Pickled cucumber and shallot recipe

ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 shallots, quartered
• 2 chilies, cut into 0.5 cm length
• 1-1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar

directions:

• Cut cucumbers into quarters, lengthwise. Remove seeds and cut diagonally, 1cm thickness
• Sprinkle some salt on the cucumbers. Leave on kitchen counter for 15 minutes
• Squeeze the excess liquid off the cucumbers
• Combine the rest of the ingredients and chill before serving

Sambal belacan recipe

ingredients:

• 1/8 cup cooking oil
• 1 (120 g) medium size tomato, halved and seeded
• 5 (20 g) shallots
• 10 (75 g) red chilies
• 8 (25 g) green chilies
• 1/2 tbsp (5 g) shrimp paste (belacan/balacan)
• 2 tbsp shaved palm sugar (gula melaka/gula merah)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 lime

directions:

• Heat 1/8 cup cooking oil in a skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. Fry tomato and shallots till soft and brown for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside
• Next fry chilies until they turn a shade lighter for one minute
• Drain the oil, leaving only 2 tablespoons of oil on the skillet and turn down the heat. Fry the shrimp paste quickly, break the paste using the spatula for 2 minutes. Remove from heat for later use
• Pound the chilies and shallots in a mortal using pestle hard and slowly for 8 minutes. Add tomato halves (skin removed), shrimp paste, palm sugar and salt.
• Pound till everything mixed well for 5 minutes
• Squeeze lime juice into the mortar and mix well with spoon. Serve with selections of fresh and boiled vegetables

Notes:

• Chilies used here are mixed of green and red chilies, for presentation purpose only since I thought all-red sambal is boring (although equally delicious). Red chillies are more common for sambal belacan.
• If less hot sambal belacan is preferred, the chilies can be seeded before frying.
• Some people likes smooth sambal belacan, some preferred a bit of texture to it. I like coarse, so pounding using mortar and pestle is the best way for me to get the specific kind of consistency. Smooth sambal belacan can easily be made using spice grinder / electric blender.
• Sambal belacan can be stored in refrigerator in a covered container. Good for three days. Longer than that, the texture can be a little bit dry.

Javanese lengko rice recipe

ingredients:
For lengko rice

• 1 cucumber, chopped finely
• 250 g bean curds, cut into 1cm cubes and deep-fry
• 150 g tempeh, or soy bean cake, sliced thinly and deep-fry
• 150 g bean sprouts, blanched
• 2 spring onions, green parts only and chopped finely
• 100 g shrimp crackers
• 200 g peanut sauce paste, diluted with 75 ml warm water
• Kecap manis
• Fried shallots

For peanut sauce

• 2 shallots
• 1 garlic
• 25 g red chilies
• 10 g Thai bird's eye chili
• 5 kaffir lime leaves
• 20 g kencur (or lesser galangal)
• 10 g tamarind pulp
• 1 g shrimp paste
• 120 g gula merah (palm sugar or gula melaka)
• 300 g peanuts, deep-fried
• 1 tsp salt
• Oil for deep-frying

directions:
For lengko rice

• For individual serving, combine all condiments (except rice) in a mixing bowl, about 1/2 cup each.
• Pour 1/2 cup diluted peanut sauce into the bowl.
• Mix well.
• Arrange on top of a plate of steamed rice.
• Sprinkle with kecap manis, more chopped spring onions and fried shallots.
• Serve warm.

For peanut sauce

• Heat oil in a wok. Deep-fry peanuts till golden. Grind till coarse. Set aside.
• Deep-fry chilies, shallots and garlic till wilted, about 2 min
• Combine kaffir lime leaves, salt, kencur, chilies, shallots and garlic in a mortar and pestle. Grind to coarse paste.
• Add tamarind pulp, palm sugar and shrimp paste in the mortar and pound till fine.
• Add the peanuts. Mix well.
• Remove the paste and keep in airtight container till serving.

Cassava leaf puree with coconut milk recipe

ingredients:

• 100 gr cassava leaves
• 5 salam leaves
• 50 gr pea eggplants
• 3 (5 gr) red chili
• 5 (50 gr) shallots
• 1 (5 gr) clove garlic
• 3 (15 gr) candlenuts, toasted
• 1" fresh galangal, slightly flattened
• 1 stalk lemongrass, quartered, length-wise
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup coconut milk, diluted with 1 cup water

directions:

• Grind chili, shallot, garlic, candlenut, ginger, coriander till the ingredients form a paste.
• In a blender, mash up the leaves and eggplant slightly. Or chop them finely.
• Heat oil in a wok and quickly stir fry the spice paste over low heat for 5 minutes.
• Add lemongrass, salam leaves and galangal. Stir fry till the color of the paste turn brownish, 2 more minutes
• Toss in the leaves and turn up the heat. Add the diluted coconut milk, cook for another 10 minutes. Do not boil it, just simmer
• Season with salt and pinch of sugar
• Remove the lemongrass, salam leaves, galangal from the pot. Serve warm with rice.

