Sight, Sound & Taste of Diwali in Brickfields

I adore everything under the category of Indian food. The sweets, the snacks, the banana leaf rice, the curry, the rotis, the chutney. Yum~ In this time of Deepavali festive mood, I just had to take a stroll along the length of Jalan Tun Sambanthan :D Brickfields is a bust of activities with the street lined up with stalls selling everything from muruku to sarees to cater for this festival.

It is so refreshing to see striking colours in the form of food, clothing, greeting cards and decorations adorn the area. Hip and upbeat Bollywood music fills the air. The crowd, bargaining and walking away with new items in their hands tells you “yup, Deepavali is here”.

laddu

durianberry experiments: playing with food

I’m loaded with assignments. This usually happens 3 to 4 weeks into Uni. Blehhh. And one of our lecturers was offended by our attitude (I think he is just too short-tempered). The consequence – lacklustre lectures from him, a cancelled excursion and a difficult test to be thrown upon us. Sigh. The other day I went ahead with a bowl of tomyam although I was already feeling slightly unwell. Now I’m slapped with a week of drippy runny noise and cough ;P

Oh well, nevermind. I can reminisce about the food I enjoyed experimenting with last month… while I was at home – healthy and shaking legs with all the free time I had.

Some South African avocados I picked out at a supermarket. You can tell they were still unripe if it is relatively hard and does not yield to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. To get avocados to ripe faster, I simply wrap them in newspaper and leave in a cool, dry place.

When they are ready, I used them to make yummy guacamole. Once you do cut into an avocado you want to eat it as quickly as possible. Or they will turn brown when oxidised. My favourite recipe for an authentic guacamole is from Simply Recipes. It has to have garlic, lime juice and cilantro! Then open up a bag of Chachos to go with it.

This is a thin crust version pizza. The recipe is versatile enough even I succeeded in making it! I used to buy premix from bakery shop because if I make from scratch, I always end up with pizza bread :( I spread some homemade tomato sauce and throw on some sausages. 5 minutes from done, I crack an egg on top and pop back into the oven. . Easy meal!

This is a low fat healthy biscotti recipe which I substituted with almonds and my failed meringue (not so healthy anymore!). See what I mean by playing with food? Hehe. I like the recipe because it uses oil instead of butter. The biscotti didn’t turn out as crispy as I wanted. Maybe I messed with the ingredients too much. Nonetheless it was so good to dip into a cup of foamy coffee!

When I saw Cynthia‘s post on channa (sautéed chickpeas), I had to ask her for the recipe. I only know about steamed chickpeas, which is one of my favourite Indian snacks besides muruku. And I am so happy to have attempted this version of cooking the chickpeas.

I had to substitute and improvise some ingredients with what I had at home. This my sautéed chickpeas with red onions, paprika, freshly ground cumin and a stalk of spring onions at the end. So scrumptious! I love the balance of earthiness from the cumin and sweetness of spring onions. Thanks for the recipe, Cynthia.

Weekend in Malacca #1

Last weekend I spent the time with a bunch of couchsurfer‘s in Malacca. Couch surfing is a project where the member offer his/her couch (@ a place to overnight) to another member traveller. This way, as a budget traveller, you can experience the culture through the local host and make friends along the way :)

We departed from KL at 7am. When we arrived in Melaka, the rain was pouring mercilessly on us. We waited, and waited, before the rain subside a little. Then head for breakfast with a grumbling stomach.

Dried style fish paste noodle I ordered. Seems like fish paste noodle can be found everywhere in Melaka.

Mr. Ken “Chairman” was our organizer. He brought us to Mr. Yee’s teahouse for a demonstration of traditional Chinese tea preparation. His teahouse may not be as glamour as Boh’s in Cameron Highlands, but it is stocked with teapots of all kinds and tea leaves ranging from RM20/100g to RM80/100g. Then, Mr. Yee kindly became our guide for the day ;D

The Eight Immortals House
22, Jalan Laksamana,
75000 Melaka, Malaysia
yeetea@pd.jaring.my

We just walk around in the town.. jumping in and out between food shops, free museums and souvenir shops.

Some snacks and dried food stuff

More snacks – dodol and nyonya kuih

At around 3pm, we stopped at an Indian restaurant for banana leaf rice.

It is opposite Discovery Cafe where we were staying. For affordable yet comfortable accommodation, this place is it. I only paid RM15 for air-conditioned dorm :D

Discovery Cafe & Guest House
Mr. Teng Kim Sia
No. 3, Jalan Bunga Raya,
75100 Melaka
discoverycafe_1999@hotmail.com/yahoo.com

After we have checked-in, the walk continues in and around Jonker Walk. Because of that refillable banana leaf rice, I was too full to try the fried radish cake ^.^;

A trolley of pineapple tarts left in the street.. keke. *evil instincts to cart it away*

I accompanied a couple from Mumbai, India and we had 2 bowls of cendol and a bowl of ABC. They’ve travelled East Malaysia, got a tattoo from the Iban, conquered Mount Kinabalu, hiked a couple of mountains, flew to Penang before meeting us in Malacca. Amazing! I’m so inspired after hearing so much travel stories. I want to travel and conquer each country’s food!