a girl in the world

finding beauty, pleasure and grace on the road less traveled

So much world

I welcome the fear, knowing that if I’m not feeling it, I’m in the wrong place.

~ @jenovia

Tonight, I’m antsy.  I am happiness and music and possibility all rolled into one big ball of potential energy.  I’m like a wound-up rubber band just waiting to let loose.  It’s been a busy day.  Family, friends, loves.  The three things that matter most.  Maybe this is why I feel so … full.  Brimming with so. much. energy.  I don’t know what to do with myself.

Sometimes I feel like there’s just too much.  Too much world to explore, too much world to experience, too much world to run around and absorb.  Such irony.  This stillness, this stability of home fills my spirit with the love of all the people who matter.  And with this love, I grow wings.  The stillness breeds action.  A constant cycle of stop and go, stop and go, stop and go.

Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be.  A search not for a place of permanence, but instead the acceptance of the cycle of change.

Opor Ayam (chicken curry)

Bali012010-26

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 whole chicken, chopped
  • bumbu bali
  • 1 carrot, peeled and cubed
  • 1 potato, peeled and cubed

curry spice:

  • 1 tspn salt
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 lime
  • 2 blades of lemongrass
  • 3 salam leaves (bay leaves)
  • 1 cup coconut milk

DIRECTIONS

Cut chicken into pieces.  Add curry spice mix to bumbu bali.  Place chicken, oil, salt, and bumbu bali with spice mix in a large pot (the dish should consist of 25% bumbu bali).  Coat the chicken with the sauce.  Add enough water to the pot to cover the chicken.  Cover the pot and cook the chicken for approximately 30 minutes.    Beat and knot the lemon grass and add it to the stew.  Add chopped carrots and potato to stew. Add salam leaves and coconut milk to the pot.  Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked (another 20 minutes).  The curry is done when the sauce is thick and sticky.

My favourite: Tempe Manis (sweet fermented boiled soy bean)

This is a basic tempe recipe that can be made with peanuts and small dried fish for variation. Like tofu, tempe has very little taste by itself, but when cooked, it absorbs the flavours of the other ingredients.

Bali012010-23

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 lb tempe (or one block)
  • 1 cup peanuts (optional)
  • 2 cups small dried fish (optional)
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar/palm sugar
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 red chili peppers
  • 1/2 tspn salt
  • 1/2 tspn pepper
  • 1 spring onion, chopped
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Cut raw tempe into strips.  Fry tempe in coconut oil until it just starts to turn brown, set aside.  Fry peanuts, set aside.  Fry fish, set aside.  Fry chopped garlic, leek and chilies.  Add tempe, peanuts and fish.  Mix in sugar.  Stir completely and remove from heat.  Mix in salt and pepper.

This, by far, is my favourite Balinese dish.  When cooked right, the tempe is a perfect crunchy chew.  It’s like eating healthy, Asian, high-protein, low fat, spicy crisps.  Mmmmmm….mouth. wateringly. yummy.

Hi, I'm Denise. I'm a writer, artist and photographer. This is where I share what I'm seeing, learning and making.
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