Perfect Indonesian Fried Foods for Iftar
Hi guys! I want to share my favourite iftar menu during Ramadan that I always consume in Indonesia. To be more relevant in following this article, you should read my blog: Ramadan in the UK: Fasting for 18 Hours Amid the COVID19 Outbreak first to give you more detail about Ramadan in the UK.
In my previous blog, I have mentioned about bakwan and cheesy lumpia. Those two are my all-time favourite fries, especially to have them in the fasting month. To cook them is extremely simple! To be honest, this year is my first time to cook bakwan by myself. Thanks to youtube and those digital chefs for sharing the recipe with me 😀
Now I am going to share the recipe for bakwan first. The ingredients you need are:
- Plain flour
- Rice flour (people say to make it crispy)
- Ground coriander (some people don’t like it, but for me, it's better to add this)
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Totole (optional, but this is a magical mushroom-flavour seasoning that will make any kind of cook tastes sooooo good!)
- Garlic paste (optional, I assume it complements the taste of my bakwan haha)
- Carrot (main veggie)
- Cabbage (main veggie)
- Beansprout (optional, mostly use this)
- Spring onion (optional, kinda weird not to use this)
First of all, cut your veggies into small pieces.
Second, prepare the mix. Please be noted, that the measure I show in this blog is for two pieces of bakwan. I cannot eat more than two, it will be too much for me. So, one spoon of plain flour is enough as shown here:
Third, half a spoon of rice flour. The thing that I learned from youtube is that always have 2:1 measurement for your plain flour and rice flour. It means the rice flour should be half of the plain flour:
Fourth, add a very little amount of baking powder (top left), a little of ground coriander (top right), a little bit of salt (bottom left), also a little bit of pepper (bottom right).
Fifth, here comes the magic, TOTOLE! Anyway guys, for you who haven’t heard about this seasoning, don’t worry. I just found this out too, because I went shopping with my friend last week and she suggested me this magical seasoning. And yes, I agree. It’s a must-have seasoning in your kitchen. You can use this for any kind of food, especially something with soup! You can find this at Hang Sing Hong the Chinese store here in Leeds city centre. The price is around two pounds. Anyway, I only use a teaspoon of this for my bakwan (left picture).
Sixth, put a teaspoon of garlic paste (top right picture) and finally add water. Don’t put too much water. Make sure the mix is not too liquid as seen below.
After the mix is ready, put the veggies into the mix (see above). Turn your stove on and wait until the oil is getting hot. Next, is to fry them in the medium heat and wait until it gets brownie and ready to be served!
Enjoying crunchy yet savoury bakwan :p
(video 1 here)
Easy, don’t you think? 😀
Okay, now we are moving on to our next meal, cheesy lumpia! I promise you, this one is even much simpler than bakwan. All you need is just the pastry skin and most definitely, grated cheese J The pastry skin can be found in Chinese store (Singkee or Hang Sing Hong).
First, you put just a little bit of cheese into the pastry. Roll it and wrap it like this.
Next, fry them for 5-7 minutes until it gets brownie and voilaa.. ready to serve! Look at this beautiful melted cheese from the inside!
Okay, that’s all from me. I hope you like it and could be your next cooking idea! Peace out!