Komala's - Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

Komala's Restaurants are Singapore based restaurants-chain serving Indian vegetarian cuisine for its low priced and high quality of Indian food. There have different branches all over Singapore with stalls located in either Coffee Shop or Shopping Mall Food Courts. There is a Komala's vegetarian stall located at the basement food court of North Point Shopping Center just beside another famous Indian Banana Leaf Biryani Rice.

Till now we have only tried their Poori Set and Masala Tea which is quite suitable for our taste buds. Poori is a unleavened Indian bread that is served with Potato Masala or Chana Masala(chickpeas in it).

Before the main course, let starts off with some Indian finger food such as “Vadai” and “Samosa”. While queuing up for my orders, I saw these piping hot snacks coming out from the kitchen stoves so without hesitate, I also ordered one each to try out their varieties. Personally I prefer the Samosa more than the Vadai which is sort of like a deep-fried donut. We love the crispy outer skin of the samosa which is made from crust pastry instead of spring roll wrapper or flaky pastry.

All along mum and aunt were curious about the taste of Dosai which we always saw a lot of customers ordering it. In short Dosai is actually a crepe made from rice and black lentils which is a typical dish in South Indian cuisine that is rich in carbohydrates and protein. Here we ordered the “Paper Masala Dosai” that is filled with mashed potato and other vegetables like onion and green peas. This is served with coconut sauce (white in colour), onion (green in colour) and sambar (a kind of vegetable stew). The Dosai itself is really paper thin which is crispy on the outside and yet moist and soft when eaten. Overall it taste ok with all the different type of dipping sauce except we find it rather a bit salty towards our taste.

But accordingly to some of my friends, Dosai is not supposed to taste very salty when eaten. So I guess either the chef has added too much salt for my order or basically I am not those who can take savoury food :)

FairPrice Family COOK OFF

These few days if you are watching Channel 8, during some commerical break you might be able to catch up with this advertisement on FairPirce Cook Off. Their search is on for "Families of Four" to take part in the very first TV series of the FAIRPRICE FAMILY COOK OFF, an exciting new cooking show coming soon to Channel 8 in Mid-October 2010.

The "FairPrice Family Cook Off" show, created by Brand New Media and sponsored by FairPrice, will be a showcase of Singapore’s cultural diversity, and is designed for everyday “family” cooks, not culinary experts or trained chefs. It celebrates the talent and cohesiveness that everyday Singaporean families demonstrate in the kitchen.

Applications to audition for the first series of the FairPrice Family Cook Off are open from 01 June 2010, to midnight, 07 July 2010. Full details and entry are available at www.cookoff.com.sg Shortlisted families will be invited for an audition during the first two weeks of July to select the eight families that will participate in the programme that will be aired on Mediacorp TV Channel 8 in Mid-October. Furthermore, the winning family of the “FairPrice Family Cook off” stands to win an all-expense paid trip to Tasmania including complimentary lessons at a gourmet cooking school.

Brand New Media will be looking to cast a range of “family” units - the traditional Mum, Dad and two children; Great Grandma, Grandma, mother and daughter; groups of relatives who enjoy cooking together. So if you or any members or relatives in your family who loves to cook and have their very own "secret recipes" perhaps you would like to:-

Click HERE to get the application form today! Good Luck!

Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条

Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条 is one of the popular hawker food that is "flat rice noodles" being stir-fried over high heat together with dark soy sauce, Chinese sausage, deshelled cockles, egg and etc. Traditionally this dish is stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate.

Although at home, we might not be able to achieve that traditional taste of Char Kway Teow due to the wok, fire and ingredients used, but I am sure we still can whipped up something tasty and healthier using our modern utensils or choice of ingredients.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
500g Thin Flat Rice Noodle
10 Medium Prawns, shelled
200g Bean Sprouts
1 Chinese Sausage, cut into thin slices
1 Piece of Rectangle Fishcake, cut into thin slices
2 Eggs
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into section
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

For those staying overseas, if you cannot get hold of most of these ingredients shown above, you can always reduce the ingredients to the simplest 3 which is rice noodles, egg and choy sum/bean sprouts. As you can read from the list, I have omitted cockles which are not to our liking.

Sauce/Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Water

Method:
1. Combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Saute the Chinese sausage for a few second till fragrance, dish up and set aside.
3. Heat up the oil and fry minced garlic and spring onion till slight brown, add in rice noodles stir for a about 30 seconds before adding the prawn and fish cake.
4. Fry the prawns and noodles over high heat until prawns are seared then drizzle in the seasoning sauce.
5. Continue to toss them over high heat for a couple of minutes before spreading the noodle out over the wok.
6. Make a well in the center or push the noodles to aside , add in 1 teaspoon of oil at the side before cracking the eggs into it.
7. Stir to scramble the eggs and then combine with the noodles.
8. Add in the bean sprouts and season to taste with a pinch of salt(optional) and some ground pepper.
9. Add in the Chinese sausage, stir fry over high heat for a minute or so just to wilt the vegetables but retain their crispness.
10. Dish up and served with some cut chilli and soy sauce.

Note:
~ This dish is best fried in small batches(to achieve better flavour so that the rice noodles are evenly cooked, unless you are using a big wok then you can cook them in one batch) so divide the ingredients to be fried in two equal portion.

Now you can have your favourite Char Kway Teow at anytime of the day with minimum used of ingredients and seasons to achieve a healthier version that satisfy your crave for this dish.

Seafood Kimuchi Don @ Sakae

Recently it has always being raining in the afternoon or late evening and I guess having a bowl of piping hot rice will definitely warm up your body. Today we are going to try out one of rice item on Sakae’s new menu which is known as "Seafood Kimuchi Binbinba Don". Actually I have struggle for quite some time on whether to order this dish as I am afraid it might be a cold dish like “Salmon Don”.

Due to the dinner crowds, I waited for more than 20 minutes before my main course is being served. So while waiting, I ordered "Macha Ice Cream with Warabi Mochi". I have being craving for this dessert ever since I have tried it twice at Sakae. I love the taste of the Matcha ice-cream which really makes me drool for more, so I can't wait till finished my dinner before having this dessert.

Finally here comes my "Seafood Kimuchi Binbinba Don" that is being served in a scorching hot stone pot. The rice is well-blended with kimchi sauce together with decent amount of prawn, squid and half portion of soft-boiled egg. Although the rice is piping hot but it is not cooked in the stone pot itself so you won’t find any burning rice at the base of the pot like claypot rice.

Overall I find this Kimuchi Rice very appetising especially eating it on raining day as it gives you that kind of warm-hearted homecook food feel. This can be a good recommendation for those who love seafood and kimchi combination.