SouthseaScene

I don't often make Indonesian food because the ingredients are hard to find, but our local supermarkets are getting better at stocking ethnic ingredients. In the frozen section of Tesco, near the samosas, you can find the spring roll pastry.  Don't bother asking the branch in Chester. I was laughed at by the cashier when I asked for spring roll skin, because 'skin' is what we call the wrapper in Indonesian. Her more helpful colleague offered me filo pastry instead, which can be a good substitute. I'm afraid no one in Chester has yet to taste my amazing spring rolls as a result. Friends in Southsea are luckier!  Here are the ingredients to make 30 spring rolls (the packs come in 30 or 40 pieces) 1 medium head of cabbage, thinly sliced 2 carrots, julienned 1 red or yellow pepper, julienned 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 medium courgette, julienned 1 tablespoon of Oyster sauce (omit if cooking for vegan) 2 tbsp soy sauce salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp vegetable oil f...

Sometimes you find a gem by accident because you have a few ingredients and wondering what to do with them. This recipe is in the cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey that a friend gifted us after cooking us curry dinners at university.  We are delighted by how simple it is to make and how different it tastes to many of the dishes in our repertoire. As we have a vegetarian friend coming over to dinner this week, we thought this would be the perfect dish to make because usually the chicken is added at the last minute. The original recipe is called  Murghi aur mansoor dal  or Bombay-style chicken with red split lentils. As we're serving this to a vegetarian, we have substituted the chicken with cauliflower. The ingredients for 2 people are: 80-100g red split lentils 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped 1 fresh green chilli (we like it hot so we use 1 chilli per person) 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped 400-500ml water Put these in a pan and simmer for 45 minutes....

I was in the Thai food shop on Albert Road one day when this lady asked the shopkeeper whether she has any packet spice for nasi goreng. The shopkeeper and her mother broke out into a conference in Thai, the upshot being that they had no idea what nasi goreng was. Nasi goreng is not a Thai dish and that was partly why the shopkeeper had no idea. It is an Indonesian dish and it is so easy to make that I wanted to teach the lady there and then how to cook it. A few weeks have passed by and I'm still thinking about this poor woman looking for the nasi goreng. Here's the recipe and if you heard of anyone mentioning this recipe, point her or him to this blog! Nasi Goreng (Indonesian for fried rice) A bowl of cooked rice 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup 1 tablespoon soy sauce a handful of peas, fresh, frozen or tinned some diced carrots some sliced shallots 1 clove of garlic, chopped an egg 2 tablespoons vegetable oil If you have a wok, it's great, if not a wide ...