Sweet and spicy flavors

* Panada

For a typical northern Sulawesi touch of Christmas.

Ingredients:

* Filling: 250 g fresh tuna; 1 tbs lime juice; 1/2 tsp salt or to taste; 3 shallots; 2 cloves garlic; 3 red chilies; 200 cooking oil; 2 purut lime leaves; a slice of ginger, 15 g (bruised); A stalk of lemon grass, 15 cm; 5 kemangi(sweet basil) leaves; 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

* Dough: 350 g wheat flour; 1 tsp instant yeast; 1/4 tsp salt; 1 tbs ground sugar; 1 tbs margarine; 125 ml tepid water; 1 hen egg; 1 tbs wheat flour, for dusting; 300 ml cooking oil, for frying

Method:

1. Clean fish and coat with lime juice and salt. Marinate for 20 minutes. Grill the fish until done, then discard bones and shred 2. Cut shallots and garlic finely and red chilies into a fine slant 3. Stir-fry shallots and garlic in 2 Tbs cooking oil until aromatic and add red chilies. Continue for 2-3 minutes until chilies are welted. Then add shredded fish, purut lime leaves, ginger, lemon grass, kemangi leaves, and salt and pour in remaining oil. Fry until the fish is somewhat dry. Take from flame and set aside 4. Sift the flour, add instant yeast, salt, ground sugar, margarine, tepid water and hen egg; knead 10 minutes or until the dough does not stick. Let stand for 20 minutes in a bowl and cover with a clean moist cloth 5. Dust a flat surface with flour and flatten the dough about 1/4 cm and form circles of 8 cm in diameter. Put 1 tbs filling in center and fold into half moon shape. Press the edges of the dough with a fork 6. Heat oil at medium heat and fry the panadas but not too many at a time until golden brown and done. Drain and serve hot or at room temperature with some sambal or hot sauce to your liking (Makes 18 panadas)

* Bestik Lulur

Many inhabitants of small towns surrounding Yogyakarta are Christians and they serve dishes with a Dutch-Javanese taste, like the bestik lulur, meaning fillet steak. Sliced thinly, the bestik lulur will be a perfect sandwich filling, too.

Ingredients:

500 g beef fillet; 1/2 tsp salt or to taste; 1/2 ground pepper; 4 cloves, whole; 6 tbs butter or margarine; 2 tbs sweet soy sauce

Method: 1. Leave beef fillet as it is 2. Coat with salt, pepper and prick the cloves into the meat. Let stand for two hours in a cool place or in the refrigerator 3. Heat the butter over medium heat until brownish. Add beef fillet and fry on both sides. Lower flame and simmer for 10 minutes. Add soy sauce and continue frying, turning both sides until tender. Do not put the lid on the frying pan 4. When serving slice thinly or to your liking (Makes 6 portions)

* Kue Keju Surabaya

A delicious cake with a cheesy flavor from Surabaya.

Ingredients: 3 hen eggs; 180 g ground sugar; 150 g wheat flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp vanilla powder; 4 tbs milk powder; 200 g grated cheddar cheese; 60 g butter (heated, cooled); 150 g raisins; 3 drops of orange or lemon or rum flavoring; 1 tbs butter, for greasing; 1/2 tbs flour, for dusting; 3 tbs grated cheddar cheese; 2 tbs almond slices

Method: 1. Beat eggs and sugar until creamy 2. Mix wheat flour and baking powder and sift 3. Add vanilla powder, milk powder, grated cheese, butter, raisins and 3 drops of orange or lemon flavoring 4. Pour into the egg mixture and mix thoroughly 5. Grease a cake tin and dust with flour and pour in batter 6. Cover with sliced almonds and cheese and bake over medium heat for 40 minutes (Makes 8-10 slices)

* Keik Wortel

Carrots are easily available and many a housewife has her own special recipe for a nutritious and light carrot cake to enjoy after heavy dishes on festive days. The cake is very easy to prepare and takes only less than an hour of your hectic time.

Ingredients: 200 g wheat flour; 2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp baking powder; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/2 a tsp salt; 200 g palm sugar (supermarket) or 175 g ground sugar; 2 hen eggs (beaten); 100 ml coconut or olive oil (preferably cold pressed); 200 g grated carrots; 1 tbs oil, for greasing; 1/2 tbs flour, for dusting

Method: 1. Preheat the oven to a medium heat 2. Then thoroughly mix all the ingredients except the carrots 3. Grease a cake tin with oil and dust with flour 4. Add the carrots to the batter and pour into the cake form Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes

Note: Add slices of dried apple or raisins to your liking.

(Makes eight-10 slices)

* Puding Maizena Cokelat

A old recipe from the suburb Depok where many inhabitants of mixed Dutch-Indonesian ancestry once lived.

