Indonesian rijtafel good for different diets

Friends came over and one of them was a vegetarian, so I opted to serve an Indonesia Rijtafel style meal allowing everyone to choose what and how much to have on their plate.

For the vegetarian friend I made Telur Pindang or pickled eggs. The recipe serves 6 people for starter or as part of a larger meal.

Telur Pindang

Ingredients:

6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

1 small onion thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

2 medium ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp white vinegar

100ml water

Heat the oil in the saucepan and saute theonion, garlic and chillies until the onion is soft (about 5 minutes). add the chopped tomatoes and ginger and cook, stirring, until the tomato has pulped. Add the remaining ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil, stir well, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Half the eggs and serve on the plate covered with the sauce.

Normally, I shy away from Indonesian dishes because usually the ingredients are not available, or if they are, the list is long and you have to do a lot to achieve the equivalent of a casserole. Having tried this one, I couldn't believe how easy it was to make and it was also very tasty. 

Beef Semarang Style (Lapis Daging Semarang)

This recipe is for 4 people, but be warned that the portion needs rice and a vegetable side dish to make a complete meal.

Ingredients:

450 grams beef sirloin or rump, sliced thinly

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp dark sugar

2 tbsp oil

2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped

Gently beat the meat slices with a mallet to thin them out.

Put the onion, garlic, pepper, soy sauce, nutmeg and sugar into a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Add a little water if necessary to keep the blades turning. Put the beef slices in a bowl and marinate with the sauce for about 1 hour.

Heat oil in a frying pan and brown the beef pieces. Add the tomatoes and any leftover marinade to the pan and stir well. Cook gently until the meat is tender (about 30 minutes). Stir occasionally and add a little water if it seems to dry up before the meat is cooked. However, the sauce should be thick.

Serve with fluffy white rice and some vegetable dishes such as broccoli cooked simply with oil and garlic.

On a summer's evening you can also serve the refreshing pickled cucumber Acar Timun.