Indonesia

Indonesia was an after thought on the itinery for our four months of travelling through South East Asia. Landing in Kuta, Bali we had one week booked at a beautiful resort - a gift from my parents and a welcomed relief from sleeping on over night trains and back packing through India. We decided to spend a week exploring Bali island with a rental car and then head east experiencing more of rural Indonesia. I was enchanted the moment I arrived. Little grass woven offering baskets with burning incense and cerise pink flowers were place before all the entrances to buildings, including the airport. Airport staff eating from triangular folded paper bowls with throw away chop sticks…I was fascinated and excited to learn more about the Indonesian culture. Indonesians have simple eateries where a variety of prepared dishes (including chicken and fish) are displayed in the shop front window for everyone to see what’s on offer. You simply pay for the size of your plate and choose what you’d like to eat. I had to quickly over come my fear of the term cross- contamination, staphylococcus and his friends, and realise that if I was going to worry about getting food poisoning, I’d most definitely starve. A few hours later we were sipping on ‘Matzo’, a clear broth with what I think was pork meatballs, we had bought from a vendor on the side of the road. I had read about ‘the best authentic Indonesian restaurant’ in our Lonely Planet and I think my husband resigned himself to the fact that this was definitely on the itinery for the week. Driving there, along the narrow windy roads on Bali, was another adventure in itself… Colourful fruit stands line the roads with the most fascinating fruit I’d ever seen- huge jack fruit (the biggest fruit in the world), white mango’s, sweet little banana and red, spiky leechies.

We were relieved when we finally stumbled across the restaurant we were looking for and were welcomed with huge glasses of ice tea with mint and lemon grass. We did have the most memorable meal and were able to sample all the delicacies Indonesian cooking is famous for like satays, wilted water spinach, and tofu. Travelling east across Lombok island, we had another memorable food experience… We bought little banana leaf parcels that are made by compressing sticky rice around a young sweet banana wrapping and them tightly with a banana leaf. These little sweet delights are then kept for a few days until the banana infuses with the rice, and sold on the side of the road to hungry school children passing by. Looking back, Indonesia was definitely a highlight of our adventure. We fell in love with the beautiful nature of the people and the delicious fresh, simple food. Here are few easy recipes to try at home.
Nelleke’s Tips

• When stir-frying large quantities, do it in batches to avoid ’stewing’ the food in it‘s own juices.
• Maintain the high temperature of the wok to ensure the food is sealed, trapping all the flavour and juices inside.
• Drain marinated food thoroughly before adding it to the wok.
• When cooking noodle soups, cook the noodles before adding them to the broth. If the noodles are cooked in the soup, they will release starch and make the soup cloudy.

Nelleke’s Terms

Tofu - Also known as bean curd, tofu is made from fermented yellow soya beans and pressed into blocks. There are a few different varieties. Silken tofu has a smooth texture and is usually added to soups. Firm tofu is soft and tender and suitable for steaming and frying.

Pak choi (bok choy) - Also known as Chinese chard, this member of the cabbage family has white , fleshy stems and green leaves. The whole vegetable can be used thickly slices in soups or stir-fries, or steamed gently until tender.

Jasmine rice - Also known as fragrant rice, this medium grain rice is widely used in Thai and South-east Asian cooking. The grains become slightly sticky when cooked and make an excellent accompaniment.


Jewelled Vegetable Rice with crispy fried eggs (serves 4)

Inspired by the traditional Indonesian dish, Nasi Goreng, this vibrant, colourful stir-fry make a tasty light meal. Alternatively serve it with grilled meat of fish. Ingredients 2 tbsp sunflower oil 4 red Asian shallots (can be replaced with 1 red onion) 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 small red chilli, finely sliced 90g carrots cut into thin match sticks 90g fine green beans 90g fresh corn kernels 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 1 cm dice 90g baby button mushrooms 500g cooked, cooled long grain rice 3 tbsp of light soy sauce 2 tsp of green Thai curry paste 4 crispy fried eggs, to serve Fresh coriander and lime leaves to garnish Method:

• Heat the sunflower oil in a wok over a high heat. When hot, add the shallots, garlic and chilli. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
• Add the carrots, green beans, corn, red pepper and mushrooms and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the cooked, cooled rice and stir-fry for further 5 minutes.
• Mix together the light soy sauce and the curry paste and add this to the wok. Toss to mix well and stir until piping hot. Dish the rice into four bowls, top with fried eggs and freshly chopped coriander. Serve with wedges of lime to squeeze over.

