil Curry

Good Malaccan-Portugese cuisine in Klang Valley is sadly a rare find. While pouring through forums one day in search for some enlightment , I was surprised to find that a highly recommended spot for Kristang (Portugese Malaccan) food just is smack right at my backyard.

Heading over one day for dinner to this rather popular outdoor foodcourt for Cheras dwellers, I was welcomed at the Portugese stall with a warm friendly smile by the mid aged man running the stall, who I suspect is a Kristang judging from his accent. His menu ranged from a variety of claypot based curries of lamb, chicken and pork and other Kristang delights. When asked for a recommendation , the stall owner suggested his prized devil curry ; we ordered that and a serving of green curry and went forward to hunt for outdoor seats amidst the busy weekend crowd.

Green curry chicken ( Apologies for the grainy shot - we only managed to get a seat in a badly lit area and I had to make the best out of it)

The curries arrived not long later piping hot in the claypot with a serving of white rice, some salad like veggies at the side and the typical condiment of green chillies dipped in soy sauce for that extra fiery zing. The first spoonful of the devil curry was just – oh just so heavenly – a well proportioned blend of spices and coconut milk with tender pieces of chicken. The second curry we tried was the green curry ( not to be mistaken with the Thai green curry). I was quite keen to try the curry with pork but was told that he had run out of pork that day and hence I could only have it with chicken. The green curry with chicken, also served with white rice, I’ll have to say did not disappoint a slight bit. It had plump pieces of aubergines – which I felt was well married with the flavor of the curry. Interestingly, I wonder if the slight creaminess of the curry was created using low fat milk instead of coconut milk as I noticed the man adding some low fat milk into the curry mixture while cooking.

The curries were reasonably priced for RM 5.50 per set. The shop also has other Portugese varieties including pineapple prawns and pork sebak which I am looking forward to try real soon on my next visit. Hence, you can expect a part 2 of this review in some time to come.

Location : KFL Food Court is in Taman Alam Jaya, Batu 7 1/2 Cheras. I've tried to estimate a mark in Google Maps. Do ping me if you plan to drop by and need directions.

Other Kristang food joints in Klang Valley :

So far I know these couple of joints - please drop a comment if you know other good places for the benefit of all readers.

1. Felice, PJ State

2. Cristang, 8th Avenue PJ

3. Kristao, Asian Heritage Row ( ain't too sure if it still exists)

For more information on Kristang /Eurasian Cuisine - read these articles:

1. Eurasian Cuisine
2. Devil Curry

Quick Bites : Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich

Weekday breakfasts is generally a rushed endeavour. My normal drill would include a quick glance around the kitchen to find out whats available - chuck bread in toaster - slap on some fruit preserve or a quick omelette - grab some cold low fat milk and out I go to fight through the crazy morning traffic.

Wanting something a little filling one morning, I decided to to try out something new hence I grabbed a frozen chicken patty out of the freezer and slathered it with black pepper and some Teriyaki marinade I had lying around the kitchen counter. Shoved it in the microwave and cooked for about 5 minutes till done in a microwavable container. Meanwhile - I placed 2 slices of bread into the toaster and found half a tomato from the previous nights dinner sitting miserably in the refridgerator. A quick ensemble - and I had a fantastic "healthy" breakkie. - no butter, oil or mayo added.

The addition of teriyaki sauce gave the burger patty an interesting Asian sweetish twist. Coupled with the sliced tomatoes and a cup of cold low fat milk - I couldn't have asked for a better instant breakfast.

I'm sending in this recipe to the Microwave Cooking -Breezy Breakfasts June event hosted by Bombay Foodie. It's a series of events started by Cooking4allseasons - one to bring upon creativity in microwave cooking.

Have a pleasant weekend people.

Masala Coffee for the cold weather

Yesterday saw KL being drenched in a heavy downpour, the rain began on a high note in the early evening and reduced to a drizzle through out the night. Long and consistent drizzles almost always creates a moody weather - I’d agree to a certain point. It was cold and moist and made me crave of soothing hot liquids and for the vapours to fall over my face to brighten it up.

Whenever I crave for a pick me up hot beverage at home, masala coffee comes out tops on the priority list. It is indeed simply a spruced up latte with the addition of cardamoms and cinnamon to it.

