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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My Suhoor Selection 2025
CONTINUE READING: My Suhoor Selection 2025Before we knew it, we’re already in day 11 of Ramadan. What have you been having for suhoor?
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Jalapeno and Cheddar Pierogi
CONTINUE READING: Jalapeno and Cheddar PierogiMy husband Faizal mentioned Costco used to sell frozen pierogi – specifically jalapeno cheddar pierogi – which he recalled being quite yummy. Took us a while to finally identify the brand, @peterandpatspierogies. They don’t seem to be sold anywhere in the States nowadays, so the next best thing was to try and make it myself. I…
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Spaghetti with Hot Dogs
CONTINUE READING: Spaghetti with Hot DogsIt was mid-week, and we were running low on groceries in the fridge. Our grocery run wasn’t until a few more days, but I still needed to figure out the day’s lunch prep. Rummaging through my freezer dan veggie drawers, I found a small pack of beef sausages, carrots, and a couple of tomatoes that…
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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.
Made chicken waldorf salad the other day.
What happens to super old granny smith apples? Apparently they lose their tartness and turn pretty yellow, but they’re surprisingly still edible. Not as fun to eat as-is, so I chopped one up for use in this recipe. I only had green grapes on hand; red grapes would’ve given it better color. I usually make this with leftover roast turkey or chicken, but this time I air-fried and shredded two chicken leg quarters. Love the different textures, meaty chicken, differing kinds of crispy from the grapes and apples, and a nice crunch from the chopped walnuts.
#waldorfsalad #chickenwaldorfsalad #leftoverrecipe #nakmakanbuatsendiri
Cheesy sausage rolls.
Tried a different shaping style. The first few were hideous 😆 but got the hang of it after a while. Really regretted skimping and putting only half a slice of cheese, instead of my usual full slice. I really noticed the reduced cheesiness. Also gonna use a different brand of sausage, this one was a little meh. Still generally quite yums though.
#cheesysausagerolls #cheesysausageroll #homemadebread #sausagerolls #rotibuatansendiri #nakmakanmasaksendiri #nakmakanbuatsendiri
Made bihun goreng makcik kantin last weekend.
Went to visit my aunt, who loooves noodles. Was really happy to see her eating well. There was also roti canai, chicken congee, and yummy Malay kuih Kak Nia bought from @keramatkitchen_ .
Bihun recipe by @che_nom.
#resipichenom #bihungoreng #bihungorengmakcikkantin
Made char kway teow some weeks back.
Mummy’s a big fan of Madam Kwan’s char kway teow, but it ain’t so easy on the pocket so I decided to try making it myself. I looked at a few different recipes and borrowed elements from each. I had a lot of shrimp shells and heads saved up, so first I made shrimp oil. I then used that shrimp oil for making the char way teow. Flavor-wise I think I’m pretty close, might add some chicken powder next time. Also added a couple of chili padi for a bit more heat. Will keep improving on it.
#charkwayteow #kueyteowgoreng #nakmakanmasaksendiri #nakmakanbuatsendiri
Behind-the-scenes pics when making the viral Million Dollar Spaghetti.
I used chicken Italian sausages from B.I.G. and Jaya Grocer, and minced chicken to make it Mummy-friendly. I also added a 170-g can of tomato paste, to give the bolognese sauce a bit more oomph. I think next time I’m going to use 1 cup of prune or grape juice instead of water with the 2 jars of bolognese sauce.
Overall this was a pretty yummy dish, but I think there’s still some room for making it truly ‘wow.’ Will definitely make it again.
#milliondollarspaghetti #bakedpasta #viralrecipes
I made @khairulaming’s Roti Khurasan during Ramadan.
So… darn… good. Store-bought burger buns were a little too big for my liking, so I made a batch of plain roti paung and shaped the dough into 32 buns. That way I could use just half a sheet of 8” spring roll wrapper for each bun. For the filling I doubled the amount of minced chicken in the recipe, and added Cukup Rasa and chicken stock powder for a bit more flavor. Opted for a healthier finishing method, air fried these at 200c for 7 minutes. Froze a bunch of unfried ones in a freezer bag. Will definitely make again!
#resipikhairulaming #afternoonsnack #makananbukapuasa #makananiftar #iftarappetizers #airfryercooking
Making Nenek’s legendary red bean pastries.
@fauzianuar1 did the heavy lifting and kneaded the dough. @aliaadrianax and Mummy also joined the fray, and we somehow managed to bake 128 pieces of cookies, all in a single hot Ramadan afternoon. I think most of us konked out cold the next day 😆
Well worth the effort.
Ramadan iftar menu: Batata ala Edamha.
#latergram of stuff I made throughout Ramadan. Saw this recipe by @chefjjskitchen on Facebook, and decided to give it a try. Such excellent comfort food!
I browned the whole chicken legs starting in a cold pan to crisp up the skin and render out the fat. Surprisingly not much fat came out, but the chicken browned nicely enough. I air fried the potatoes (was hoping to use chicken fat, but oh well) then added to the soup. It was my first time making vermicelli rice, I might have browned the vermicelli a tad too much, but the rice still tasted great. Overall a really comforting, bright flavoured dish, and 💯 will make again. Yum!
