How to make KAYA jam

Ingredients :

4 (medium) eggs
6 pieces pandan leaves
250g sugar
250ml coconut milk

Method :

1. Beat eggs and filter. Rinse pandan leaves and cut into small sections.
2. Boil 50ml of water with pandan leaves and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Once cooled, add in coconut milk and beaten egg. Cook and stir over low heat for 25-30 minutes till the mixture thickened.
3. Remove pandan leaves. Serve once cooled.

Tips : the amount of sugar used should be adjusted according to the size of the eggs.

Food For The Soul

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer, a building contractor, of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

His employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but it was easy to see that his heart was no longer in his work. He had lost his enthusiasm and had resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and his boss came to inspect the new house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built for ourselves. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.

The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result.

compasion for every human being

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi there." He pounded his fat baby hands on the high-chair tray. His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled with merriment. I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag of a coat, dirty, greasy and worn. His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose, it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. "Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik. My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?" Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya know patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a boo!" Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence, all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments. We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to side-step him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's pick-me-up position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's. Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love relationship. Erik, in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain and hard labor-gently, so gently cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, "God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift." I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me." I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment, a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking.... "Are you willing to share your son for a moment?", when He shared His for an eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children."

Recipe: Curry Puff

Filling:

5 tablespoons oil
1 medium red onion (finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon kurma powder or chicken curry powder
2 teaspoons meat or chicken curry powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 cup of finely diced chicken breast meat
2 large potatoes (boiled and finely diced)
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pastry:

1 lb plain flour
5 oz margarine or shortening
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method:

Make the filling first. Heat oil and fry onion gently until golden brown. Add the kurma powder, curry powder, chili, turmeric and fry gently. Add the chicken, potatoes, sugar, pepper, salt and cook for 5 minutes. Mix well and leave aside to cool.

To make pastry, mix flour with margarine, water, salt, and knead well. Let it rest for 1/2 hour. Cut the dough into circles (3 in) in diameter. Fold pastry over to make a half circle and crimp at edges. Deep fry in hot oil until golden.

Drumstick Mango Kadhi

Link that might useful

Mamidikaya Molakkada Pulusu

Ingredients:

Raw Mango 1
Drumsticks 2 ( each app. 15 inch long)
Onion 1
Green Chiles 2
Besan / Gram Flour 2 tbsps
Red Chile Powder 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder a pinch
Tender Curry Leaves 3
Salt to taste

Talimpu:

Chana Dal 1 tsp
Urad Dal 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
Broken Red Chiles 4
Curry Leaves 8
Oil 1 tsp

Method of preparation:

Remove stems, wash and slit green chiles.
Wash, peel, deseed and chop raw mango into small chunks.
Lightly scrape, wash and chop drumsticks into app. 3 inch long sticks.
Peel and finely chop onion.
Whisk together a cup of water, besan, red chile powder and turmeric powder into smooth paste without any lumps.

Heat oil in a pan, add all talimpu ingredients in order.
When mustard seeds start spluttering, add green chiles, onion, drumsticks and salt.
Cook covered until drumsticks change color and are soft inside.
Stir in chopped mango and whisked besan mixture.
Keep covered on low flame until mango chunks are cooked.
Garnish with freshly teared curry leaves and serve with steamed rice.

Notes: Make sure mango is sour enough before starting this recipe.

a story telling

I am a Man

by Sarah Teres,

link to this article

I don’t know when I stopped trying. I think it has been a gradual process. It all started, I think, right around baby number 1, which was seven years ago. It was also 60 pounds and 10 clothing sizes ago. I stopped going to the gym, wearing high heels, and full-face make-up. I just didn’t have the energy to put in the effort. However, I did manage to keep current with the latest in maternity fashion and keep up my hair (color, cut, and even some foils!), waxing, pedicures, facials, and even dental appointments. I also continued to wear lipstick or gloss and mascara. Not a lot of effort, but some. Going “out” was rare, but on those rare occasions, I did manage to pull off some full-face evenings and the occasional high heels.

Then came baby number two. I still wrangled the hair (minus the foils—no time for that nonsense), waxing, and some pedicures in the spring and summer. I still went to the dentist every six months and had an occasional facial. I downgraded my wardrobe completely and, unwilling to part with my “thin” clothes completely, put them in a plastic Rubbermaid bin in the basement—where they still reside, untouched, after three moves to three different states.

Now, with baby number three and a new business, the old gray mare ain’t what she used to be. My basic wardrobe these days is t-shirt and jeans chic. But I don’t want to invest in any fabulous clothes in the size I wear right now because I am still in total denial that I even wear this size. Likewise, I am in total denial that even if I were to attain my old weight, my body will never, ever look like it did pre-pregnancy. The shar-pei-like quality (as in wrinkly dog, not High School Musical character) of my abdominal skin screams “extreme make-over.” The boobs that once rivaled those of Pamela Anderson are now nearly at my waist.

Most days, if I know I won’t be leaving the house except for perhaps a drop-off or pick-up, I’ll skip showering so I can have 20 minutes of extra sleep … unless it’s been a few days and I start to offend even myself. On the other hand, and in my own defense, if I know I am going “out” or will be seen by strangers, I will shower, run a comb through my hair, brush my teeth, and get dressed, even putting on a bra.

Wait a minute. Isn’t this the same routine my husband has had for years, minus the bra?

Clearly, I have become a man. I dress like one, and I’ve let so many beauty regimens go, I might as well be one. It’s just so much easier.

My only comfort is in the belief that I’ll eventually get back to being a woman. Someday. After all, those “thin” clothes are still down in the basement, and I keep meaning to find a way to get back to the gym. I will absolutely get my now gorilla-esque legs (don’t even ask about the bikini line) waxed soon. Really. I mean it! And I’ll get a pedicure, too — just as soon as the warmer weather gets here. I also plan to do something about the new Lily Munster thing I’ve got going with my hair. Heck, I even have a great gift certificate for a facial, which has been gathering dust on my desk. I’ll use it, I swear! Someday. You know, when I have more time.

When people ask me what I’d like for my birthday or Christmas, I can’t help but think that what I could really use is some kind of device, a robot or some sort of special machine, that will tend to me in my sleep without actually waking me up — because I cannot spare one moment of sleep. It would be great to get up in the morning and see my hair and nails done, skin perfect and glowing, legs smooth and shiny, and a pre-pregnancy body underneath the flannel sweatpants.

For now, I’ll just have to be happy with the fact that I manage to brush my teeth every day. Baby steps.

nasi lemak kuah

part 2

ingredient:

500 g red onion
500 g garlic
yellow onion -2(depend on you) -dice
ginger(small)
anchovies/dried prawn(to make kuah thick and delicious)
dried chilies
cooking oil


method:
ginger,onion and garlic (blend them cooking oil + a small amount of water)

dried chillies-blend(separately to the above method)

deep fry anchovies or prawn-after that blend them

fry the blended ginger+onion+garlic till a bit yellow...(about 30 mins)

and then add the dried chillies into the fried ginger+onion+garlic in the fry pan(put amount that suit you,a large amount chillies make it more spicy)

wait till the kuah getting darker(red)

put sugar,salt and Monosodium Glutamate to add flavour

lastly pour the blended fry anchovies or prawn into the kuah

wait for 50 mins to cook after pouring the anchovies

ready to serve-