Potatoes cooked with dried salted fish

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients needed are:

1. Peel 4 potatoes, wash and cut them into smaller sizes.

2. A handful of dried salted fish

3. Peel 1 large red onion and chop them coarsely.

4. Cooking oil

5. Turmeric powder & Chili powder

6. Masala powder

7. Seasons to taste

Cooking Method

Heat up cooking oil in a cooking pot over a medium heat. 

Once the oil is heated, add in the chopped onion. Then, add in turmeric powder and chili powder. Gently stir for about 4-5 minutes. Next, add in the potatoes cubes and salted fish. Add a bowl of water and stir gently. Cover with the lid and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat. Occasionally stirring the mixture as well as add in water to prevent the gravy from sticking to the cooking pot.

Sprinkle masala powder and let it cook for another 7-10 minutes over a low heat. Seasons to taste and that's it. The aroma of salted fish and masala gravy makes this dish irresistible!

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Corn fritters (Photos recipe)

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Coconut rice with chicken gravy and pickled baby radish recipe

Coconut rice (Ohn htamin) which is commonly paired with gravy dish (sibyan hin) is one of my favourites among many other dishes that my mother cooked for us. It is tasty yet simple to prepare but I must admit I have not try cooking this dish before. So let me just share my mother’s recipe.

Coconut rice recipe

170g of freshly grated coconut
3 cups of rice
Add rice and coconut juice to the rice cooker and cook. Please note that the amount of coconut juice added is the same as the amount of water added for normal cooking.

During the cooking process, remember to give it a stir at least two or three times as this would prevent lump of coconut cream forming at the top.

Chicken gravy recipe

Heat oil in the cooking vessel over a medium heat. Add the red onions, garlic and ginger paste to the heated oil. Add red chilli powder and stir well. Let it cook for about five minutes.
Marinate chicken pieces with salt, mono sodium glutamate and turmeric powder. Add the marinated chicken to the gravy and stir well. Cover with the lid and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes over a medium heat. Add ½ a cup of water and stir. Then cover with the lid and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes before adding masala. Cover and let it simmer for 5-8 minutes and its done! Usually it is ready when the oil has separated from the gravy.

Radish pickle recipe

Wash and slice the radish on both sides. Sprinkle salt and marinate for about 20 minutes. Then drain the radish thoroughly and add 2 tablespoons of artificial white vinegar. Add the fried crispy onions, a little bit of oil as well as sprinkle toasted sesame seeds.

Mum's coconut rice set meal :)

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‘Kang-Kong’ sour soup (ကန္စြန္းရြက္ခ်ည္ရည္ဟင္း)

Sour soup made with ‘Kang-Kong’ is one common soup of Myanmar cuisine. I like to cook this soup regularly because this green and leafy vegetable is easily available, cheap, easy to prepare and also I like its light taste. The ‘Kang-Kong’ sour soup is fiber-rich as well as vitamin-loaded. So why not make it often :)

Cooking Time : 20-25 minutes

Method

Heat oil in the cooking pot. Add small amount of turmeric powder. Sauté the onion and garlic until onion turns transparent. Then add the dried shrimps and continue to stir for about a minute. Now add in the the coarsely chopped ‘Kang Kong’ and stir until the vegetables are just tender. Add 3 small bowls of water and give it a quick stir. Cover with the lid and let it boil for about 8-10 minutes over a medium heat. Add tamarind paste to the boiling soup. Cover and simmer for another 8-10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Seasons to taste and serve it hot.

 

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Light and sweet flavor grey mullet soup

Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

 

Add water, ginger, garlic and lemon grass into the cooking pot, and boil for about 7-10 minutes over a medium heat.

Add fish pieces as well as chopped celery stalk into the cooking pot. Stir briefly, cover with the lid and bring to boil for another 20-25 minutes over a low heat. Remove the fish pieces to shred the fish. Add the shredded fish back to the boiling soup. Seasons to taste and its done!

Great for people with light taste!   

