Citra's Home Diary

Tumis Kacang Panjang (stir fried chinese long bean)

Another kind of Indonesian side dish. We usually serve it over warm steamed rice and "sambal" (ground hot chilly) company with other side dish like chicken/ meat or fried tofu/ tempe (fermented soy bean).

Ingredients:
 ± 300 g chinese long green beans, trim approximately 7 cm, washed
 ± 100 gr shrimp, discard head and tail, veined
 1 medium onion or 4 cloves small red onion, thinly sliced
 3 cloves garlic, smash and finely chopped
 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
 2 ~ 3 long red chillies, thinly sliced
 1 bay leaves
 2 cm galangal, lightly smash.
 Sweet soy sauce 3 ~ 5 tablespoons (I use 5 tablespoon)
 Salt to taste
 enough Cooking oil for sauteing

How to cook:
Heat oil in a skillet, saute garlic and onion until fragrant and transparent, put tomatoes, chilly sliced, bay leaves and galangal, saute for few minutes. Mix in shrimp, stir-fry until shrimp change color, then put in long beans, soy sauce and salt. Pour enough water (about 1 glass) and cook until fresh long bean turn a bit soft and the water dried.
I like my long bean stir-fry slightly crunchy.

Serve warm as a side dish with rice.

Kue Kering PUTRI SALJU I / Snow White Cookies I

Selam everybody...Merhaba from Turkey...

Kue kering Putri Salju literally means Whi

te Snow cookies in Indonesian language. Well, I guess you already notice why it call White snow cookies right? @(^,^)@.

It's very popular among Indonesian especially in some Holiday occasion (Idul Fitri and Christmas) beside Kaastengels, Nastar, pastel mini , Semprit susu (spritz cookies) and other traditional Indonesian Cookies.

Yield about 700 gr (125~140 cookies)

Ingredients:

Steamed Spiced Cake from egg whites (Cake Kukus Berempah dari putih telur )

Long holiday for Ramazan Celebration... Now I'm back online again.. Been busy since ramadhan cause we change our sleep and eating time. This year, ramadhan (fasting month) at August which is summer time, so we start our fasting break around 20.00 ( mostly I got my fasting break around 18.00 in Indonesia). We slept late around 00.00 or 01.00 then I must wake up again at 03.00 morning for prepare "sahur" (last supper before whole day fasting). After morning pray, we usually sleep again until around 9 or 10 morning. And I couldn't cook & post something new because I couldn't taste them during the day.. hehehe..

Then Ramadhan celebration coming, after we fasting about 30 days (mostly) but this year in Turkey we was fasting 29 days. During Ramadhan celebration (in Turkey called Ramazan Bayram. And we call it "Idhul Fitri" in Indonesian language), most of time we spent time with family, relatives and close friends. We visit each other house, lunch or dinner together also eat A LOT of Baklava! (^,^)

During Ramadhan I gain 4 kilos ! ... :(( *huhuuuhuuu..

You know how hard to loose some weight, but it's VERY easy to gain and gain more weight !

Well.. anyway, I must work harder and eat less to loose some kilo again. So I'll try to make something healthy and less sugar for my snack and dessert. Like this one: Steamed Spiced Cake.. Are you agree this is healthy one? ^,^

Ingredients:
 1 cup egg whites, room temperature
 1 cup brown sugar ( I use only 3/4 cup)
 1 tsp lemon juice
 tip of a teaspoon fine salt
 2 /3 cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
 Margarine / butter for grease the baking pan

Cooking OKRA

I like vegetable, any kind of vegetables. Mostly I eat them raw and as salad.

Talking about favorite vegetable, Okra is in season now days. We can find them everywhere in cheap price.

If you like this Okra too just follow my tips: find fresh okra with firm (not soft) pod, it's good one.

Then try my okra recipe for good menu on your dinner table (^,^).

