Bridal Make-up (Solekan Pengantin) @ Istana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Assalamualaikum Stylistas of Abaya Suraya!

This was actually for my client's company Annual Grand Dinner, with the theme

'Around the World In One Nite'. She chose a heavily beaded Indian Lhenga in a very gorgeous goldish orange colour. She chose me to do her an Indian bridal make-over which I did. Her over-all appearance obtained her 3rd place in the Best Costume competition that night. =)

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Assalamualaikum Stylistas of Abaya Suraya!

Solekan ini sebenarnya untuk Majlis Makan Malam Tahunan syarikat pelanggan Sue bekerja., bertemakan 'Seantero Dunia dalam Satu Malam'. Beliau memilih sepasang Lhenga India yang berperincian sarat berwarna jingga keemasan yang sungguh cantik. Beliau memohon untuk disolekkan bak pengantin India. Rupa keseluruhannya telah menempatkannya sebagai pemenang ketiga untuk pertandingan Kostum Terbaik pada malam itu. =)

Dari Dapur Ummi! Ketam Goreng Bercili dengan Telur (Fried Chillied Crab with Egg)

Salam,

This time I have cooked one of my family's favourite dishes which is Fried Chillied Crab with Egg. It's hot, spicy and of course the crab is so tender and juicy! Have a try! :)

Ingredients:

• 5 Crabs / 5 ekor ketam
• 3 red chillies / 2 cili masak
• 3 red onions /3 bawang merah
• 3 slices of garlic / 3 ulas bawang putih
• 1 lemongrass / 1 serai
• 1 egg / 1 bji telur
• Salt / Garam
• Oil / Minyak
  
  

Cut chillies and pound them with salt according to your liking / Potong cili dan tumbuk dengan garam mengikut kesukaan anda

Pound the chillies with onions and garlic / Tumbuk pula bawang merah dan bawang putih bersama cili tadi

Pound the larger part of a lemongrass with the previous ingredients / Tumbuk pangkal serai bersama bahan-bahan tadi

Stir fry the ingredients in a wok / Tumis bahan-bahan di dalam kuali

Masukkan ketam dan gaul bersama bahan-bahan / Put in the crabs and stir fry with the ingredients

Cover the crabs with a lid, wait until it is a little cooked / Tutup kuali dengan penutup, tunggu sehingga ketam menjadi sedikit masak

Put in the egg and stir it together with the crabs. When the crabs are cooked, your dish is ready to be eaten. / Masukkan telur dan gaul dengan ketam. Bila ketam sudah masak, hidangan anda sedia untuk dihidangkan.

ENJOY! =)

Dari Dapur Ummi! Gulai Tempoyak Udang (Prawns in Fermented Durian Gravy)

Salam,

Gulai Tempoyak or Tempoyak gravy is a sweet and sour (and could be hot too if you add up the cili padi) dish made from fermented durian paste. Durian is a fruit with sharp torns on its external hard surface, but with tender, sweet and milky fruits inside. Some people love it like crazy, some people hate it to the maximum. For further information about Durians, please google it ok :p

Alright tempoyak is a familiar paste to be eaten with rice in the Malaysian states which are blessed with Durian trees, most likely Perak and Pahang. The paste, is extracted from very ripe durians which are too sour for you to eat just like that as a fruit, but from the paste we could cook its gravy or like I've mentioned have the paste to be eaten with rice together with other dishes. Gulai tempoyak is then very infamous in those states especially the Gulai Tempoyak Ikan Patin (Ikan Patin is a type of fish of the river) of Temerloh, Pahang. Since my father is from Perak, I am not excluded to be a fan of gulai tempoyak as well :) As for today, the recipe I am preparing today is Gulai Tempoyak Udang or Prawns in Fermented Durian Gravy.

Ingredients / Bahan-bahan:

• Prawns / Udang
• 18-20 Cili Padi ( Ummi told that the old folks' tip for you to have very hot but tasty dish is by preparing the cili padi in odd number)
• 1 turmeric with the size of a thumb / 1 kunyit sebesar ibu jari
• Turmeric powder / Serbuk kunyit
• Turmeric leaves / Daun kunyit
• Tempoyak paste / Tempoyak
• Salt / Garam
• Sugar / Gula
• Water ( according to the thickness you desire) / Air (bergantung kepada kepekatan yang anda ingini)
  

Turmeric and cili padis / Kunyit dan cili padi

Pound the turmeric with salt until it becomes very fine since it is to make gravy/ Tumbuk kunyit dengan garam sehingga sangat halus kerana ia hendak dijadikan kuah

Then pound the cili padis with the turmeric, make it very fine. / Kemudian tumbuk cili padi dengan kunyit sehingga menjadi sangat halus.

