I Hereby Officiate 'The Indian Kitchen'

'The Indian Kitchen' is filled with delicious mouth-watering treats that I wish I could just poof up instead of cooking from scratch. Why, you ask? Good Indian dishes are always prepared with loads of spices and at times hard-to-get ingredients, not to mention that extra cooking step to make it its own. I decided to whip up one carrot-flavoured rice and spicy goan chicken curry - they seemed simple enough and most importantly I have them ingredients.

Gajar Ka Pulao

Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, add the cassia stick (I replaced it with cinnamon bark), cloves and black peppercorns, and fry for a minute. Add the rice (I used two cups) and fry until translucent. Throw in the grated carrots (I used one big carrot) and 4Tbsp cashew nuts. Fry for a couple of minutes before transferring the rice into a rice cooker. Add the salt and hot water and stir the mixture well. Leave it to cook!

All ready - my carrot-flavoured rice!

The second dish for the day was one Komdi Vindaloo

Ingredients:

Cooking oil, potatoes, large onions, 4 chicken drumsticks, cloves, black peppercorns, cardamom, 4 green chilies (slit lengthways to expose the seeds but the chili is not broken in two - this description immediately made my mouth water ~spicy!), 1tsp sugar, salt. 4Tbsp malt vinegar (I replaced it with calamansi juice).

Grind to a paste: 1tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp chopped garlic, 1tsp chopped ginger, 4 dried red chilies, and a large pinch of cinnamon powder (I didn't have cumin seeds and coriander seeds, so I replaced with powdered ones).

How to:

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the potatoes until golden. Set aside.

2. Fry the onions till translucent. Add the chicken, cloves, peppercorns, cardamom and green chilies.

3. Fry until the chicken is well browned. Add sugar and salt and stir-fry for about five minutes.

4. Add potatoes and the ground spice paste. Cook till the chicken is done.

5. Stir in the vinegar and simmer for five more minutes. Enjoy!

*I added a little water during the cooking process as the ingredients began to stick to the pan.

Presenting my spicy Goan chicken curry

Oily Rice

My first effort of a complete set of nasi minyak (literally translated as 'oily rice'), which is often served in malay weddings. Of course the condiments and dishes may vary. The recipes for the nasi minyak and spicy honey chicken were taken from the internet (except for the cucumber salad) but I've forgotten the sites. Sorry yea. But here are my versions (I usually 'agak-agak' and modify them recipes).

NASI MINYAK
1. Heat up a pan. Add ghee and margarine.
2. When hot, add pounded paste (shallots, garlic, ginger), star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamon. You may also add in screwpine leaves (knotted) and lemongrass (knocked flat). Fry till fragrant.
3. Add cashewnuts and raisins (you may also add in the raisins when the rice is almost cooked). Stir, stir, stir.
4. Then add in rice and mix well.
5. Transfer everything into a rice cooker. Add tomato juice/ketchup and a pinch of salt (some recipes also call for milk. Then add water.
6. Put the rice to cook and do remember to stir the rice as it is being cooked.

SPICY HONEY CHICKEN
1. Marinate chicken with turmeric powder, salt and pepper for half an hour before frying the chicken.
2. Heat up a wok. Add oil and stir fry cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and curry leaves till fragrant. Add in pounded ginger and garlic and continue stir frying till lightly browned.
3. Add in tomato paste, chili paste, honey and stir well for ten seconds. Add in some water and bring to a boil. Toss in the fried chicken and onion rings.
4. Stir fry and bring the heat to a low simmer, cover and cook until the sauce thickens and the chicken is done. Check on the sweetness and saltiness.
5. Ready to serve.

CUCUMBER, ONION AND CHILI SALAD
1. Toss in sliced cucumber, chilies, shallots and pineapple, together with lime juice, sugar and salt. Adjust the sweet-sour-salty taste according to your preference.