Super Turmeric Drink! (Jamu)

Here's the top-secret recipe for a glass of the Mrs K Super Turmeric Drink™­. You'll need the following ingredients:

• Turmeric powder - 1 level teaspoon
• Salt - pinch
• Ground ginger - half a teaspoon
• Tamarind concentrate - 2 level teaspoons (you can get this in Asian supermarkets, or online)

Mrs K says if you don't like (or want to use) tamarind, a quarter-glass of orange juice will do the trick.

Put all the ingredients into a ceramic mug or glass tumbler (it will stain plastic!) and fill with boiling water. Stir well and leave to cool. Stir again before drinking. Repeat daily. That's it!

The recipe scales well, so you can make larger batches and store in the fridge in a bottle for a few days if you wish.

The BBC recently did a fascinating experiment on the effects of turmeric - turns out it has a measurable effect on genes that are involved with anxiety, eczema, asthma and even cancer! More research is needed, but it's very encouraging. BBC Magazine: Could turmeric really boost your health?

It's been a while...

We're painfully aware that we haven't posted any new recipes for a few months, and that's simply because we've been so busy (despite the rumours, Mr K has not been hibernating). But we certainly haven't given up on this blog and have plans for more recipes and tips over the coming months, so check back often or, even easier, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking on the link below for instant email notification of new posts.

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Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles)

Here's a very quick recipe post (sort of The Reduced Mrs K), mainly to see how short I could get the video and still make some sort of sense. Mie Goreng is cooked in a similar way to Nasi Goreng, but in this case Mrs K uses chicken pieces rather than lamb.

Gado-gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce)

Gado-gado is one of the only vegetarian dishes Mrs K makes. It’s a delicious mixed vegetable salad with peanut sauce (almost identical to satay sauce). The beauty of it is that the ingredients are not set in stone - you can use a wide variety of green and salad vegetables. One important (but again, not essential) ingredient is ketupat (rice cakes), which we’ve covered in another post.

Ketupat (rice cakes)

Ketupat is a rice dish that's served on special occasions, most commonly on the Lebaran (Idul Fitri) holiday at the end of Ramadan, but also on birthdays and weddings. Mrs K likes to cook it at any time.

Ketupat, by Meutia Chaerani from Wikimedia Commons

Bubur ayam (chicken rice porridge)

Bubur ayam is a great Indonesian comfort food. It's also traditionally a breakfast dish, but we eat it at any time. Mrs K, as ever, has her own way of doing things - there are millions of variations. There is one new ingredient (pickled mustard greens), but it's only an optional garnish, so don't worry if you can't find it.

More krupuk!

Mrs K has been going to the enormous Wembley Sunday Market for the last couple of weeks, mainly because one of the stalls is run by an acquaintance of our daughter. She hails from Wolverhampton and used to run an online Indonesian store tied to her real store, but that seems to have disappeared. But most Sundays she sets up stall flogging hard-to-find Indonesian treats, such as the krupuk pictured below.

Sambal ulek (chilli & tomato sauce)

Sambal ulek is one of Mrs K's star dishes. It's a smooth chilli sauce that's actually one of her simplest recipes (it doesn't even need a video!). 'Ulek' is the Indonesian name for a stone pestle (you will often see it spelled the Dutch way 'oelek'). Mrs K doesn't use an ulek as it takes forever - a hand blender is a perfect substitute and gives a much smoother result. You could use a food processor, but it would probably get stained unless it has a glass bowl.

This sambal can be used for anything - it's almost Mrs K's equivalent of tomato ketchup; perfect as a dip or pouring sauce, in cooking or even in your sandwiches. It can be as fiery or as mild as you wish - just pick the strength of red chillies you're comfortable with. In this batch we made, Mrs K used a mixture including birds' eye chillies and Scotch Bonnets. Needless to say it was extremely potent. The quantities used here make 5 small (300g) bottles, and cooking time is under an hour.

An aside: The joy of chillies

We were alerted to this excellent article in the New York Times about why chillies are so addictive. Seems that scientists seem to think there's an element of masochism involved. Mrs K has her own pet theory, and it's a lot simpler: she says chillies are great 'because they taste good'. And you can't argue with that.

Taste Test: Madam Sal's Malay Fried Rice

We found this lurking on the shelf in Tesco and were intrigued. We've no idea who Madam Sal is, but the picture looked semi-appetising so we thought we'd give it a try.