The Original Juice

In other words, “Aku dah boleh kahwinnn!!!”

Wait a minute! Oops, i forgot, I’m already married!

No lah.. just that we Malays have a saying that if u cant cook, u cant marry yet. And today, i have officially COOKED from scratch without any help nor supervision! Yayy

Browsing thru Zu’s Kitchen, i stumbled upon this Corned Beef Kheema recommended to eat with Chappati. I have always LOVED corned beef but mummy NEVER cooked it, so this is my chance! PLUS, we still have that ATTA flour we bought long time ago! LOL. and what better meal to learn other than my hubby’s fav n staple dish!

I warned mummy many times to let me do this on my own. She told me yeah she’ll be out when im cooking. But on the day itself, she took a nap. Fair enough. Good thing i went thru the method w mummy yesterday while buying groceries. She told me, that for the garlic and shallots, just take 2tbs from the blended one she’s prepared in advance. Ginger, 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice i can use lime also (limau kasturi). press them on top of a strainer.

I planned to do the Chickpea Chappati from Zu’s recipe but after going thru w mummy, we decided against it. As a beginner, i think i’ll start with a simple plain chappati first lah.

Sifting the flour.

Normally, its not required to sift flours in packet, but bcos the packet was left opened for some time, we tot it best to sift. (Plus, actually it said Best before sept 07! Shhhhh)

The flour mix is simple enough. Just add 75ml for every 100gm of flour. I made 500gm. Zu said to put the dough aside for 1 – 2 hrs, covered in cling wrap. So in the meantime, i fold the laundry, lest the cooking smell will stick to the clothes!

First problem encountered: How to open this Corned Beef can?

So complicated! Luckily, Kak Ly was around and she’s used this corned beef before. She told me to take off the key, remove the paper label, twist the key along the start point. Then it broke half way!!! After staring at it for some time, finally decided to use the can opener to stab around it. *dangerous!*

Second Problem: Err… where is the blended shallots and ginger and meat powder? Kak Ly showed me where. How come the shallots not as green as usual? and the juice sort of separated into two with the “hampas” or residue on top. *shrug* Meat powder is the packet right below there unopened. and ginger is in that small container at the side.

So there, everything’s prepared. In the transparent bowl is the corned beef already mixed with ginger and shallots. In the black bowl is the not so cubed potato. Mixed vege. and the meat curry powder with some water to make a paste.

Put in the Oil, spices, Meat, potato, mixed vege, curry paste, chilli sauce (lots of!!), tomato sauce. and this is where i made a mistake. i pressed the lime but forgot the strainer! I tot, “Ah nevermind lah, when they eat, they can put it aside on their own lah.” Okayed by Mummy.

While waiting for the potatoes to cook, and mind, it takes quite a while, i got the chappati ready.

Problem No 3: How come the dough stubbornly stick despite putting flour all over it? Could it be cos the dough’s too soft/lembik? Should we use the normal flour (tepung gandum) for this?

I finally had to ask mummy how. She said, no the texture’s fine. But put a brown paper on top of the chopping board (yes i was using the chopping board to roll out the dough! LOL), and dont press too hard.

The golf ball sized dough ready to be rolled out.

And there you go… my very FIRST CHAPPATI!! Hooray!!!

Ammi will be proud of me i hope.

One thing u must know is, making chappati creates a hell of a mess!

At first, my chappati were very lopsided… Mummy said that we should turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out on that side, so u can have a nice round chappati. but some people, dont need to raise the dough to turn it, just turn ur body and rolling pin!

Problem No 4: My dough is so soft n fragile that it cant help but stick on the paper. When it sticks, my nicely rolled out dough breaks/koyak!!! Sometimes, i hafta do it all over again, but if its not too bad, i just dump it on the pan.

It’s amazing how chappati doesnt need a single drop of oil on the pan to cook! While I like mine thin and crispy, Mummy like hers thick and soft! Darling, how do u like yours, honey?

I started cooking about 1pm. and finished at 3pm!!! Its the chappati that takes a long time! that 500gm can make round about 10 – 12 pcs, didnt really count tho.

There you go. That’s my plate of Roti n Kheema.

Dont forget to clean the kitchen afterwards!

But hey, isn’t it only fair that the one who cooks get to rest? *cheeky smile* So Xubi, can you help me with these, baby?

So there… Since i’m already married… i hereby certify myself Able to Live on My Own. hahah See… now i can cook… I like to use the vacuum now.. and mopping is easy with the wet tissue on the japanese stick. Aiyah dont know what its called. And i already know that washing clothes is easy.

I just hafta overcome my hatred for ironing clothes. As long as u dont give me diff material like silk or whatever (that the crease just wont disappear!!!) and if u dont mind not having that line in the middle of ur pants, that ironing is manageable.

Also, i still hafta prove that i can take care of a baby on my own! Ergh… being the youngest one, ive never taken care of a baby before. Even for Syifaa’, tho i always play with her, entertain her n teach her stuffs, I wont know how to make her milk, nor change her diaper. OMG! How to bathe a baby????

Well.. that’s another chapter in my life, that is still mysteriously out there in the far future. haha..

Now, in the near future, or more specifically, this weekend, i hope to cook again! Im loving it lah!