This is the result of the pounding. The rationale for the ingredients to be pounded very fine is for it not to float on the surface of the gravy. / Ini ialah hasil tumbukan. Bahan-bahan perlu ditumbuk halus supaya ia tidak terapung di permukaan kuah.

Put the ingredients in a heated wok, without oil. Then add in water according to your liking. / Masukkan bahan-bahan ke dalam kuali yang dihangatkan tanpa minyak. Kemudian tambahkan air mengikut kesukaan anda.

Turmeric powder / Serbuk kunyit

Turmeric leaves after they are cut / Daun kunyit yang telah dipotong

Add in the turmeric powder according to your liking to add taste and colour. Then add in the turmeric leaves. / Masukkan serbuk kunyit mengikut kesukaan anda untuk menambahkan perisa dan warna. Kemudian masukkan daun kunyit.

Put in the tempoyak paste (the whitish lumps you could see in this pic) according to your liking, the more it is the sourish the gravy would become. Then add in a little sugar to give the sweetish hint in the gravy. / Masukkan tempoyak (ketulan putih di dalam gambar) mengikut kesukaan anda, semakin banyak kuah akan menjadi semakin masam. Kemudian tambahkan sedikit gula supaya kuah menjadi sedikit manis.

Finally put in the prawns and stir the gravy until the prawns are cooked. / Kemudian masukkan udang dan kacau kuah sehingga udang masak.

ENJOY! =)

Dari Dapur Ummi! Kacang Buncis Tumis ( Fried French Beans)

  Fried French Beans with Beef Chunks /Kacang Buncis Goreng dengan Cebisan Daging

Fried French Beans with Shrimps & Fishballs/Kacang Buncis Goreng dgn Udang & Bebola Ikan

Salam,
Ok people one of the things which I love to do is cooking. When I was done with my SPM and hung out at home most of the time, I was trained by my beloved Mum, Ummi to cook Malay cuisine; usually with a touch of extra spice and hotness since it is a Minang kitchen :p

I even made my own 'recipe book' which consists of the photos of each and every dish taught by Ummi and their recipes of course. Since now is the holidays, which enables me to be a more frequent inhabitant of the kitchen, I think perhaps it would be a good idea to take step by step photos of how to cook these everyday dishes (according to what we prepare on that day) for the viewers of The Real Curhat Sue. Who knows that you might be interested to try these simple but insya Allah tasty dishes taught by Ummi. FYI, Malay cuisine is not that difficult to prepare as it seems, in fact once you try it, it is actually pretty easy. According to my personal opinion, cooking is only tough to those who are to afraid to attempt (or most of the time they are just plain lazy to cook!) cooking :p

So insya Allah, I'll try my best to update the recipes (if I am not lazy to update) and I'll prepare the recipe both in English and Bahasa Melayu titled under 'Dari Dapur Ummi!' (From Ummi's Kitchen!' :) What else, yes MUST REMEMBER that in my household, lesung batu is essential in replacing the blender, because Ummi believes that the mixture of the ingredients are much tastier if you pound them rather than blending them in a blender.

To start, below is the recipe of Kacang Buncis Tumis (Fried French Beans) which we cooked today. Hopefully it'll become menjadi if you try them and hopefully you would enjoy them :)

Ingredients/ Bahan-bahan:

• Fresh French Beans (Cut in a slanting way) / Kacang Buncis segar (dipotong menyerong)
• 1 red chilly / 1 cili masak
• 2 red onions / 2 bawang merah
• 2 slices of garlic / 2 ulas bawang putih
• Chopped beef (may be replaced with chopped prawns or anchovies) / Potongan daging (boleh digantikan dengan udang yang dipotong atau ikan bilis)
• Salt / garam
• Oil / minyak
  

Cut fresh french beans in a slanting way / Potong kacang buncis secara menyerong

Cut the chilly and pound it with some salt according to your liking/ Potong cili dan ditumbuk dengan sedikit garam mengikut kesukaan

Next, pound the red onions and garlic. / Kemudian, tumbukkan bawang merah dan bawang putih.




Pound the beef together with the other ingredients. / Tumbuk daging dengan bahan-bahan lain.


This is the result of the pounded ingredients. / Ini ialah hasil tumbukan bahan-bahan.

Heat some oil, then fry the ingredients in a wok. / Panaskan sedikit minyak, kemudian tumiskan bahan-bahan di dalam kuali.

When the ingredients are cooked, mix in the french beans and fry it with the ingredients. / Bila bahan-bahan sudah garing, masukkan kacang buncis dan goreng bersama bahan-bahan lain.



Cover the wok with a lid, wait until the dish is cooked and the dish would be ready to be eaten. / Tutup kuali dengan penutup, tunggu sehingga masak untuk sedia dimakan.

