Fried Bananas ( Pisang Goreng )

4 bananas, medium sized one which are fairly ripe

90 g (3 oz) rice flour

30 g (1 oz) melted butter

1 cup santen (coconut milk)

pinch of salt

clarified butter for frying

Fried Bananas ( Pisang Goreng )

Mix the flour, butter, santen and salt into a smooth batter. Cut the bananas lengthwise down the middle, then cut each piece across into two. Coat well with the batter and fry in clarified butter until golden brown.

The bananas can also be cut into round slices, which are fried in the same way, 4 or 5 at the time. One banana is enough for two helpings.

To serve four.

Sweet Corn Fritters ( Perkedel Jagung )

In Indonesia these are made of fresh corn on the cob, and if you can buy your corn fresh then there is no doubt that the perkedel look authentically Indonesian. However, I have also made them with canned sweet corn, and although they look rather like ordinary corn fritters they do taste like the real thing. Here i give the recipe for making perkedel with fresh corn. If you use canned corn, then a 326 g can (11 1/2 oz) will be right for these ingredients, all you need to do is to mix its contents with the spices.

Sweet Corn Fritters ( Perkedel Jagung )

6 fresh corn cobs (not too young and not too old)

1 red chilli or 1/2 tsp chilli powder

4 shallots

2 cloves garlic (optional)

90 g (3 oz) prawns, fresh or frozen (optional)

1 tsp ground coriander

salt

1 large egg

vegetable oil

Grate the corn off the cobs. Put the prawns, peeled shallots, chilli and garlic all together through a mincer. Mix them well in a bowl with the corn, and season with coriander and salt. Break the egg into the mixture and whisk quickly. Heat about 5 tablespoonfuls of oil in a frying-pan. Drop a heaped tablespoonful of the mixture into the pan and quickly flatten it with a fork. You should be able to fry 4 or 5 perkedel at a time, giving each one about 2 1/2 minutes on each side and turning once only. Serve hot.

Perkedel Jagung can be frozen. Thaw them completely before you re-fry them or heat them in the oven at gas mark 4 (about 350 F) for 30 - 40 minutes.

Aubergine Relish ( Sambal Terong )

This is a relish which can be used hot or cold

2 small aubergines or 1 big one

1 big Spanish onion

4 cloves garlic

1 tbs vegetable oil

2 tsp chilli powder

1 slice terasi 

1 tsp brown sugar

2 big tomatoes

Aubergine Relish

Slice the aubergine and sprinkle it with salt, leave to stand for half an hour. Cut up the tomatoes and remove the seeds.

Crush the terasi and garlic together. Slice the onion thinly, andfry until slightly brown. Add the garlic and terasi, the sugar and the chilli powder. Put in the aubergine, and mix well. Add the tomatoes, cover the pan, and continue cooking gently for 5 minutes. Taste, and add salt if necessary. Then put the mixture into a pudding basin and steam it for 20 minutes.

If you want this relish to be really hot - spicy hot - then take 4 green chillis, seed them and chop finely, and put them into the frying-pan at the same time as the onions. Alternatively, use dried red chillis, soak them for at least 15 minutes and out them into the mixture, whole, when everything goes into the basin for streaming.

Bean Curd in Soya Sauce ( Semur Tahu )

4 pieces of bean curd

30 g (1 oz) so-un (vermicelli made from bean starch)

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

4 tbs dark soya sauce

1 tbs tomato ketchup

fried onions and parsley for garnishing

1 cup water

vegetable oil or butter

Semur_Tahu

Cut each piece of bean curd in half. Soak the so-un in cold water for 30 minutes. Slice the onion finely and crush the garlic.

Put 3 tablespoonfuls of oil or butter in the pan, and fry the onion for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, soya sauce and tomato ketchup. Put in the bean curd and water, and simmer slowly for 4 minutes. Then add the so-un and turn the heat a little higher; go on cooking for 3 minutes more. Serve hot, garnished with chopped parsley and fried onions.

To serve two to four.

Spinach Soup ( Sayur Bayam )

This is an excellent soup, especially if the spinach is fresh and young. It can be made with either corn on the cob or sweet potatoes. You will need :

500 g (1 lb) young spinach leaves

2 young corncobs, or 120 g (4 oz) sweet potatoes

2 shallots

1/2 green chilli, or a pinch of chilli powder

a pinch of ground ginger 

a small slice of kencur

1 salam leaf or bay-leaf

salt

Wash the spinach and chop it coarsely. Cut each corncob into three piece; or peel and cut the sweet potatoes into small cubes.

Sayur-Bayam

Slice the shallots and chilli finely and put them into a sauce pan with 1 cup of water. Add the ginger, kencur, salam and salt, and bring to the boil. When the water boils, put in the corn or sweet potatoes, cover the pan, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, add the chopped spinach and another half cup of water. Taste, and add more salt if necessary. Cook until the spinach is tender (about 5-7 minutes), remove the kencur and the leaf and serve hot.

