Ingredients:
500 g (1 lb) peanuts
2 cloves garlic
Salt
Vegetable oil
Put the peanuts into a bowl with the crushed garlic and a teaspoonful of salt. Pour in enough boiling water to cover the nuts. Cover the bowl and let it stand for 30 minutes, then peel off the thin skin from the peanuts-it is usually enough to rub the nut between finger and thumb, the skin will have become very loose. Put the nuts on absorbent paper, when the peeling is completed heat a cupful of oil in a wok or a deep frying-pan. Stir-fry the peanuts in this, 1/2 lb at a time, for 5-6 minutes. Let cool before storing in airtight containers.
These are called Bambara Groundnuts by Herklots, and their home is Africa. Voandzeia resemble Arachis (kacang tanah, peanuts) in that its flowers dip towards the soil and the seeds or nuts develop underground; the pods and nuts themselves also look rather like peanuts, though there is usually only one nut to each pod. voandzeia, however, produces no oil to speak of. These nuts are delicious to eat, especially when still unripe, either roasted or boiled, and eaten, as Herklots says, ‘out of hand’ or as a sidedish. When I lived in Bogor as a child, I used to buy a screw of vendors who were to be found in any of the main streets. Indeed, you can buy these nuts anywhere in Indonesia, and the name ‘Bogor’ probably indicates only that the first trees were imported as specimens to the famous botanical gardens behind the Palace.
Ingredients:
200 g dried chillies, soaked in water for 15 mins and squeezed dry
150 g red onions, chopped
30 g garlic, chopped
10 g turmeric powder
10 g belacan, crumbled
300 g anchovies
300 g groundnuts
2 tbsps cooking oil
1 cup tamarind water (mix a 5-cm knob of tamarind with 1 cup water and strain)
Salt to taste
1. Blend the chillies, onions, garlic, turmeric and belacan together. Set aside.
2. Dry-fry (without using any oil) the anchovies and groundnuts separately until crisp, for about 5 to 8 mins. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in the frying pan and over a low fire, saute the blended ingredients until fragrant, about 2 mins. Add tamarind water. Bring to a quick boil then add fried anchovies and groundnuts. Mix well. Serve as a spicy snack.
Ingredients:
4 long beans, cut into 4 cm lengths
6 ladies’ fingers
10 dried chillies, seeded and soaked till soft
4 candlenuts
1 tsp belaccan
6 shallots, peeled
125 ml thin coconut milk
2 tbsp tamarind juice
Salt to taste
Method:
Grind the dried chillies, candlenuts, belaccan and shallots in a food processor. Set aside.
Parboil the long beans and ladies’ fingers. Drain and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok and fry the ground ingredients till fragrant or until the oil is separated from the rempah. Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice and salt, stirring well. Add the prepared vegetables and stir-fry till the greens are heated through.
Ingredients:
