Indian Spiced Nuts

In 2012, I found a new love with munching on nuts. I have always been a fan, but eating clean also means I avoid eating processed snacks. Nuts is such a good source of protein and fat- one that keeps me full and happy.

This post is probably a little late as I made this for some friends and colleagues for Christmas. It turned out to be pretty popular with my FIL and guests at our Christmas party. That's not to say this little snack can't be done through the year too- I think it's pretty handy to have some in the pantry from time to time!

Indian Spiced Nuts
1 cup of cashews
1/4 cup of brazil nuts
1 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of macadamias
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tablespoon of cumin
2 tablespoon of coconut oil
tsp of salt

Pre heat oven to 190C. Toss nuts with all the spices and coconut oil. Toast in oven for 15-20 mins! Cool and eat!

Ayam Kecap

The beauty about growing up in Singapore, having a Chinese Malaysian father, and a Chinese-Indian Malaysian husband (yes, I followed my mother's footsteps in marrying a malaysian!) is that I get expose to other kinds of food other than traditional Cantonese. Ayam stands for chicken, and Kecap means dark sweet soy sauce. It's a marriage between chinese and malay cuisine really.

At first I thought it is a curry dish. But really, it's more of a spiced stew, probably borderlining being a curry. It requires time to simmer which as you know is abit of a luxury for me these days but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the process.

The colour of the dish comes from the dark soy sauce. It has a generous chill hit and lovely texture to it. Yum!

Ayam Kecap (serves 4)
500 grams chicken thighs -or you can use drumsticks/chicken pieces
3 onions chopped
4 big red chill chopped
3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg
6 whole cloves
1 tsp tamarind pulp soaked in around 3 tbsp warm water
2-3 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
pinch of salt

In a food processor, blitz chopped onions, garlic and chili. Heat paste in a pan. When warm and cooked, add chopped chicken thighs and cook till brown. Then add nutmeg and cloves. If it is a little dry, add some of the tamarind juice. Simmer for 3-4 minutes and add the rest of the tamarind juice with the soy sauce. If still dry, add some water (I didn't see the need to do that). Taste, adjust seasoning and simmer chicken for another 20 minutes or so.