Kari kambing (Lamb curry)

I have not really been lamb fans for a long time,

especially since I saw how my fellow neighbours 

slaughtered one back to 25 years ago for a village 

festival.

Perhaps, it was because I have been visiting 

the poor lambs in its tiny house not too far 

from my house for several time and feed it 

for almost 

one month. 

Till I found out that he will be served for 

the harvest festival in few days. My tiny heart 

felt so sad and couldn't really look at the lamb 

after I heard about that.

So I decided that I am not gonna join the crowds

eating the lamb, so that goes for more than 2o 

years now. I bet my exposure to middle eastern food 

especially those kebabs of Turkey like Adana kebabs

and donner kebab have influenced me to eat lambs again.

This lamb curry is my very first trial of cooking lamb. 

In North Sumatera, the local eat this with roti jala.

Here is the recipe:

2 pounds lamb meat or lamb ribs, cut into 4x4 cm

1.5 canned coconut milk + 2 cups of water

3 tbs vegetable oil 

2 tsp salt

Spices:

Ground and mix the following:

8 shallots

5 garlics

5 cm galangal; crushed coarsely 

3 cm ginger; crushed coarsely

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

6 candle nuts, stir on a pan till bit brownish

2 tbs sambal oeloek

1 tbs cumin

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbs tamarind paste; heat it with 1/2 cup water 

in micro wave

additional spice:

2 star anise

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

2 bay leaves

3 curry leaves

1 lemon grass ' crushed coarsely 

Directions:

1. Heat the oil then add curry leaves and the 

ground mix spices. 

2. Add the lamb and stir for 10 minutes then 

add the water and salt

3. Add the additional spices then add half the 

coconut milk and cook in small fire  

till curry sauce reduce a half then add the rest 

of the coconut milk and cook till

all is boiling.

4. Served with rice, roti jala or roti telur.

Oxtail Soup (Sop Buntut)

What is your typical weekend lunch at home? Suddenly I had this question popped up. Coming from a real big families with 6 other siblings and few more foster brothers and sisters, weekend was always a big gathering at home. That the day when all of us returned home from our work place, from schools and be together and get loud. Of course, the most busiest person probably Mum and older sisters and the helpers. Well at least when we are all still single and lived not far from our parent's home.

And after lot of laughter and jokes and chats, moving from one room to the others, then the lunch is ready. I called this the delight of being among "the younger" children. I haven't really cooked since there are always expert to create the food, so I'd rather joined the boys clean up the garden, or painting the house, making small vegetable garden than cooking. But then after finishing college and worked in a place which take at least 4.5 hours flight from home, then this missing of my own comfort food really start to hit. Well they say nothing will happen unless you do something to make it happen, so I decided to play a bit in the kitchen, making phone calls home, asking for recipes and more recipes and more ...

So the food that I'm going to share here now is our typical weekend lunch at home. This food calls Sop Buntut. Sop as soup in english and buntut is means tail. Yes, when you mentioned buntut it literally means oxtail. So folks let's cook!

Ingredients:

2 pounds of oxtail (usually available in chunks version)
2 pcs carrots; chopped
1 stalks of Chinese celery; cut into 3 parts
4-5 cups of water

5 garlic (roasted in the oven  approximately 6-8 minutes)
1 big onion or 8 shallots (roasted in the oven  approximately 6-8 minutes)
3 cm of ginger (roasted in the oven approximately 6-8 minutes)

5 tbs vegetable oil

Spices:
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tbs salt
1 pcs of star anise
1 Beef cube (optional; I don't use it)

Condiments:
- 1 stalk of Chinese celery; chopped
- 1 tomatoes; diced
- Fried shallots n garlic (available at Asian market)
-8 green Thai small chillies; ground (this is the sambal)
-1 lime' cut into four; take the juice
-krupuk emping (I don't use)

Directions:
1. Boiled the oxtail in a hot boiling water, let the water boiled again then take out the water, poured in 5 cups of water. This way the soup will have clear broth.
2. Add the spices and keep boiling in small fire till the oxtail become tender. More or less 1-1.5 hour.
3. In a wok, heat 5 tsp vegetable oil and stir in the grounded roasted ingredients (shallots, ginger and garlic), then add to the soup, add the celery and carrot. Keep boiling till the carrot is well cooked (not too tender)
4. Add water if necessary and add the sallt.
5. Serve in a bowl with pieces of tomatoes, chopped celery, green sambal, krupuk and lime juice.

Dendeng Basah (Beef Jerky with Green Chillies)

This dish is another delicacy of Padang food. There are two variations of Padangnesse dendeng, the dried one, which has various technique from traditionally thinly sliced then spiced and let it dry by the sun or dried in the oven and the wet (basah) version which make the beef tender compare to the crispy dry version.

Dendeng basah is good with warm steamy white rice and any kind of simply boiled veggies. You can also combine it with fried potatoes.  Here is the recipe:

Main Ingredients:

1.5 pounds chunck beef
2 teaspoon salt
4 cups of water

Marinade ingredients:
3 tbs ground shallots
1 tbs ground white pepper
1 tbs ground corriander
juice of a lime
Vegetable oil to fry

Green Chillies recipe
3-4 long big green chillies
4 garlic
5 shallots
1 tomatoes medium size


1-2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
lime juice
1 tbs sugar

Directions:

1. Boiled the water, add the salt and the beef, boiled for 15 minutes. Take the beef out and put it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes. Then sliced it thinly .
2. You can add tenderizer or simply hit the beef slices with a mortar to make it tender. Add the marinade ingredients.
3. Then heat the wok and add 10 tbs of oil, fry the beef 3-4 minutes on each side, excess the oil.
4. Put the sauce ingredients to the food processor and crushed them coarsely.
5. Put 5 tbs of oil on the wok, fry the sauce ingredients, add the salt, sugar and lime juice for 10-12 minutes or till it well cooked.
6. Mix the beef and the green chillies sauce.
Bon appetite!