Ingredients: 6 tbs chocolate powder; 500 ml milk; 6 tbs granulated sugar; 1/4 tsp vanilla powder; maizena or corn flour; 5 tbs water

For the sauce: 4 egg yolks; 800 ml milk; 1/2 tsp vanilla powder; 9 tbs granulated sugar; 2 tsp maizena; a pinch of salt

Method: 1. Mix chocolate powder and 100 ml milk 2. Heat the remaining milk, sugar and vanilla. Pour in the chocolate and milk mixture. Lower flame 3. Mix corn flour and water and pour into the chocolate mixture. Simmer until thick 4. Take a suitable pudding form, rinse with cold boiled water and quickly pour the mixture into it. Let completely cool

To make the sauce: Mix the egg yolks and the milk thoroughly. Add vanilla powder, sugar, corn flour and salt. Boil over medium heat until thickened. Take from flame and let completely cool. When serving pour the sauce over the pudding or serve in individual bowls (Makes 6 portions)

* Udang Selip

A hot shrimp fritter from southern Java's coastline.

Ingredients: 12 large shrimp (udang galah), 250 g; 1 tbs lime juice; 1/4 tsp ground pepper; 1/4 tsp salt or to taste; 1 boiled sweet potato, 300 g; 5 shallots; 5 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp salt or to taste; 1 red chili, seeds discarded, sliced in a fine slant; 7 large red chilies, 200 g; 5 large green chilies, 250 g; 1 egg white (beaten); 10 Tbs cooking oil, for frying

Method: 1. Clean, peel, discard head and devein shrimp. Coat with lime juice, pepper and salt and let stand for 30 minutes 2. Mash sweet potato 3. Grind shallots, garlic and salt and add to the mashed sweet potato 4. Add finely sliced red chili to the sweet potato mixture. Cut the remaining red and green chilies lengthwise, discard seeds and add 1 tablespoon mixture to each of the chilies. Put one shrimp into each chili 5. Dip and coat each chili with egg white and fry carefully until shrimp are done but the chilies still rather firm (Makes 6 portions)

* Sambal Goreng Telur

Available anytime, but especially during Christmas time. Eggs are easy to obtain, never boring and nutritious.

Ingredients: 7 hen eggs, hard boiled; 8 sdm cooking oil, to fry the eggs; 3 shallots; 3 cloves garlic; 6 red chilies; a slice of galangal, bruised; 1/2 tsp terasi (fish paste or belachan in Malay); 2 salam leaves; 1 tsp brown sugar (gula Jawa, gula merah); 1 tsp salt or to taste; 400 ml thick coconut milk

Method: 1. Peel the eggs and on the white part only, make 3 or 5 slices lengthwise 2. Heat the oil and fry the eggs until light brown. Drain and set aside 3. Finely grind shallots, garlic, and red chilis and stir-fry in 2 tbs of remaining oil in which the eggs have been fried. Add galangal, terasi, salam leaves, brown sugar, and salt. Stir and pour in coconut milk. Simmer 4. Add the eggs, stir and continue until sauce thickens (Makes 6 portions)

* Sayur Cundidu

A popular dish in 1920s Batavia.

Ingredients: 200 g young jackfruit (supermarket); 200 g cabbage; 100 g long beans; 100 g French beans; 800 ml water, to boil the vegetables; 5 shallots; 3 red chilis; 2 slices of turmeric (20 g); 200 g fairly young coconut flesh, grated; 1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste; 2 tbs lime juice; 3 tbs crisply fried shallot slices (bawang goreng, in sachets in supermarkets)

Method: 1. Wash and clean the young jackfruit and cabbage and slice rather thinly 2. Cut long beans into 4 cm pieces, discard fiber of the French beans and cut slantingly 3. Bring the water to a boil and boil the vegetables: firstly young jackfruit, then cabbage, long beans and French beans. Take out from the pan and drain, set aside. Leave 150 ml of the cooking liquid 4. Finely grind shallots, red chilis, and turmeric. Add to the 150 ml of cooking liquid. Add grated coconut and bring to a boil again. Then lastly add the cooked vegetables, season with salt and lime juice. Cook until the liquid is completely absorbed. When serving, top with the crisply fried shallots slices (Makes 6 portions)

* Kari Terung Merah

From Tapanuli with Christmas greetings!

Ingredients: 4 eggplants; 1500 ml water to soak the eggplants; 6 shallots; 3 cloves garlic; 2 red chilis; a slice of turmeric; 2 tbs cooking oil, for frying; 300 ml medium thick coconut milk; a stick of cinnamon, 5 cm; 1/2 tsp ground cloves; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1/2 tsp ground caraway (optional); 1 tbs ground coriander; 1 1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Method: 1. Wash and clean the eggplants, slice lengthwise and then cut each into three pieces. Soak in water to prevent from browning. Set aside and drain before further use 2. Make shallots, garlic red, chilies and turmeric into a paste 3. Stir fry until aromatic, then add the eggplants and the coconut milk 4. Add cinnamon, cloves, cumin, caraway (if used), coriander and salt. Continue cooking. Until the eggplants are done but not mushy (Makes 6 portions)