Chocolate wafers recipe

ingredients:

• 190 g flour
• 67 g cocoa powder, Dutch-processed
• 220 g sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 210 g butter, softened
• 3 tbsp whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

directions:

• Combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and baking soda in a food processor. Pulse for a couple of seconds until all ingredients mixed well.
• Add butter and process until the dough is slightly crumbly.
• Pour vanilla extract and milk into food processor when the blade still running, until the dough held together around the blades or side of bowl.
• Get the dough off the food processor onto a working surface.
• Knead for a bit until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
• Form dough into a log with 3-5 cm in diameter. Fold the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• The dough will keep well for up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 185 degree celsius.
• Cut dough into 0.5 cm thickness round discs.
• Arrange on lightly greased baking paper.
• Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
• Let cool on pan. If the cookies are not as crunchy when cooled, bake them again in oven for 3-5 minutes.
• Transfer to air tight container.

Chicken steak with gravy recipe

ingredients:

For gravy

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 500 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
• 1/2 cup canned peas, drained (alternatively, sliced button mushrooms can also be used)

For steak

• 1 whole chicken breast, skinned and boned, flattened, divided into 4 smaller pieces (280 g)
• 1 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (fine or coarse/panko)
• For side dish & garnish
• 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled, cut into sticks
• 1 lettuce, washed
• 1 cucumber, peeled and cut diagonally
• 1 tomato, cut thinly

directions:

For gravy

• In a wok, stir fry flour till the color turn light brown over low heat. Keep stirring to avoid the flour burning from the heat for about 7 minutes. Add pepper and nutmeg. Mix well
• Add the butter and quickly stir till all ingredients mixed well for 2 minutes.
• Pour water slowly and continuously break any lumps that form. Stir quickly for 3 minutes and season with salt and sugar. Cook till boiling and turn off heat. Add peas
• Cover and put aside.

For chicken

• Marinate chicken breast with flour and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Dip in egg white and bread crumbs, deep fry till crunchy and brown, about 5 minutes
• For homemade fries
• Wash the cut potatoes in salt water for a couple of minutes. Drain and dry on paper towel.

Note:

• Use the deep-frying oil to fry fries first, then the chicken. That way you can keep the fries from getting bits of burnt crumb on them.
• If served on a big sharing plate, cut the chicken into bite size and arrange them on the plate with the garnish. Pour the sauce generously on top of the chicken
• Deep fry in hot oil till brown, about 5-8 minutes

Vegetable salad with coconut recipe

ingredients:
For coconut mixture

• 30 g (11) red chilies
• 5 g (8) thai's bird eye chilies
• 1/4 tsp shrimp paste
• 50 g (9) shallots
• 20 g (3) garlic cloves
• 35 g fresh turmeric, washed and peeled
• 50 g palm sugar, shaved
• 1/2 tbsp tamarind pulp
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 300 g freshly shredded coconut

For salad

• 100 g cabbage, blanched
• 100 g long beans, blanched
• 300 g (1) cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 100 g beansprouts, blanched
• Alternatively, the following vegetables can be used : spinach, cassava leaves, papaya leaves, velvetleaf ("genjer")
• 3 eggs, hard-boiled and halved
• Red and white crackers

directions:

• Blend chilies, garlic, shallots, shrimp paste and turmeric using electric blender or pound using mortar and pestle till very fine
• Mix water, tamarind pulp and palm sugar in a bowl. Stir till shaved sugar melt. Break pulp with spoon or fingers till no lumps. Strain the liquid and remove excess tamarind peel, seed, etc
• Heat cooking oil over high heat on a wok till smokey. Stir fry the chili paste and kaffir lime leaves for 5 minutes. till slightly brown
• Add sugar mixture to the wok and cook till it boils
• Add shredded coconut and mix well. Lower heat and cook till the liquid dries up, continually stirring, for 10 minutes
• Remove kaffir lime leaves and keep the coconut in dry container
• Mix a portion of all vegetables in a bowl, add 1/4 cup coconut and mix well with a fork and spoon. Serve with sliced cucumber, boiled eggs and steamed rice

