Where cool cats linger
I’m just a cat-loving Malaysian who loves to eat, cook, and bake. I also modify recipes from various cuisines into Halal, Muslim-friendly versions, and share them here so you don’t have to figure it out all by yourself.
My Recipes
My experiments with cuisines from all over the world, using Halal ingredients.
Treats from my home state of Terengganu, Malaysia, as well as a few family recipes.
My best recipes, guaranteed to be crowd pleasers and a hit at potlucks and dinner parties.
My endless pursuit of the yummiest bread and dough recipes, either baked, fried, steamed and more.
Copycat recipes you can make at home, to satisfy your curiosity or cravings.
My collection of recipes by gadget, from air fryers to pressure cookers and other handy kitchen appliances. Anything to help speed up our prep work!
MY MOTTO
#nakmakanbuatsendiri
(Wanna eat? Make it yourself)
Latest Posts
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Thai-style Steamed Fish
CONTINUE READING: Thai-style Steamed FishWhen going out for dinner with family and friends, steamed fish is a typical dish we’d order at Chinese Muslim or a la Thai Malay restaurants. The problem is, fish and seafood prices keep going up, and a plate of steamed fish like sea bass can easily set you back MYR75 a pop. Ouch. Nowadays…
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Barley Milk Using a Pressure Cooker
CONTINUE READING: Barley Milk Using a Pressure CookerMy mom only has one functioning kidney right now, and even that kidney has greatly reduced functionality. While I am grateful that she is still eating well and has been generally healthy for her age, I also needed to make sure her diet is kind to her precious remaining kidney. Barley milk does wonders for…
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Curry Noodles
CONTINUE READING: Curry NoodlesDuring the Covid pandemic, I made curry mee for the first time. Eating out was simply not an option, and sometimes we really wanted something different than the usual rice and side dishes. A few years would pass before I started making it again. Che Nom dropped her new Ipoh-style curry noodles recipe video quite…
ALWAYS
FRESH
MENU IDEAS
Having a Party?
I used to organize dinner parties with my friends, dubbed The Dinner Club. I’d propose a menu along with the estimated cost, and we’d set a date. I’d do all the cooking, and my friends chip in for groceries. Here are the menus for my past Dinner Club sessions, in case you need some inspo.
MAKE YOUR OWN INGREDIENTS
To Make, or To Buy?
Sometimes I’m just lazy to run to the store to get something. Sometimes certain ingredients cost a bomb, or simply aren’t available to buy. Take a look at spice mixes and other ingredients I’ve made myself, for use in recipes in this site.
When going out for dinner with family and friends, steamed fish is a typical dish we`d order at Chinese Muslim or a la Thai Malay restaurants. The problem is, fish and seafood prices keep going up, and a plate of steamed fish like sea bass can easily set you back MYR75 a pop. Ouch. Nowadays it`s very rare for me and Mummy to eat out, so when I had a craving for Thai-style steamed fish, I fell back on my usual mantra….
https://purrfectbliss.com/2024/11/14/thai-style-steamed-fish/
My mom only has one functioning kidney right now, and even that kidney has greatly reduced functionality. While I am grateful that she is still eating well and has been generally healthy for her age, I also needed to make sure her diet is kind to her precious remaining kidney. Barley milk does wonders for this purpose, alkalizing our urine to prevent urinary tract infections (UTI), promoting urination to help flush our kidneys of harmful toxins, and packing a lot of antioxidants to help reduce inflammation….
https://purrfectbliss.com/2024/11/11/barley-milk-using-a-pressure-cooker/
During the Covid pandemic, I made curry mee for the first time. Eating out was simply not an option, and sometimes we really wanted something different than the usual rice and side dishes. A few years would pass before I started making it again. Che Nom dropped her new Ipoh-style curry noodles recipe video quite recently, and after trying it out as-is, I made a few adjustments to my taste….
https://purrfectbliss.com/2024/11/10/curry-noodles/
It`s been over a year since Kak`mbang retired. She used to prepare so many dishes to accompany our rice for every meal, and all of them were simple yet really good. Those were the good `ol days, and I truly miss her cooking. Now, the task of preparing our daily meals is passed on to me. While I used to be the one to make all the fancy, gourmet dishes for weekends or special occasions, I then had to start learning to prepare simple, everyday meals….
https://purrfectbliss.com/2024/11/09/chicken-paprik/
Made air-fried French toast today.
Was trying out Sunshine brand brioche loaf, and decided to use it for French toast. Found an interesting recipe online specifically for air fryers. I made a custard of milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract, dipped the bread in then air fried at 180c for 7 mins, flipping midway through. The toast turned out nicely, crisped on the edges and still soft in the middle. Will definitely make again.
#nakmakanbuatsendiri #frenchtoast #rotitelur #airfryer #airfryerrecipes
Made Nenek’s legendary kuih kacang.
Not my best photos because of poor lighting, but I really needed to be seated when doing this instead of standing at my well-lit kitchen counter. Making these is incredibly time-consuming and labor-intensive, and thankfully I had Mummy to share the load with 😅.
I made the filling in the morning, then the pastry and assembly in the afternoon. Nenek insists on canned Golden Churn butter, and I opted for lower-protein flours for more tender cookies. Based on a memory Abang Fauzi had when watching Nenek at work, the water dough has to be elastic, so I kneaded the dough a bit more and rested it for 20 minutes plus an hour, to give the gluten time to develop. I honestly had my doubts (I always thought biscuit dough needs to be minimally handled) and didn’t really put my heart into kneading the dough, so it wasn’t completely elastic. Nonetheless the results were great, and I’m now convinced that an elastic dough is the way to go. Next time I’m gonna really knead it properly. My cookies did end up bursting, most likely due to overstuffing 😅 I’ll do 10g instead of 11/12g next time.
Making these cookies was super rewarding. The pastry practically melts in your mouth, and a lot of discipline is required to not eat 5 of them in one go 😂 I still have enough filling to make another batch, looking forward to it 🥰
#kuihkacangnenek #resipinenek #nakmakanbuatsendiri
Made curry mee for dinner today.
Not the best pics, as I no longer had the benefit of natural lighting. Used a new recipe @che_nom just dropped a few days ago. I used evaporated milk instead of santan, otherwise followed the recipe as is. While this was nice, I think next time I’ll use bone-in chicken breast for the broth, and belacan instead of anchovies in the curry mixture. This was a shortcut version of the dish, which I didn’t mind. I just didn’t feel like going the whole nine yards of boiling whole chicken and bones and shrimp for two hours and such. Yum!
#mikari #currymee #currynoodles #resipichenom #nakmakanbuatsendiri
2-4 Oct 2024: Prep work continues.
Made ahead a few things to bring for our trip. Made sup daging, boiled some cubed potatoes for making home fries, and made lamb biryani. Also made a batch of roti paung topped with leftover Rotiboy topping. Actually I also made cheesy sausage rolls, but I just realized I forgot to take any photos. Ready for our trip!
#foodprep #beefstew #supdaging #homefries #lambbiryani #rotipaung #breadrolls #campingfood