The method is simple – Boil 1 cup of milk on the stove with 1-2 pounded cardamom pods and a lightly pounded cinnamon stick. Once the milk rises – add sugar and instant coffee powder to taste. I usually add about ½ a teaspoon of each – a concoction that is generally less sweet by Malaysian standards. For masala coffee, I’ve found that Indian based coffee powders blend in better with fresh milk as compared to the ubiquitious Nescafe available in Malaysia. Try using BRU or Nescafe Sunrise if you get a hold of those brands.

The serving of masala coffee was just the thing I needed for the night. A steamy hot masala coffee in hand while being cloaked up in my blanket watching “Two and a half men” on telly and amazingly even with the coffee fix I still slept like a baby last night.

* My previous posting on masala coffee 2 years ago.

Street Eats : My Spicy Corner @ SS1 PJ

When eating out, I try to avoid dining in Indian establishments. One cause I’m eating Indian food at home all the time and many at times I find my home cooked food way more delicious, secondly I'm just too adventurous to be having sambhars and curries all the time (Gastrointestinally Chinese, remember ;))

My Spicy Corner, tucked in a corner of Sungei Way (near SS1) in Petaling Jaya caught my attention by their innovative social media marketing strategies. It was on twitter when I first got to know about it - a couple of tweets later and I decided to give the establishment a try.

My first impression on the restaurant was good – an open air cozy Mamak styled establishment with a TV ( for soccer matches?) and a magazine rack. Reached about 3pm on a Saturday hence the crowd was moderate. We took our seats outside to enjoy the calm afternoon breeze and was promptly attended by the server. The menu here ranges from the regular banana leaf fare, portugese grills, tandoori chicken & naan and the mamak "dan lain lains" – roti canai, gorengs etc.

Fried Chicken waiting to be savoured

There was just two of us - so we decided to sample their banana leaf rice (to benchmark) and the Portugese Grilled Prawns served with white rice.

Pretty vege's on a platter

My friend's serving of the banana leaf rice and fried chicken set (RM 6.90) arrived well adorned in little stainless steel cups. My verdict – It was alright but on an overall did not match up to the quality of the banana leaf experts aka Sri Paandi’s and Kanna’s. The fenugreek curry however was thick and flavourful – thumbs up for that. The rasam also fared much better than other regular banana leaf joints. My other concern is that the Fried Chicken was cold (pre-fried?)– now this is where establishments like Kanna’s have a upper hand since the fried items are fried freshly as an order is placed. A potential area for MySpicyCorner to work on.

Succulent Prawns dancing around with greens in a spicy tangy gravy

My Portugese Grilled Prawns (RM5.90) on the other hand rocked big time. The serving arrived piping hot with a reasonable amount of prawns and the gravy had the right proportions of flavor – spice and tanginess. I added some kaffir lime juice for an added tang and ooh my was I on 7th Heaven. Savoured it till the last drop – a must order if you’re down here. Planning to try out the other Portugese Grills of their menu in the future.

It was unfortunate that I didn’t have enough space to savour their signature Ice cream Thosai . I’m thinking it would be an interesting combination of sweet creamy ice-cream on a background of crispy fermented batter. I'm planning to get back on a second round to savour it along with the tandoori selection and the newly added Samosas with tri-chutney.

In addition, MySpicyCorner also does delivery – do check out their website for more details.I'm still a huge fan of their social media marketing strategy - few businesses actually do it correctly by engaging with their customers rather than merely using them as broadcasting tools.

On an overall ,

Ambience : A nice place to hangout and dine. I found it interesting that they have a magazine rack.
Pricing : Reasonable
Pros : Fenugreek curry and awesome Portugese Grilled Prawns, has a delivery service, they do make you as a customer feel special and well taken of, free Wifi available, is on Facebook and Twitter.
Cons : Finding a parking spot can be a pain, service could be a little more prompt, I seriously hope I can get freshly fried chicken.

Do follow the establishment on Facebook and Twitter and for more information on their location and menu, please pop over to their website.

Burst of Chocolate - Chocolate Muffins

Sensations of chocolate bursting at every bite!

I absolutely love chocolate. I mean who doesn't - making something chocolatey is always regarded safe - people would enjoy it and if don't well - they'd love you.

