When I was living alone and at the busiest point of my life, lentil curry is something I made very often. I make a big pot, separate it in small containers, and freeze them!

ABOUT LENTIL CURRY

In Malaysia, lentil curry (dal curry) is not only enjoyed by the Malaysian-Indian community; every Malaysian loves it! We love eating it at the Mamak (Indian-Muslims restaurant) with roti canai, the Malay word for prata or flat bread.

At home, we eat it with rice too. This recipe is taught to me by Aunty Clara, she cooks this ‘kari dal’ (lentil curry) for her family a few times a week. I first published her recipe here and in my cookbook.

SIMPLIFIED: 25 minutes including preparation, washing, and roti canai!

But this time, I’ve simplified it. Originally she uses dried chillies, fresh red chillies, and milk. I omitted all that. So this dhal curry is not only vegetarian, but also vegan. If you’re on a keto diet, this is perfect as it’s filling and rich in protein.

But I personally love it for its immense health benefits. The potent spices and rainbow coloured vegetables are so good for our body. The best thing is, you can make it in just 25 minutes!

While simmering the curry, I even have time to wash everything up and make a roti canai!

TOOLS

• pot with lid
• spatula
• Knife + chopping board

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

COOKING TIPS

1. Mixed Spice is called ‘Halba Campur’ in Malay. You can use mustard seeds as a replacement. Find out more about the mixed fenugreek spice or talipu here. 

Watch the video for more random little tips 🙂

The post Easy Lentil Dhal Curry In 25 Minutes appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

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Aunty Clara cooks but rarely. Like many working mothers, she doesn’t want to toil in the kitchen but still enjoy making a delicious meal for her family. When she does cook, we do get quite fancy Indian meals (to me, least). One of my favourite is her version of prawn paratel (‘paretal’ means dry curry).

On top of her family’s love for seafood, she likes that this dish is fast and easy to cook. It’s her go-to recipe when she doesn’t know what else to make. Compared to many Indian dishes that take hours to cook, prawn paretal only takes about 20 minutes. Besides, thawing frozen prawns is much faster than chicken meat.

Whenever she makes this dish – especially with a side of rasam – I will definitely help myself with more rice. If you like curry but feel overwhelmed with all the unfamiliar Indian spices, start with this dish. You could also try Easy Punjabi Curry Chicken.

Indian dishes can be easy to make. I’m usually thrill when I cook these (because growing in a Chinese household, curry is a treat), and because of all the beneficial antioxidant and nutrient from the abundance of herbs and spices.

TOOLS

• Pan and spatula
• Chopping board and knife

RECIPE CARD

STEP-BY-STEP

PREP: Peel ginger, garlic, and onion. Blend ginger, garlic, onion, tomato, and curry powder. Remove curry leaves from its stems. Clean and devein prawns (10 min)

FRY CURRY LEAVES: Heat 2 tbsp of oil in wok over medium-high fire. Fry curry leaves until fragrant (1 min)

COOK CURRY PASTE: Fry curry paste until it becomes dry and fragrant (10 min)

FRY PRAWNS: Add prawns, fry and mix well until prawn just turn pink. Turn fire to low. (1 min)

SEASON: Immediately add water and salt. Taste. If you like, add more salt or chicken stock powder. Stir a few times and dish out (1 sec).

SERVE: Serve hot with rice.

The post Easy Dry Prawn Curry (Prawn Paretal) – 7 Ingredients appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Do you know the sour, spicy, and rather pungent soup served in small metal bowl when you have banana leaf rice? It’s called rasam. It wasn’t love at first taste. I didn’t learn to like it until a few years back. The spice can be a little too much to handle.

But then, what we taste at restaurants is normally very different from what’s at home. I didn’t know dhal curry is not supposed to be watery and bare, but thick, flavourful, and filled with vegetables. So is rasam. Homemade rasam is thicker and so much more pleasant with a more rounded flavour.

Aunty Clara who grew up drinking rasam taught me a simple recipe. She called it ‘Indian soup’ and explained to me many Indians drink it everyday. She had a colleague who bring a bottle of rasam to work everyday.

I was so intrigued when she started plucking curry leaves from her garden, squeezing juice out of tamarind, chopping onions, and taking out spices like cumin and mixed fenugreek from her spice drawer. She said “You don’t need to peel the garlic. We blend it with the peel”.

When asked why, she said it’s the way that she had been taught. She also said that her grandmother make her stand by the pot of rasam when it cooks. “Make sure not to boil the rasam. Otherwise it’ll be bitter” she advised.