To serve six

Duck in White Coconut Sauce ( Opor Bebek )

Roast a small duck in the oven at about 400 F (gas mark 6) until it is golden brown. This should take a little over an hour, depending on the size of the duck. Then it in half lengthwise. 

Meanwhile you will have been at work on the numerous other ingredients, listed below. The last of these, rhubarb, may be a surprise. In Indonesia we would use about 6 cerme or 3 belimbing wuluh, but a stick of rhubarb is a highly satisfactory alternative.

4 shallots

1 slice terasi

4 cloves garlic

4 kemiri (candlenuts)

salt

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp laos (galingale)

1/2 tsp powdered, or 1 blade fresh, lemon grass

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tbs vegetable oil

2 cups santen, made from 1 fresh coconut or 350 g (12 oz) desiccated coconut

1 bay leaf

1 stick rhubarb about 10 cm (4") long

some melted butter

Opor-Bebek

Pound the shallots, terasi, garlic, kemiri and a pinch of salt into a paste, and add to it the chilli, laos, lemon grass, coriander, and ginger. Fry it in 2 tablespoonfuls of oil for 1 minute. Put in both halves of the duck, and cover them with santen. Add the bay leaf, and the rhubarb cut up small. Boil for 1 hour or until the pan is almost dry, taking care not to burn it. Taste, and add salt if necessary. Put the duck into an oven-proof dish, brush with melted butter, and put under a high grill until golden brown. Serve immediately.

The remaining sauce can be served separately, if you eat the Opor with boiled rice. Alternatively, top it up with half a cup of stock or water, and boil in it a few potatoes - preferably new ones - to eat with the duck. You can still serve the sauce as gravy.

To serve two

Eggs in Piquant Sauce ( Acar Telur )

Duck eggs or Hen eggs are equally good for this sauce.

4 or 6 hard-boiled eggs

3 shallots

2 cloves garlic

4 kemiri (candlenuts)

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 or more green chillis

1/2 cucumber

1 tbs clear soya sauce

3 tbs vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1 cup water

salt

1 tbs vegetable oil

Acar-Telur

Peel and slice the shallots and garlic and pound them in a mortar with the kemiri until they become a smooth paste. Add the ground ginger and turmeric. Seed the green chillis and chop them finely. Peel the cucumber and slice into thin rounds. Peel the eggs and cut each into four.

In a work or saucepan, heat the oil and fry the kemiri paste for 1 minute. Add the chillis, soya sauce and vinegar, stir, and let the mixture simmer for a minute or two. Then add the sugar, mustard and water, and some salt, stirring well. Let this sauce simmer for 5 minutes. Taste, and put in the eggs and cucumber, spooning the sauce carefully over the eggs. Keep the heat on under the eggs for another 3 or 4 minutes, then serve immediately with rice.

To serve four.

Indonesian Chicken Soup (Soto Ayam)

This can be eaten as soup, or as a supper dish with rice. If you serve it as a main course, this ingredients will feed four to six people.

2 chicken breasts

120 g (4 oz) shrimps

120 g (4 oz) beansprouts

½ tsp ground ginger

2 ½ cups chicken stock

4 cloves garlic

5 kemiri (candlenuts)

1 cabe rawit or ¼ tsp chili powder

a pinch of turmeric

1 tsp salty (clear) soya sauce

salt and pepper

for the garnish :

4 spring onions (chopped)

several springs of seledri (flat-leaved parsley)

wedges of lemon

1 potato, sliced thin and fried until crisp

fried onions

1 hard-boiled egg (optional)

Soto-Ayam

Season the chicken breasts with I crushed clove of garlic and salt and pepper, and boil them for 30-40 minutes. Take out the chicken and allow to cool. Clean the beansprouts.

Pound the kemiri and garlic, and cabe rawit into a paste, and fry this in a little vegetable oil for 1 minute. Add the shrimps, turmeric, ginger and soya sauce. Shred the boiled chicken and add this to the sauce. Pour on 1 cup of stock, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the stock, adjust the seasoning, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Just 2 minutes before serving, put in the beansprouts.

Arrange slices of hard-boiled egg and fried potato in soup plates and sprinkle with chopped spring onions and seledri. Top with slices or wedges of lemon. Bring the soto to table in a large serving-bowl and ladle it on to the plates. Sprinkle on the top with fried onion. This should be served very hot.

If you eat soto as a supper dish, make some plain boiled rice to go with it, you may also want to add a little more chicken. If you think the cabe rawit, or chilli powder, will make the dish uncomfortably hot, then leave this ingredient out. If you are cooking for people who disagree amongst themselves on how hot their food should be, then make your soto without chilli but provide a side-dish of hot sambal for the spice-lovers, for example Sambal Kecap or Sambal Cuka.

To serve for to six

Brains Cooked in a Spicy Coconut Sauce (Gulai Otak)

This is a traditional Sumatran recipe for cooking brains, which we always mix daun mangkok.

