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)

Famosa Chicken Rice Ball

A trip to Melaka would never be complete without savouring its famous chicken rice balls. I've heard that Hoe Kee has better selection but we were pretty hungry once we reached Melaka and decided to pounce on the first shop we see.

Yummy golf sized chicken rice balls

The shop, thankfully was air conditioned. It was scorching hot outside and being able to sit under blazing cold air while savouring good food was a bliss. The shopkeeper suggested we try a serving of yam balls on top of our chicken rice ball order. The yam balls were a nice compliment to the aromatic chicken rice balls, the balls were full of yam flavour and the hidden shrimp bits gave the yam balls a nice dimension.

Delectable smooth bites of roasted chicken

The chicken itself did not disappoint. It was perhaps not the best I've had but definitely was above average.

Loads of vitamins and fibre

To balance out the carbs and protein, we decided to order a plate of greens. Pretty normal stuff I felt - but then how different can one go with a simple plate of greens. We ordered a side of fish ball soup ( picture not taken) to satisfy the pangs of one of our fish ball crazy friends but it was alright - nothing spectacular but not bad either.

The meal on a whole was satisfactory and reasonable. It costed us about RM 37 including drinks for 4 pax. Burrppppp!

Famosa Chicken Ball

No. 28-30, Jalan Hang Kasturi,

Off Jonker Street, 75200 Melaka.

Tel: +606-2860121 Fax: +606-282 4595

Website : http://www.chickenriceball.com/

The best goreng pisang in Klang Valley

Goreng Pisang or its gramatically correct twin, Pisang Goreng is the ubiquitous Malaysian street food sold in almost every nook and corner around towns and kampungs alike.

I had never exactly taken great fancy over it for a while - I liked it but never exactly craved it before. Obviously that was waayy before I chanced upon what I would term the best goreng pisang in Klang Valley.

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The banana fritters (goreng pisang) prepared by Kanna's Curry House in Section 17, Petaling Jaya is entirely different from those regular ones on the streets. 

Well to start off, it's really huge if you can see ;) . This banana's used by Kanna's are pretty ripe and soft so that it compliments perfectly with the slightly sweetened thin and crispy fried batter coating. Each bite gives a sensation of a sweet crunch followed by the soft texture of the banana enveloped inside. 

Enjoy the banana fritters with Milo Ais for an oomph. In fact, I'm going to request for a serving of vanilla ice-cream to go with it the next time.

Served during tea time ( about 4ish?). Goreng pisang alongside other snacks are fried on the spot and friendly waiters would go around to top up your plates with super hot and crispy treats. 

Kanna Curry House

No. 29, Jalan 17/45, 46400 Petaling Jaya ( near Rothmans roundabout)

Open 7 days a week : 7am - 10 pm

Malaysian Dry Chicken Curry

I noticed a copy of At Home With Amy Beh 3 lying around at home one weekend - apparently given as a gift to mom.  My first impression on the book wasn't too impressive - some recipes looked good while most of it looked rather plain and uninteresting. 

I tried the Dry Curry Chicken recipe which incorporated a blend of spices, lemongrass, chillies, candlenuts, galangal and yogurt. The results was a fabulous serving of spicy chicken with ooh-so-wonderful bursts of taste and aroma from the chilli paste, lemongrass and curry leaves.

For the recipe, please e-mail me at mangomaples [at] gmail. com ( Subsitute [at] with @)

Pakistani food @ Nilai

It was a tiring Labor day indeed, getting bro's stuff packed to be shipped back from his college in Nilai. After a couple of trips up and down his hostel block with heavy items, I was grateful to be treated with a hidden Pakistani gem within the quiet town of Nilai.

A good place to get authentic foreign cuisine for cheap I've discovered, is at the vicinity of colleges with lots of international students. This stall nearby to Inti College, hosts a few convinience stores and an African food stall within the complex.

The plain Naan (RM 1.50) and cheese Naan was well done and soft, unli8ke the rubbery types we get in many places around KL. Various curries are available as an accompaniment - each extremely flavourful and held distinct flavours of sourness, creaminess and spiciness in each curry.

Not wanting to miss out on their highly acclaimed freshly prepared dish, we ordered Chicken Karahi ( RM6) from the menu. My first impression on the serving I looked at wasn't impressive, but one spoon in the mouth and I knew I reached enlightment. The chicken pieces were soft, the gravy well bodied and was extremely flavourful with the right blend of spices. Scoop some up with the naan and you'll be on Cloud 9 immediately.

Their tandoori chicken is said to be real good as well - such a pity that we didn't have any space for it. Wash down the scrumptious Pakistani fair with some milkshake from the next door shop and you'll have a nice happy tummy.

Afsal Pakistani Stall,
Desa Palma Apartments ( behind Inti College Nilai)
Opening hours : 6 pm - 5 am.