Maidin's Rice in Coconut Cream (Nasi Lemak Maidin) & Khatijah's Fish Sambal (Sambal Ikan Khatijah)

As some of you may have already known through my page on FB, my menu for yesterday was Nasi Lemak Maidin or Maidin's Nasi Lemak.  I have been thinking of my late grandmother a lot lately.  The only way that I can still have a part of her very near me is through this Nasi Lemak dish.

This recipe belongs to my grandmother.  The first time my siblings and I tasted this, we were hooked. My mother never cooked Nasi Lemak in any other way again.  I have never tasted nasi lemak so good any where else either. 

This nasi lemak goes best with its Sambal Ikan Khatijah or Khatijah's Fish Sambal specially prepared for it.  This is my mother's recipe.  For those who may not know, the word "sambal" is a Malay word used to name "stir fried chilli paste". Not that you cannot eat Nasi Lemak Maidin with any other sambal or that Khatijah's Fish Sambal cannot be eaten with any other kinds of rice but when you taste both of this together, you will know what I mean.  I don't know why but they just go together.  I will share both the recipes in this post.

My grandmother was of a Bengali descent, so perhaps this was her way of cooking nasi lemak and this was also the way that she had taught my mother.  Whatever it is, this nasi lemak is a killer so if you want to die, just eat Nasi Lemak Maidin!  Hehe... ;p  Oh! One more thing, anybody who sells this nasi lemak, must pay me royalty!!  Haha...no lah, but the name must remain Nasi Lemak Maidin!  Otherwise, Maidin will not be happy and will start haunting you!  ;p  Actually, that's just the way I differentiate between the normal nasi lemak and my grandmother's nasi lemak.  So, if you sell Nasi Lemak Maidin, I will come and buy nasi lemak from your stall.



Since there are more pictures than usual in this post, I shall cut my crap now and get to the ingredients.

Nasi Lemak Maidin:

(Note that the ingredients are for about 2 drinking mugs of rice)

3 shallots - finely sliced

2 garlics - finely sliced

1 cm ginger - finely sliced

1 lemon grass - cut into two and crushed

3 cardamoms

3 cloves

1 cinnamon (about 2-3 cm)

1 small box of coconut milk - about 200 ml (I used Kara brand)

3 pieces of pandan leaves - cleaned and tied into a knot

2 mugs rice - rinsed

1/2 a teaspoon of sugar

salt to taste

Sides:

fried omelette

fried ikan bilis or anchovies

Method:

1.  Add water to rice as you normally would in the rice cooker pot and place the tied pandan leaves in the rice cooker. 

2.  Add in the coconut milk.

3.  Stir and set aside.

4.  Heat oil in pan and add in cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms and sauté for half a minute.

5.  Add in the lemon grass, sliced shallots, garlics and ginger. 

6.  Saute for about five minutes. 

7.  Once the onions looked withered like the above picture, off fire.

8.  Pour everything in the pan into the rice cooker.

9.  Add in the half teaspoon sugar and salt to your taste and give a stir.

10.  Place rice pot in cooker and cook rice as usual.

11.  Once the rice is cooked, open the lid and fluff your rice with a fork.  Replace lid.

12.  Your nasi lemak is ready to be served.

Sambal Ikan Khatijah (Khatijah's Fish Sambal):

12 pieces of fish of your choice - cleaned and marinated with two tablespoon turmeric powder and salt to taste and fried till cooked and set aside (I used mackerel)

1 large onions - finely sliced

1 lemon grass - cut into two and crushed

1 bowl of tamarind juice from a handful of tamarind

3 spoonfuls of sugar

salt to taste

1 small bowl water

small bunch of spring onions - cut into smaller pieces

(*items to be blended)

50 pieces of dried chillies* - slit in halves, rinsed and boiled and rinsed again until deseeded (use less or more depending on how much heated up you want to get ;))

2 large onions*

4 shallots*

6 garlics*

2 cm ginger*

Method:



1. Heat oil from frying fish in pan and add in sliced onions and lemon grass.  

2. Saute for two to three minutes.

3.  Add in the blended ingredients.

4.  Add in sugar and stir. 

5.  Saute for about eight minutes or so.

6.  Add in the tamarind juice.  Continue to saute.

7.  It may take a while before the oil separates and if the mixture looks dry, take the small bowl of water and add water bit by bit and continue to let the mix simmer and stir every now and then until the oil separates.

8.  Once you see the oil collecting on the surface of your sauteing mix, oil has separated.  Add in salt to taste. Do a taste check and see if you need to add some more sugar.

9.  Add in the fried fish pieces.

10.  Fold the fish pieces into the sautéing mix.

10.  Let simmer for five minutes.

12.  Add in the spring onions and fold into the mix.  Let simmer for another minute.

13.  Your fish sambal is ready to be served.

So, get ready to die folks!!  Happy Kitchen-ing!!