Spice Zi Kitchen Shares Exclusive Kadayanallur Recipes

Spice Zi Kitchen is a newly-launched home cooking experience in Singapore, designed to connect people with Indian Muslim food, culture and history. Founded by a Muslim mother-daughter duo, Baby T (Taahira) and Mama Zi (Zaithoon), Spice Zi Kitchen aims to bridge the gap between lesser known food and culture, with Singaporeans. Celebrate Indian Muslim food with the passionate chefs, by visiting their home, where guests are invited to learn the history, ingredients, culture and food, that was brought from a small town in South India, Kadayanallur to Singapore in the 1930s. The recipes have thus been passed down for generations in the family. If you’re in Singapore, try the experience live, but if you’re elsewhere, Spice Zi Kitchen shares exclusive recipes to try at home, for a taste of biodiverse Indian cuisine and culture.

Moringa Leaves | Image courtesy of Spice Zi Kitchen

Moringa Leaves Stir Fry

Moringa leaves stir fried with mustard seeds, chilli padi and topped off with grated coconut.

Difficulty: 2/5

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup x Moringa Leaves

2. 1 tbsp x Mustard Seeds

3. 2 small pieces x Chilli Padi (depending on your spice levels)

4. A handful x Curry Leaves

5. 3 x Shallots

6. 2 tbsp x Oil

Method:

1. Add oil to a hot pan.

2. Stir fry the shallots with mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

3. Once mustard seeds start to pop, add chilli padi and toss it around for a bit.

4. Add moringa leaves and cook until moringa leaves change from the bright green to dark green.

5. All the leaves should be soft (give about 5 – 7 minutes on medium flame)

6. Turn off flame, and add grated coconut and stir into the leaves.

7. Serve hot.

Kozhukattai | Image courtesy of Spice Zi Kitchen

Kolukattai

Difficulty: 2/5

This is an Indian muslim version of ‘dumplings’ made from rice flour. It can either be eaten plain or with stuffings that are either sweet or savoury.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup x Elephant Rice flour – dry roasted

2. ¼ cup x White Sugar

3. A handful x Grated White Coconut (must be defrosted)

4. Salt to taste

5. 3 pods x Cardamom (pound them to powder)

6. A handful x Moong Dahl – to be dry roasted

Method:

1. Add salt, cardamom into all of the flour.

2. Pour boiling hot water into the flour till it is wet but not sticky.

3. Add in the sugar, moong dahl, coconut into the flour and mix well.

4. With these additions the consistency should be soft and malleable for kneading.

5. Rub some water on your hand and knead the dough, then mould them into balls or any shapes and steam.

Sambal goreng in process | Image courtesy of Spice Zi Kitchen

Sambal Goreng

This is typically a Malay dish made in Singapore that Spice Zi Kitchen has adapted. It is a stir fry of long beans, tofu, tempeh in a medley of sweet and spicy sauce.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tbsp x Chilli Paste

2. 1 tbsp x Meat Masala

3. 1 tbsp x Sweet Black Sauce Piece of ginger (the size of half of your pink) and 2 garlic cloves sliced OR 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

4. 2 x Onion sliced

5. 2 or 3 Lime leaves

6. ½ stalk Lemongrass pounded

7. 1 cup x Long Beans boiled with just salt and water

8. 4 x Tempehs deep fried and cut into cubes

9. 4 x of taw kua (firm tofu) deep fried and cut into cubes

Method:

1. Add oil to a hot pan and sautee onions, ginger, garlic, lime leaves, chilli paste.

2. Mixture will be thick and smells very fragrant. Add a bit of water (3 tbsps approx).

3. Add in Long beans and all the fried tofu and tempeh pieces. Add in salt.

4. Add in curry powder diluted with a a bit of water. Add in sweet sauce.

5. Stir well n cook till the items in the pot are all covered in the sauce.

6. Add in coconut milk and stir well. Stir and cook a little longer (1 minute).

7. Turn off the stove and serve.

For more information, contact Spice Zi Kitchen at spicezi.kitchen01@gmail.com or visit spicezikitchen.com