Notes:

• For 2 cups of vegetables, 1/4 cup of coconut would be the ideal amount
• Decrease the amount of chilies called for if less hot urap is preferred
• If freshly grated coconut is not available, use commercially packed shredded coconut and add 1/4 cup coconut cream to every 1 cup shredded coconut

Ribs with honey and orange rub recipe

ingredients:

• 500 gr pork rib, cut into medium sizes or bite sizes
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 50 gr preserved mandarin orange rind
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoon tapioca starch

directions:

• In a grinder, grind the rind finely. Alternatively, you can chop it finely
• In a mixing bowl, mix all ingredients for marinade together. Generously coat the ribs with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or longer
• Heat cooking oil in non stick pan. Pan fry the ribs in batches for 5 to 10 minutes each side over medium heat, depending on the thickness of the rib. Make sure it does not burn too much and turn often as the sugar will caramelize and cause it to burn
• Remove from heat and serve warm

Coconut jam, srikaya recipe

ingredients:

• 8 egg yolks
• 1000 ml coconut milk (or freshly squeezed thick cream from 4 coconuts)
• 600 gr white sugar
• 15 pandan leaves (optional)

directions:

• All cooking utensils to be used need to be spotless clean and dry. Any drop of water will cause the jam to spoil prematurely.
• Whisk coconut milk, egg yolks and sugar slowly until all sugar dissolve.
• Strain the mixture into a new and clean container using a muslin cloth / very fine strainer. This will make sure no coarse foreign matter in the spread.
• The cooking process needs to be done in a double boiler. Pour the coconut milk mixture into the upper saucepan. Stir in the pandan leaves if used. Fill the lower pot with water and bring it to boil.
• Fit the upper pot on top of the lower pot with the boiling water.
• The coconut milk mixture is kept above the boiling water and heated only by steam. Make sure both pots are tight fitting to prevent steam from escaping.
• For the first hour, the mixture needs to be stirred constantly to avoid build up on the bottom of the pot.
• For the next two hours, the mixture needs to be stirred for five minutes every fifteen minutes and then covered. The cover of the pot has to be wrapped by a cotton napkin. This will make sure that the steam coming out of the mixture will not drop back into it in form of water mist.
• The more stiring done, the finer and glossier the jam is going to be.
• Remove from heat and transfer to sterilized jars. Cover only when cool.
• Store in refrigerator. Will last for one week.

Spicy broccoli and beancurd recipe

ingredients

• 300 gr broccoli
• 250 gr firm tofu 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 cloves shallot
• ½ medium sized tomato
• ¼ cup (30 gr) green chili – thai’s bird eye
• 1 cm ginger
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil  
• 2 tablespoons water

instructions

• Wash broccoli under running water for 2 minutes and cut into bite –sized florets. Soak them with salted water in a bowl for 10 – 15 minutes (optional) 
• Into the bowl of food processor, add garlic, shallot, tomato, chili and ginger. Pulse until roughly chopped – about 5 seconds. Set aside. If the old method of mortal and pestle is used, pound away for 3 minutes or less.
• Cut tofu into cubes and fry in non-stick pan with a bit of oil. Brown all sides and pat dry with paper towel.
• Heat cooking oil in a wok. Fry the chopped ingredients till fragrant in medium heat – about 5 minutes. 
• Stir in broccoli and fried tofu. Season with soy sauce.  Mix well.
• Add water and lower the heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 
• Serve warm with steam rice or noodles.

Fried soybean cake recipe

This is prepared the same way all over the country. On street vendor’s food carts, traditional Indonesian eateries, fancy fusion restaurants.  Can be eaten as appetizers, snacks or even as part of many main course dishes.

how to deep fry soybean cake

• Get one block of soybean fermented cake, slice accordingly.
• Sprinkle some salt on the soybean cake slices
• Heat one cup of oil in a small frying pan.
• When you can spot some smoke coming out of the surface of the heated oil, the oil is ready to take in the soybean cake.
• Deep fry in batches till brown and slightly dry. One minute each side is plenty.

how to prepare spicy chili and soy dip

• 1/3 cup (30 gr) Thai green small chili
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• Using mortal & pestle, grind both ingredients for 3 – 5 minutes.
• Mix one teaspoon of the chili paste with three tablespoon of light soy sauce in a bowl.
• Set aside the rest of the paste for future use. If refrigerated, the thai chili base paste can last for a couple of weeks. If one teaspoon is too strong / too spicy, reduce the amount of paste or dilute furthermore with soy sauce.