3 pairs of sheep brains

10 daun mangkok or about 180 g (6 oz) young leaves of curly kale

3 kemiri (candlenuts)

4 shallots

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp sambal ulek

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tspv turmeric

3 asam kandis or 3 slices asam gelugur

2 ½ cups thick santen (coconut milk)

salt

1 salam leaf or bay-leaf

Gulai-Otak

Wash the brains several times in cold salted water and boil them for 5 minutes. Wash the daun mangkok or curly kale, and shred it finely. Pound the shallots, kemiri and garlic in a cobek or mortar until they become a smooth paste. Add the sambal ulek and the other ground ingredients, and mix well.

In a saucepan, put half of the daun mangkok or kale, and on top of this put the brains, cut in halves. Then add the rest of the greenstuff together with the asam kandis or gelugur and salam leaf. Dissolve the pounded ingredients into the santen and add this to the contents of the pan. Cook slowly on the top of the stove for 25 minutes or until the sauce is quite thick.

Discard the pieces of asam kandis or gelugur and salam leaf before serving. Serve as hot as possible.

Spicy Boiled Lamb (Kambing Bumbu Bacem)

1 shoulder or leg of lamb (about 1 1/2 kg or 3 1/2 lb) of meat

1 onion

5 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp brown sugar

a little tamarind (about 10 or 15 g or 1/2 oz)

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground ginger

a pinch pf laos / galingale

1 salam leaf or bay leaf 

salt

Kambing-Bumbu-Bacem

Slice the onion and crush the garlic. Put these with the whole piece of meat in a deep saucepan. Add enough water to cover, and put in all the other ingredients. Boil slowly for 1 1/4 hours.

Take out the meet and let it cool, then cut it into good large slices. Put the slices into another pan, and strain over them the stock from the first pan. Taste, and adjust the seasoning. Cook over a high flame until the sauce has been reduced to half its original quantity. Serve hot.

To serve six to eight

Boiled Silversidein a Spicy Sauce (Besengek Daging)

500 g (1 lb) silverside

1 onion

1 slice terasi 

a pinch of chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

salt and sugar to taste

2 tbs tamarind water

1 cup stock

2 cups thick santen (coconut milk)

2 tbs vegetable oil

Besengek Daging

Boil the meat for 1 hour. Leave it to cool, and keep 1 cupful of the stock. Slice the meat into serving pieces.

Slice the onion and crush the terasi, then saute both for about 1 minute. Add to them the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander, tamarind water and a pinch of sugar and salt. Saute this mixture for a few seconds before adding the meat and the stock. Then cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover, and pour in the santen. Cook until the sauce becomes thick, stirring from time to time. Serve hot.

To serve four.

Fried Prawns

This dish is best made with fresh prawns, if you can get them.

12 - 16 prawns (the largest you can get, and certainly not less than 5 or 6 cm / 3" long)

1 egg

1/2 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper

6 tbs breadcrumbs or plain flour vegetable oil

Fried Prawns

Beat the egg, add the ground coriander, and season with salt and pepper. Shell and wash the prawns, dry them, and put them into the beaten egg. Heat the oil in a wok or frying-pan. Coat the prawns with breadcrumbs or flour, and fry them 3 or 4 at a time.

to serve four

Buras (a steamed, stuffed rice dish)

This is kind of stuffed Lontong, but for this you cannot use boil-in-the-bag rice. Make the filling first, using the following ingredients. The quantities given are enough to provide filling for 1 cup of rice, measured raw.

Buras

2 shallots

1 medium-sized potato

2 carrots

a slice of cold lamb, beef, or pork (optional)

a pinch of chilli powder (more, if you want it hot)

2 tsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp tomato ketchup

1 tbs vegetable oil

Slice the shallots. Peel and cut the carrots and potato into very small cubes. Cut up the meet, if you are using any. Saute all these in the oil for about a minute, then add all the other ingredients and mix well; add 1/2 a cupful of water and cover for 3 minutes. Then take off the lid and continue cooking until there is no more liquid in the pan. Add salt if necessary.

Now Prepare the rice as for Nasi Putih, but to cup of rice add 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups santen (coconut milk). Put in also a little salt - about 1/4 teaspoonful. Simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed, in the usual way. The rice, of course, will be softer and damper than Nasi Putih would be at this stage.

Next, if you have banana leaf squares, put a dollop of rice on each one, pat it flat, put on a little of the filling, and roll it all up inside the leaf. Fold over the ends of the leaf to seal it up, and put the filled packages into a rice steamer.

If you have no banana leaves, however, simply put a layer of rice on the bottom of a pudding basin and then a layer of filling. Go on with alternate layers of rice and filling, finishing with rice. Either put the basin into the basket of your rice steamer, or tie a cloth over the basin and stream it in a saucepan as you would a pudding. Streaming time will be 30-40 minutes, whichever method you use. Leave to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Buras can be eaten warm. or may be left until cold. It will keep for 24 hours, but no longer.