Ingredients:
 ± 300 g okra pods
 ± 100 g beef, sliced lengthwise (can be skipped if you want vegetarian version)
 1 medium onion, finely chopped
 2 ~ 3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
 1 medium tomato, peeled and finely chopped
 1 teaspoon ground red pepper / chilli powder
 2 ~ 3 tablespoons lemon juice of ½ medium lemon
 ½ tsp sugar
 2 tsp salt or to taste
 ¾~1 cup hot water (or broth)
 Enough Corn/ canola oil for sauteing

method:
1) Leave the okra whole without cut. If you cut them the mucilage will be out from them and make it slime. Wash the okra with salt water and rinse with clean water. Drain.
2) Heat enough cooking oil in a pan, saute the meat until cooked and tender. Stir in onion and garlic, saute until fragrant and transparent. Combine tomatoes and paprika powder, mix well. Mix in okra, sugar and salt, stir well.
3) Pour with ¾~1 cup water (broth) and lemon juice, stir and continue cooking over medium heat about 20 minutes or until okra is rather soft.

Serve warm.

Damatesli Pilavı (Tomato rice)

I love eating pilaf. As Asian, it's main dish for me every time, everywhere. I feel "not full" whatever I eat without eating rice. ^,^

In Turkey, people cook pilaf different way from I usually do(which is always steamed and plain-Cause we usually eat our meal over that steamed plain rice)

Damatesli Pilavı means Rice cooked with tomato. The final taste is "almost" like our Indonesian Fried rice... "Almost" ^,^ .....I like it though.

Here I share how to make this Damatesli Pilavı

Materials and how to make it:
 1 ½ cups long grain rice, wash and soak ± 30 minutes, drained
 2 ½ tablespoons margarine
 ½ medium size onion, finely chopped
 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
 2 tsp salt or to taste
 1 ½ ~ 1 ¾ cup chicken broth / beef (or hot water)

Heat margarine in medium pan, saute onion until fragrant and wilted, put in rice and stir well. Combine tomatoes and stir for few minutes. Pour in chicken broth /beef (or hot water), salt then stir well. Cover pan with lid and reduce heat (at lowest heat). Cook up to± 20 minutes until broth is absorbed in rice. Turn off heat and let stand for several minutes without opening the lid.

Serve warm with some other dish you like or just as it and salad.

Afiyet Olsun.

Sweet and Sour Roasted Chicken

I was surprisingly love this one. Simple but great meal for dinner or lunch. You must try it and tell me if you are agree with me ^,^

Serve it with simple warm steamed rice or you can see some of my pilaf recipe here to get a long with this sweet and sour roasted chicken.

Served 4.
Ingredients and how to make
 1 kg chicken or 4 pcs of chicken thighs, wash and stab some places with fork

Ingredients for chicken marinade:
 5 cloves garlic, finely grated
 1 medium lemon, take the zest and juiced
 5 tablespoons molasses (I use grape molasses)
 3 tablespoons hot chili sauce ( ABC chili sauce/ shriraca)

 3 tablespoons canola/ corn/ coconut oil
 2 tsp salt or to taste
 2 tsp brown sugar

Mix well all marinade ingredients. Soak chicken with it and let stand at least 3 hours (or overnight) in refrigerator.
Roasted over coals or in oven 200 ⁰C until cooked

Serve warm with salad and rice/ pilaf or potatoes.

Yogurt Panna Cotta with Cherry Compote

This is my perfect dessert for my family iftar. Light but really entertained us after all heavy meal on previous fast breaking.

served 2

Red Cabbage Mix salad

Another Salad mix with Pomegranate sour sauce as dressing. Great side dish that will go along with any meal/dishes you have.

What you need are:

- 1 cup shredded red cabbage

- 1 medium red onion, sliced half ring

- 1 medium cucumber, core, and slice lengthwise about 5 cm

- 1 medium tomato, thinly slice, crescent shape

Dressing:

- 2 tbsp pomegranate sour sauce

- 1 tbsp lemon juice

- 5~7 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tsp sugar

- salt to taste

*Mix well all dressing ingredients.

Making it:
Mix red cabbage and onion, toss with some salt and knead before rinse. Drain them well. Mix with other vegetable and salad dressing. keep in refrigerator before serving.

Served cold.

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