Indonesian mix-mix green salad recipe

ingredients
for salad

• 1/4 (300 gr) white cabbage
• 100 gr long beans
• 100 gr lettuce
• 1 (200 gr) cucumber
• 2 cups (200 gr) bean sprouts
• 2 sticks (20 gr) cilantro
• 10 (30 gr) spring onions
• 10 blocks (500 gr) fresh beancurd
• 50 gr red & white traditional Indonesian crackers
• 50 gr emping crackers

Julienne white cabbage, cilantro, lettuce, spring onion
Blanch beansprouts, long beans
Deep fry beancurd till brown and cut to bite sizes
Deep fry the crackers 

for sweet sour spicy peanut sauce

• 10 gr Thai green chili (small)
• 300 gr (1 1/2 cup) roasted / fried shelled peanuts, preferably with skin
• 50 gr palm sugar / brown sugar 
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 cup fresh pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoon sweet dark soy sauce

Using mortal & pestle / food processor, grind nuts till crumbly. It is better not to grind them too fine since coarsely ground peanuts will provide richer texture to the sauce.
In a spice grinder or mortal & pestle, mix in chili, garlic, palm sugar. Process until it reaches paste consistency.
In a serving bowl. mix ground peanuts, chili paste, lime juice, pineapple juice and sweet dark soy sauce together. Stir till everything mixed well.
Serve with the greens and crushed crackers. 

Fish with tom yam sauce recipe

ingredients

• 2 stalks Wild Ginger Flower Buds or Torch Ginger (Bunga Kantan)
• 5 stalks lemongrass
• 200 gr instant tom yam paste
• 30 gr galangal
• 4 salam leaves
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 10 gr bird’s eye chili
• 1/2 tomato
• 1 cup loosely packed vietnamese mint / coriander
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups water
• 500 gr (3 pcs) round scad / other type of fish
• 1 cup cooking oil for deep frying fish + 2 tablespoons cooking oil for stir frying spices

instructions

• Cut wild ginger flower buds into two halves, length wise. Remove the first couple of sheets of the lemongrass, cut off the top part – only use the first 5 inch of the stalks. Wash galangal (to be used whole)
• Wash the fish and cut off the heads. Pat dry
• Heat 1 cup cooking oil in pan. Deep fry fish till dry, about 3 – 4 minutes. Remove and pat dry of any excess oil
• Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a wok / pan. Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, salam leaves, galangal and chili. Stir fry for 2 minutes
• Add tom yam paste and wild ginger flower buds. Cook for another 2 minutes
• Stir in water, vietnamese mint and sugar. Mix well
• Cover and simmer for 3 minutes
• Add fish. Stir well till coated with the sauce
• Serve with steamed rice

note

• Any type of fish can be used
• If a milder version is preferred, reduce the amount of the paste and the chili. 
• Grill method can also be used instead of deep frying

Avocado Chocolate Bits Frozen Yogurt recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 2 medium, firm-ripe avocados (6 to 7 oz. each), peeled, pitted
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao)
• Sweetened condensed milk for drizzling, optional

Directions

• Heat milk and sugar over medium heat in a medium saucepan until just comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the vanilla.
• Have ready a large bowl filled with ice and set a small metal bowl over the ice with a strainer set over it.
• Place egg yolks in a medium bowl, lightly beaten.  Ladle some of the milk into the egg yolk, whisk it to prevent curdling.  Pour this mixture back into the rest of the milk in the saucepan.  Cook over low-medium heat until mixture is thick and can cover the back of a wooden spoon, about 4 to 8 minutes.
• Pour the mixture over the strainer into the small bowl; stir in the yogurt.  Whisk the mixture over the ice bath until it cools completely.
• Scoop the avocado meat and puree in a blender or food processor along with the lemon juice and some of the cooled custard.  Pour this mixture back to the rest of the custard, blend them together until it is thick and creamy.
• Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Halfway through the freezing process, fold in the chopped bittersweet chocolate.  Transfer the frozen yogurt into a freezer-safe container and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours.