I got back early from work one evening and just felt like having choc muffins. Off I went searching for a good recipe, hunted for my baking equipments and drove up to the local store to grab some muffin cups. There I was standing in my humid kitchen at 9 pm working up my dreams of savouring hot bursts of chocolate in the middle of night. I stuffed the mixture in the oven and got on watching TV for the night - got back at 10ish and ooh boy the chocolate muffins surely did not disappoint. Each bite was flavoured with a rice taste of chocolate with an additional crunch of chopped nuts and lovely peeks of raisins popping up in intervals.

Chocolate Muffins

(Makes 12 mid sized muffins)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup self raising flour

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

2/3 cups milk

2/3 cups butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

Optional

handful of chocolate chips

handful of chopped nuts ( almonds & cashews) & raisins

1. Start of with the usual drill - cream butter & sugar

2. Add in 2 eggs - 1 at a time. Add vanilla essence

3. Fold in flour & cocoa powder

4. Mix in chopped nuts/choc chips/raisins

5. Fill in batter into muffin cups

6. Bake for 15-20 mins in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius or till a fork inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

Fish Cutlets : Memories of childhood

The thing about fish cutlets is that it invokes memories of childhood. Back when we were much younger, fish cutlets was the speciality of our then neighbour cum babysitter. If we were in luck for the day, aunty would pack a tupperware filled with her prized fish cutlets for us to take home in the evening. We're all grown up now and do not meet her regularly but she still sends over a tupperware filled with fish cutlets whenever she prepares them. Sigh, the kind of things sweet old ladies do that would totally make your day.

My brother was craving for a fix of fish cutlets lately and so we had decided to make some on our own. Works great as a snack with mint chutney - something you could actually serve guests at a cocktail party or works equally well as a side dish with rice and curry.

Fish Cutlets

What you'd need
250g Spanish Mackerel ( Malaysian = ikan tenggiri)
250g boiled mash potatoes
1 red onion - chopped fine
1 green chilli - chopped fine
a sprig of coriander leaves - chopped fine
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 egg - lightly beaten for coating
Oil for deep frying

This is how you make it
1. Boil fish slices in water for about 10 minutes till soft.
2. Drain water and allow fish to cool. Remove skin & bones from the fish and flake the fish using a fork or your clean fingers.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together mashed boiled potatoes, red onion, green chilli, coriander leaves. Add flaked fish, salt, chilli powder, pepper powder, garam masala and coriander powder.
4. Mix ingredients well and form balls. Dip in the lightly beaten egg to coat and deep fry till golden brown.
5. Serve hot with mint chutney.

Mint chutney
1. Blend the following ingredients in a mixer :
200 g of mint leaves , 4 green chillies, 1 onion, small piece of ginger, small piece of garlic.
2. Add salt, juice of half a lime , ¼ cup of scrapped coconut and blend till a fine texture is achieved.
3. Serve chilled.

Eggplants from our garden - Baingan Masala

We've been going organic lately at home cause 

1. Its fun to grow your own vegetables - to see them grow each day is like nurturing a child

2. Organic vegetables in stores are cut throat

3. I actually like going out and plucking some extra vege's to be chucked into my dishes rather than driving out to search for them. Convinient, lets just say.

4. It's actually cost saving ( well, that's an additional benefit)

My dad has been really into growing our own vegetables in small patches of land we have in our garden. Our collection now comprises of mint leaves, basil leaves, chillies, eggplants, sword beans, curry leaves and errmm - well the banana tree at the backyard.

Freshly harvested eggplants from the garden.

Perhaps I never thought growing my own vegetables were considered chic ;) until I found the Grow Your Own food blog event by the Daily Tiffin somewhere in the week. Keeping a mental note to dish out something for the event during the weekend, I walked out to my garden this morning and picked up some ripe eggplants for the pan.

The spicy recipe that I dished out can be referred to below.

Baingan Masala ( Masala Eggplant)

4 medium sized eggplants (see picture above for size)

1 tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

Oil for frying

Curry leaves - stem removed

Dried methi leaves (dried fenugreek leaves)

1 tsp garam masala

Method of preparation :

1. Quarter eggplants into wedges

2. Marinate the eggplants with red chilli powder and salt

3. Deep fry till crispy

4. In a separate pan, add about 2 drops of oil and lightly roast curry leaves until fragrant.

5. Turn off the fire and add fried eggplants, dried methi leaves and garam masala .

6. Coat fried eggplants evenly with the garam masala and dish out to serve.

(Note : You could be flexible with garam masala and methi leaves - if you decide to omit the methi leaves or substitute garam masala with coriander and cumin powder it should taste just as well)