Tip: When making this dish, it is better to use cold cooked rice, rather than hot freshly cooked rice. Hot boiled rice tends to clump together, whereas the grains of cooled rice will remain separate.

Sesame and Banana Fritter (serves 4)

Deep-fried banana’s are popular all over South-east Asia, and this version coated in coconut and sesame seeds is particularly good! Ingredients: 50g desiccated coconut 50g castor sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp baking powder 1 cup rice flour 2 tbsp sesame seeds 600ml / 2 ½ cups cups coconut milk 6 baby bananas or 4 big bananas cut into half Sunflower oil for frying Icing sugar to dust Vanilla ice cream to serve Method:

• Place the coconut, castor sugar, baking powder, rice flour, sesame seeds, cinnamon and coconut milk in a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly to form a smooth batter.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for one hour.
• When ready, peel the bananas and carefully slice them lengthways and into halves if using big bananas.
• Fill a wok 1/3 with sunflower oil and heat to 180 degrees. Working in batches, dip the halved bananas into the batter, drain off any access and gently lower into the oil. Deep-fry for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Remove the bananas using a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen towel. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream and dusted with icing sugar.

Olives and Olive Oil

This weekend I took the winding N7 up the West Coast to a small Town called Riebeek Kasteel, famous for it’s olives and olive oil. It’s name alone speaks of enchantment and adventure…this little town centred around a beautiful old church on a hill allows your mind, and your taste buds, to run away with your imagination. Famous for hosting the annual Olive Festival, when thousands of Capetonians flood the dusty streets, there are still many well hidden culinary delights.


My uncle owns a pizzeria along the main road where locals and tourists sit elbow to elbow savouring crisp wood fired pizza’s showcasing only the best local produce. The café culture and town square oozes Spanish country side… but it’s the cinnamon pancakes and the syrupy sweet koeksisters, South African favourites, that left me with a warm feeling in my heart.
Most of the farms sell a variety of olive products and are more than willing to tell you more about the olive oils they produce. As all successful food outings go, I returned home exhausted at the end of a long day with more olive delicacies than I could carry!

Nelleke’s Tips and Terms
Terms
Things to look out for on the label:
The words ‘Extra Virgin’ must be visible on the label of the olive oil bottle. This is an international term used to identify olive oil of the highest quality.
Look out for the word ’cold pressed’ meaning that no extra heat was used during the pressing process. The temperature must not exceed 30 degrees, as this can result in a bitter flavour.

Beware of a bottle that has the word ‘blend’, this often means that the oil has been blended with inferior olive or sunflower oils.
Tips:
Read the description on the back of the olive oil bottle to find out more about the flavour of the oil. Some labels will even recommend dishes to pair it with!
Olive oils differ in colour and flavour depending on when the olives were harvested. Light, fruity oils are best suited for salads or dishes where the oil is added after the cooking process, like oil based pastas.
Stronger, greener oils are used for cooking and will give a fried beef fillet great flavour.
Fill a small bowl with balsamic, oil and swirl a light olive oil into it. Serve this with fresh crusty bread and dukka for an easy pre-dinner snack!


Tapenade

Ingredients:

100g olives of your choice
60g black olives
60g anchovy fillets (optional)
30g capers
15g finely chopped garlic
Lemon juice, as needed
extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
Pepper
2 tbsp chopped oreganum or basil

Method:

Blend all the olives, the anchovies, capers and the garlic in a food processor until chunky and easy to spread. Slowly add olive oil and lemon juice to taste without over mixing. Your tapenade must have texture and identifiable bits of olive.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with pepper and more lemon juice, if needed.
Mix in the herbs and serve with pate’s, pesto’s and cheese for a lovely metze platter.