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Simple and easy potatoes masala gravy

 

Ingredients needed are:

1. Peel 4 potatoes, wash and cut them into smaller sizes.
2. Peel 1 large red onion and garlic. Cut and grind them into a fine paste.
3. Cooking oil
4. Turmeric powder
5. Chili powder
6. Masala powder
7. Seasons to taste

Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Heat up cooking oil in a cooking pot over a medium heat. 

Once the oil is heated, add in the onion and garlic paste. Next, add in turmeric powder and chili powder. Gently stir for about 4-5 minutes. Now, add in the potatoes cubes, a bowl of water and stir gently. Cover with the lid and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat. Occasionally stirring the mixture as well as add in water to prevent the gravy from sticking to the cooking pot.

Sprinkle masala powder and let it cook for another 7-10 minutes over a low heat. Seasons to taste and that's it. The aroma of masala gravy makes this dish irresistible!

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Paying respects to my parents on my Birthday

Burmese tradition has been heavily influenced by Buddhist teachings. According to one of the Buddhist teachings, there are five revered ones. They are the Buddha, his law, his order of monks, parents and teachers. In order to show gratitude and also to seek for forgiveness, we pay respects to our parents by the act of kadaw ( by kneeling before our elders and paying obeisance with joined hands and bowing ) on our Birthday.

16th February (Saturday)

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A short lesson on Myanmar names

Just want to share the article < A short lesson on Myanmar names > which my father had written in the

The Straits Time, Forum, 12 November 1994.

 

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Greenish unripe stir fried tamarind paste

Ingredients needed for Stir fried tamarind paste

1. Tamarind pieces, pounded
2. Dried shrimp, pounded
3. Cooking oil
4. Red onions
5. Garlic
6. Red chili powder
7. Turmeric powder
8. Seasons to taste  

 

 

Wash the tamarind pieces

 

Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes

• Heat oil in the cooking pan.
• Add in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, onion and garlic paste. Give it a stir until the onion paste becomes golden brown.
• Add in the pounded dried shrimp and fry until fragrant.

 

• Add in the pounded tamarind paste, a little bit of water and fry until fragrant.
• Seasons to taste and this greenish unripe stir fried tamarind paste is ready!

 

 

The chewy texture, the sour taste as well as the strands of veins from the tamarind pieces present in this side dish might not appeal to everyone at the dining table.

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Dealing with the loss of my dog and slowly allowing myself to embrace the next chapter in my life….Motherhood

   Lucky (my beloved dog) has been gone for more than 2 months. More than a year ago, I was told by his vet that Lucky had only 3 or 6 more months to live. I knew he was going to leave me soon and I thought all that emotional preparation would have made a little bearable for me. Well….that was what I thought but I was devastated when Lucky passed away.

   After Lucky’s death, I’ve just been a walking emotional zombie. He was the light of my life. He was like a child to me. He followed me around the house like a child. He would sit near the kitchen door when I cooked. Sometimes he would doze off on the door mat. I miss everything about him. I miss our morning walk. I miss carrying him in my hand.  I miss speaking to him. I miss teasing him. I miss taking care of him. Beef gravy is our favourite dish. But for now I just avoid cooking this dish.

   Dealing with Lucky’s death has been one of the hardest things that I’ve gone through. Both my mother and my husband gently reminded me that death is part of the life cycle and my grief might have a negative effect on my unborn child. This is my first pregnancy and needless to say, it has been quite a trying time. I pray hard for the well-being of my baby as well as not forgetting to look after myself both emotionally and physically. I’m sure Lucky would not want anything happen to my baby as well. I still could remember Lucky’s curious look at my baby’s first ultrasound image before gently touching it with the tips of his nose. Then looking up at me and gave me that happy look.  

   The only reason I found it comforting in dealing with the death of my beloved Lucky is that he had a happy and good life with us for the past 16 years. Those sweet memories that we had shared will always be remembered as I’m slowly allowing myself to embrace the next chapter in my life…Motherhood!

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