ENJOY! =)

Visit to Nilai3, Negeri Sembilan (Friday, 16th November 2007)

Colourful straw hats sold in Nilai3

Variety of baskets and decorative ornaments

Salam,

Due to the holidays, my ex-roommate in UIA cum elder sister/ best friend, Ina stayed over at my home since she has to check out from her mahallah/hostel. She did not depart to her home in Jitra, Kedah yet since she would join her boyfriend who would lead an entourage of UMNO members in his hometown to visit Kuala Lumpur. Specifically they intended to have a luncheon with a minister in Putrajaya (hehe the general elections are coming soon so what else.. must start campaigning right? ;) )

Since the entourage consists of mainly makciks and pakciks so the next agenda after Friday prayers in Putrajaya mosque should be shopping in Nilai3, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan; which is located not too far from Putrajaya. For those who do not know, Nilai3 is a shopping haven which became an obsession to women especially Malay middle-aged women, to purchase fabrics, decorative flowers, furniture, household decorations, carpets, wedding ceremony ornaments etc.

Indonesian & Sarawakian tribal masks

Decorative flowers made from cinnamons

Anything you can think to be categorized in the liking of mothers, yes they are there. Besides that, according to the reports I read in newspapers, it is claimed that the vendors here sell their goods with much cheaper price compared to any other place in Malaysia. In fact, the small town of Tangkak in Johor was defeated by Nilai 3 as the ‘It’ shopping spot. Really? Hmm I am not sure but it was for me to find out. But seriously almost any aunt of mine whom I met, and I asked where did they buy this pretty curtains for Eid or their new Hijab or that nice material for their Baju Kurungs; there would only be one single answer, Nilai3 :p And people, please DO NOT compare Nilai3 with Suria KLCC or BB Walk while reading this entry ok? :p

Ok, Ummi (my mum) and Suhail (my boyfriend) and I were supposed to join Ina and her entourage to Nilai3 after they are done with their luncheon and Friday prayers in Putrajaya. It is literally like a dream come true for Ummi because it has been long since she had requested me again and again to visit Nilai3. However unfortunately due to their bus driver’s weird attitude (stubborn cum ignorant in the routes of KL), they could not wait for us because the bus driver demanded that they had to leave then. So the three of us promised to meet them once we reached Nilai3. Quite funny, we reached Nilai3 much earlier before them. Even when they had arrived we could not manage to find them because we did not even know exactly how to describe where we were exactly because indeed Nilai3 was vast. :p

Congkak, a traditional Malay game delicately carved

Ok, once we were there, I could see rows and rows of shop lots offering various goods as I have mentioned above. The shop lots are nothing extravagant, very humble in fact which reminded me of the shop lots in Kuala Kubu Bharu which I had visited in my high school days. The first stop we made was to a Pakistani carpet store which offers various types of Iranian carpets. The prices are quite good, for example one funky print carpet which has the ‘Ikea look’ costs at about RM 40- 60 which is pretty OK. It was adorable to see my sayang always initiating a conversation with every Pakistani salesman he met, mostly talking about the recent cricket match between Pakistan v India. They were flattered they even invited him to join them for tea.

Then we went to a clothing fabric store which specializes on Indonesian Telekungs and Baju Kebayas. Indonesian tailoring is very well-known for their workmanship on embroidery.

Indonesian Kebayas, finely embroidered sold at affordable prices

Next we headed to a Sarawakian handicraft shop which sells many furniture and decorations made from rattan with Sarawakian tribal motives. I especially adore the Mengkuang baskets which are now produced in numerous vibrant colours and designs. When I enquired Ummi whether the price is considered cheap or not, Ummi said it’s more or less the same in Craft Complex in Jalan Conlay. Perhaps most people claim that the things in Nilai3 are cheap because they do not know about the Craft Complex. Perhaps if they go there, they would find affordable prices with a variety of selection.

Sarawakian rattan handircrafts

Then we dropped by to stores which sell handicrafts and wedding necessities. We did not do any shopping, because we did not intend to shop really. One thing about me is that I am not really the kind of a girl who favours window shopping. I find it tiring to go out and check out clothes and sometimes up to the extent of trying them but not buying them. I would only be interested to check out for new arrivals in stores only if I have money and intend to spend. However if you drag me to view art pieces, handicrafts, just for the pleasure of the eyes I would love to go. However Ummi did buy a few decorative wood chickens for her kitchen.

Adorable Chinese potteries

Me too did buy a Spongebob Squarepants stuffed toy for my sister Deena since she is obsessed with it, and I just wanted to cheer her up since she had been crammed in the room tediously studying for her upcoming exam.

Nana is hiding behind her new buddy

After having lunch at the Medan Selera, and after we had done sharing Suhail’s ABC especially me :p we checked out a few more stores and left for KL.

Ummi & Suhail enjoying the sweet dessert of ABC

Nilai3, from my observation is no wonder to be a hit among women, I bet that the visitors are increased by folds durin festive seasons especially Aidilfitri.