The homemade rasam was sublime. When she served homemade rasam with chicken curry, I ate more than expected. Aunty Clara said “Yes, rasam is an appetiser!”. She poured it over ponni rice and drank it throughout the meal. She said that Indian family makes a big pot of rasam and keep it in the earthen pot for days. “It won’t go bad!” she assured me

BENEFITS OF RASAM

I begin to form a theory in my mind: rasam is the secret to Indian youthful look. Indians rarely have wrinkles! Spices are rich with antioxidant and cumin is the top 20 spices with the highest ORAC value (a measure of antioxidant capacity in food). Antioxidant does have preservation properties. I wonder if that’s why it wouldn’t spoil (for up to a few days) even if it’s not kept in the fridge?

I came home and make some for myself I’ve been drinking so much rasam. Especially since it’s kept in a pot, I just scoop into a small bowl and drink whenever I like. So I told Aunty Clara and she warned me “Don’t drink too much or you’ll always need to go the toilet!”.

Then I realise that my bowel movement had been rather smooth for the past days that I’ve been drinking rasam. When I went to Nepal, and was eating food with spices, there was no constipation problem. Well, looks like I found a delicious and natural laxative

TOOLS

• Pot
• Blender/pestle and mortar
• Mixing bowl x 2
• Sieve

The post Easy Malaysian Rasam (Indian Soup) – 10 Ingredients appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

This is an incredibly easy dish when you’re in a rush. It’s delicious, filling, and can be made in under 10 minutes. I found that many Indian family in Malaysia make this often and have it with rice. My family who is used to ‘blander’ Chinese cuisine for dinner however prefer to have it with bread instead.

TOOLS

• Wok + spatula

ACTIVE TIME

10 minutes

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Fry 2 sliced onions, 2 sliced chili, and 2 stalks of curry leaves in 2 tbsp of oil. Add sardine and sauce. Mash. Cook until sauce boils. Add 1 tsp chili powder. Cook until dry.

COOKING TIPS

1. Control the heat As I like this food spicy, I like to add 2 – 3 tsp of chili powder. If you don’t, 1 tsp is enough. You can omit it entirely too if you can’t take spice at all.
2. Fillings for sandwich You could also use if for sandwich fillings
3. Leftover for breakfast If you make this dish for dinner and can’t finish, use it to make sandwich for breakfast.
4. Party food If you’re asked to bring sandwich to a potluck party, consider making this.

Enjoy this simple yet delicious dish!

The post Sardine Peratal – 5 ingredients, 10 min appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

I have long searched for a simple and satisfying curry recipe. I’ve tried many chicken curries – Southern Indian curry with spices like cinnamon and curry with lemongrass for example – but somehow I never make them much. Then I found this Punjabi-style chicken curry and been making it rather often.

It’s the easiest chicken curry that I’ve cooked – so I don’t feel overwhelmed with all the spices and steps. The only three spices involved are: curry powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder. Besides, the curry is much milder – not too hot or spicy. I like to enjoy my curry without hissing from (over) generous amount of chillies.

This recipe is from Aunty Gucci, a Punjabi teacher who claims that she doesn’t like to cook, but makes delicious chapati and curry effortlessly. Maybe because of the fact that she doesn’t like cooking complicated meals that makes her recipe so easy to follow. Instead of using coconut milk (which you can’t keep for long), she uses coconut cream powder instead. How clever!

If you like to make a pot of chicken curry that is easy, not too spicy, and delicious, this recipe is for you.

TOOLS

• Pot/Wok with lid
• Blender
• Chopping board + knives + peeler

ACTIVE TIME

25 minutes

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Blend: 5 red onions + 10 cloves garlic + 1 inch ginger + 2 red chili + 1 sprig coriander + 1 tomato + 2 tbsp curry powder + 1.5 tbsp coriander powder + 1.5 tbsp cumin powder. Cook paste in 1/2 cup of oil for 10-15min. Add 2 chopped chicken thigh + 2 peeled potatoes + 2 cups of water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Flavour with 2 tbsp coconut powder + 1.5 tsp salt.

COOKING TIPS

1. Curry consistency You can adjust the consistency – wet or dry. If you like more sauce to dip with chapati or to pour over rice, then dish out before it turns dry. If you like drier curry, let more water evaporate.
2. Freeze and reheat I like to make them to freeze. When you want to reheat it, just add a little water and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. You can also reheat in the microwave, but I like reheating on a small pan which I also use to serve (pictured).
3. Coconut cream powder. Using santan powder is so much more convenient. That’s because when I open the UHT coconut milk, I’ll have leftover coconut milk which I may not need yet. I think coconut cream powder is good enough for everyday meal. However, Aunty Gucci told me that coconut milk will make this dish tastes much better.
4. Grind your own coriander and cumin powder. I’ve made this dish a few times. The first time, Aunty Gucci gave me the spices she grinded. The second time, I bought it from the supermarket. Boy, I can tell the difference; the freshly grinded ones is so much more fragrant. I was told a good quality curry powder is also important. Aunty Gucci suggested Baba’s brand (meat) curry powder.

Good luck!

The post Easy Punjabi Chicken Curry appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.