Olive and Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Fresh yeast gives this bread a lovely flavour. Ask the bakery section at your local supermarket for 50g fresh yeast and store the left over yeast well wrapped in your fridge. It can be replaced with dry yeast. (see the packet for instructions)
Ingredients:
500g white bread flour
7,5 ml salt
10g fresh yeast
275 ml warm water
75ml olive oil and a little extra to drizzle
3 rosemary sprigs
½ cup pitted olives of your choice
15ml coarse sea salt
15ml crushes garlic

Method:

• Roughly chop ¾ of the olives and set aside.
• Mix the yeast with 100ml of water and leave to dissolve.
• Sift the flour and the salt together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast and water mixture, olive oil and the left over water little by little. Mix with your fingertips to form a soft dough.
• Knead on a clean and lightly floured surface for 5 minutes to from a smooth, elastic dough. Work in the olives and garlic.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for one hour.
• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celcius.
• Grease two medium sized baking sheets. Once proved, knock the dough back by kneading it a little.
• Divide the dough in half and shape into two flat oval breads. Make indents with the tips of your fingers to create dimples. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter the remaining olives, rosemary leaves and coarse salt on top.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden and hollow sounding if tapped underneath.

Sheeba’s Kerelan Chicken Curry

The smell of old frying oil, dust and bustling crowds, and the tastes of curries, rotis and atchars are still fresh in my memory... My husband and I recently spent four months travelling through South East Asia, spending two months experiencing the beauty of India – a richly diverse country. Every village seems to have its own customs, hundreds of gods are worshipped and every region has a unique food culture.

We spent a few nights in beautiful Fort Cochin, situated in the predominantly Catholic province of Kerala on the West coast of India where we stayed in a 'Home Stay’ with a very hospitable Keralan family. In Kerala, they often use fresh coconut in their curries and are known to be a lot more generous with chillis - adding roughly chopped green chilli's to almost everything, including omelettes. One of the typical Indian delicacies we miss most are the chilli omelettes, neatly packaged in newspaper, bought in the early hours of the morning on the train station platform.
When our host asked whether I would like to join the other guests for a cooking demonstration in her kitchen I, of course, jumped at the opportunity! With such grace and precision she went about cooking dish after dish of fragrant Keralan food while we sipped tiny glasses of sweet home-made wine ladled from a big pottery vat under the kitchen counter.
Plates of crab bisque, spicy prawns, fish curry and small flat breads deep fried in coconut oil soon filled the small and humble kitchen... This recipe is a chicken curry she demonstrated. I have made slight adjustments, replacing the fresh coconut milk and coconut oil, but if you are able to find a fresh coconut - she simply blended the soft flesh and the juice and strained it through a muslin cloth for that authentic Keralan flavour.

Sheeba's Keralan Chicken Curry (serves 6)Ingredients
• 1 kg of chicken pieces (with skin)• ¼ cup chopped coriander• 1 onion• 1 ½ cup Basmati rice (1/4 cup per person)• 1 tin coconut milk• 1 cinnamon stick• 6 cloves• 1 cardamom pod• 2 garlic cloves• 1 chilli• 2 cups of plain yogurt• 1 tsp chilli powder• 1 tsp turmeric powder• Salt and pepper to taste
Method:

• To make the marinade, crush the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pod, garlic and chilli with a pestle and mortar. Add this to the yoghurt, chilli powder and tumeric powder.
• Marinade the chicken pieces overnight in the fridge.
• Scrape the excess marinade off the chicken.
• Finely chop the onion.
• Heat a deep frying pan or pot; add about 30 ml of olive oil and brown the onion until translucent.
• Add the chicken pieces and fry with the skin-side down until brown.
• When the chicken is browned, add one tin of coconut milk, cover the pot with a lid and simmer at a low heat until the chicken is cooked through.
• Remove the lid once the chicken is cooked to reduce and thicken the sauce.
• Add 125ml chopped coriander and serve with Basmati rice.