Skippy peanut butter cookies recipe

ingredients:

• 300 g flour
• 150 g confectioner's sugar
• 150 g oil, canola or peanut
• 200 g Skippy peanut butter, creamy or crunchy, or combination of both
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 egg yolks, for wash

directions:

• Preheat oven to 150 degree celsius.
• Combine all ingredients (except egg yolks) in a mixing bowl.
• Beat over medium speed for a couple of minutes till all ingredients are mixed well.
• Take 1/2 teaspoon of dough and form into round ball and arrange on greased pan. Do this to all the dough.
• Make a small hole using bamboo chopsticks.
• Brush the top with egg wash.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes till golden.
• Let cool and store in airtight container.

Crab fried rice, nasi goreng kepiting recipe

ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 5 garlic
• 5 chilies
• 5 Thai bird's eye chilies
• 250 g crab meat, cooked
• 1 kg cooked rice, day-old
• 1 Chinese celery
• 4 stalks spring onion
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Indonesian kecap manis, sweet soy sauce
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 90 g margarine, or unsalted butter

directions:

• Heat cooking oil in a wok. Stir-fry garlic until fragrant.
• Add chopped chilies and whole Thai bird's eye chilies. Cook quickly over high heat for one minute.
• Toss in crab meat and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add rice, spring onions and chopped celery. Mix well.
• Season with soy sauce and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). Add salt and pepper. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
• Toss in margarine. Mix well.
• Remove from heat and serve warm.

Chocolate chip cookies with cashews recipe

ingredients:

• 200 g butter
• 25 g milk powder
• 100 g confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 250 g flour
• 300 g cooking chocolate, cut into chunks
• 200 g cashews, toasted and chopped
• 2 egg whites

directions:

• Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius.
• Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat over high speed with wire whisk attachment for 5-8 minutes, until the butter mixture turns white.
• Add milk, baking powder and flour. Beat over medium speed with paddle attachment or wooden spoon, until the mixture is mixed well, about 2 minutes.
• Add chocolate and cashews. Mix with spoon.
• Roll the dough on working surface or packing them tightly over plastic in a cake pan.
• Remove the dough from cake pan and cut using cookie cutter.
• Arrange the cookies in greased pan. Brush top of cookies with egg white wash.
• Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
• Keep in airtight containers when cooled.

Baked macaroni with smoked ham, chicken and cheddar cheese recipe

ingredients

• 250 grams cooked elbow macaroni
• 1 tablespoon butter + extra for greasing the container
• 20 gr onion, chopped
• 1 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 75 grams button mushroom
• 250 ml fresh milk
• 75 ml chicken broth
• 75 grams smoked ham, diced (or corned beef)
• 75 grams chicken breast, diced 
• 50 grams cheddar cheese, grated 
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• cheddar cheese for topping, grated 

instructions

• Prepare aluminium container / glass dish for container, apply thin layer of butter on all sides
• Stir fry onion and garlic till fragrant with butter, toss in diced chicken breast. Cook for 3 minutes
• Stir in in button mushroom, cook for another 2 min
• Stir in flour, mix well
• Add in milk and wait till boiled and thickened
• Lower heat, add the broth, macaroni, ham, cheese, pepper, salt and egg, stir till thicken
• Remove from heat
• Pour in aluminium foil pan or glass pan, top with cheddar cheese
• Baked in oven of 180 celcius for 30 min, until the cheese on top is slightly browned and crusty
• Remove and serve warm
• It is enough for 20 cm diametre dish, good for 4
• Preparation 30 min, cooking time 45 min.

Indonesian chicken noodle soup recipe

ingredients:

• Spices to be ground
• 3 cloves garlic (15 g)
• 5 shallots (50 g)
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1/2 cm fresh ginger
• 2 candlenuts
• Whole spices for broth
• 1/2 star anise
• 2 cm length cinnamon stick
• 4 pieces cloves
• 1/4 fresh nutmeg
• 1 whole cardamom

Other ingredients

• 50 g chinese celery (divide into two, chopped finely for condiments and the other half for broth)
• 1 stalk spring onion (same as above)
• 1 tomato (quartered)
• 1 jicama (quartered), can be substituted with carrot
• 2 ltr water (for broth)
• 150 g yellow egg noodles (fresh or dried)
• 150 g rice vermicelli (dried)
• Fried shallot flakes
• Red and white tapioca crackers (fried till fluffy)
• Slices of lime (optional)

directions:

• In a large stock pot, boil water and add star anise, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom. Boil over high heat for 10 minutes. Lower heat to a simmer
• Grind the spices till smooth using a spice grinder (or pound away with mortar and pestle). In a skillet, heat 1/4 cup of vegetable cooking oil and quickly stir fry the ground spices till turned brown, for about 5 - 7 minutes.
• Add the spices into the stock pot, and throw in tomato, jicama and chicken breasts. Turn the heat to medium. Cook for another 10 minutes or till boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and remove the chicken breast from the broth. Add celery and spring onion to the broth
• Deep fry chicken breast for 5 minutes till the skin turned brown and crunchy. Shred the chicken meat to small pieces or cube them.
• Prepare the egg noodles and vermicelli by blanching them quickly with hot water for 2 - 4 minutes and drain well.
• Remove the tomato, whole spices, jicama, spring onion and celery from the broth before serving.
• To serve, first put cooked egg noodles and vermicelli in a deep dish or bowl. Add chicken bits and chopped celery and spring onions on top. Pour the boiling broth on top of the noodles. Add one tablespoon of sweet soy sauce and one teaspoon of tomato sauce. Sprinkle some shallot flakes and crackers. Serve with green chili dip.

Linguine con le Zucchine recipe

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves peeled garlic
• 10 ounces thinly sliced zucchini
• 6 ounces linguine
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley, divided
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

• Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.
• Crush the garlic into the olive oil, and stir for a minute or two.
• Add the zucchini, and stir so it’s evenly coated with the olive oil, and spread it out evenly in the pan. Let it cook for 8 – 10 minutes until it’s done and starting to brown.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper and add 1 tablespoon of the minced parsley.
• When the water is boiling, add 2 tablespoons of salt and the linguine. Cook it for 1 minute less than it says on the package directions. It will finish cooking with the zucchini. (My linguine said to cook for 9 minutes, so I cooked it for 8.)
• When the pasta is done, reserve a bit of the water to use if your pasta seems to dry. (I found I didn’t need it.) Drain the pasta and add it to the zucchini. Stir it well and cook for about a minute more.
• Serve, garnished with the other tablespoon of parsley.

Vij's Spiced, Roasted Almonds or Cashews recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb whole raw almonds or cashews
• 2 Tbsp canola or coconut oil (I used coconut)
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1½ teaspoons mango powder
• 1 Tbsp garam masala or ground cumin
• 1½ teaspoons cayenne pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375˚.
• Combine the salt, mango powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
• If using coconut oil, heat it briefly in the microwave or on the stovetop until it is liquefied.
• Toss the almonds with the oil in a medium bowl until they are well coated.
• Toss the almonds with the spice mixture.
• Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes (4 minutes for cashews).
• Stir the nuts and bake an additional 5 minutes (another 4 minutes for cashews).
• Watch the nuts carefully; you want them to get slightly darker, but you don’t want them to brown.
• Cool the nuts for at least 45 minutes before eating.

Coconut Red Lentil Soup recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup (7 oz) yellow split peas
• 1 cup (7 oz) red lentil
• 7 cups water
•  medium carrot
• About 2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons butter (or oil for a vegan version)
• 4 green onions, sliced
• Optional: 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons salt

For serving:

• 4 additional green onions, sliced
• Small handful of cilantro, chopped
• Optional: cooked rice or farro

Directions

• Rinse the yellow split peas and red lentils well in a strainer.
• Put the split peas, lentils and water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
• While the soup is coming to a boil, peel and cut the carrot into about ½-inch dice. You should have a little over ½ cup of diced carrots.
• When the soup is boiling, reduce the heat so it is just simmering and add the carrots and about ¼ of the minced ginger. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. While it’s simmering, prepare the tomato paste mixture.
• In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the green onions, the rest of the ginger, and the raisins, if you are using them. Cook stirring for about 1 minute.
• Add the curry powder to the skillet and cook, stirring, for another minute or so, until it’s fragrant.
• Add the tomato paste and stir so it is well blended. Cook for about another minute.
• When the split peas are soft (after the 30 minutes of simmering), add the tomato paste mixture to the soup.
• Stir in the coconut milk and the salt. Simmer, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes. It will get thicker if you simmer it a bit longer. I let mine simmer for about 35 minutes.
• Serve in a bowl garnished with green onion slices and chopped cilantro. (Serve over a mound of rice or farro, if desired.)

Roasted Carrots with Cumin recipe

Ingredients

• ¾ pound carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

• Heat the oven to 425˚.
• Toss the carrots with the olive oil on a baking sheet
• Sprinkle the cumin seeds over the carrots; add salt and pepper.
• Roast for about 25 minutes, stirring them once after about 15 minutes, until the carrots are tender and starting to brown.