Tom Pepinsky

Author: tompepinsky

  • Dhal, Malaysian Style

    Here’s a recipe for dhal, Indian-style lentil stew.  It’s a bit different than then North Indian dhals, which are the kinds that you find in the States.  For one thing, it’s thinner.  Also, this has a bit of a Malaysian twist to it due to the presence of coconut milk and tamarind.  It’s excellent, and is the traditional accompaniment for roti chanai.

    Dhal, Malaysian Style
    1/2 cup lentils
    3 1/4 cups water
    1/2 tsp. turmeric
    1 red onion, chopped
    1 carrot, sliced into thin rounds
    1 small eggplant, cubed
    1 tomato, chopped
    2 chilies, thinly sliced (optional)
    1/2 cup tamarind water
    1/2 cup coconut milk
    1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
    1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
    1/2 tsp. chili powder
    5 curry leaves (optional)
    3 shallots, minced
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    oil
    salt

    Rinse the lentils, then place in a pot with the water and turmeric and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add onion, eggplant, tomato, and carrot and cook for 20 minutes more.  Add chilies, and cook for five more minutes.

    While the lentils are cooking, combine coconut milk with a pince of salt and the tamarind water.  Place in a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes.  In a small skillet, heat a bit of oil over mediam heat.  Add the cumin and mustard seeds and fry for 30 seconds, then add chili powder, shallots, garlic, and curry leaves and saute until golden.  Add to the tamarind/coconut mixture.

    When lentils have finished cooking, mix in the coconut milk with the spices.  Add salt to taste. Serve with roti chanai or spoon over rice.  A picture will be forthcoming.

  • Happy Prophet's Birthday!

    Today is a holiday in Malaysia because it is the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.  It’s a bit strange, from our perspective, though.  As compared to Islamic holidays in Indonesia, things here seemed very subdued.  The mosques weren’t any more active than they normally were, from our perspective listening from our apartment.  (Then again, we didn’t go to a mosque, so we aren’t sure.)  In fact, we don’t even know the proper greeting for today.  We suppose that it would be Selamat Ulangtahun Nabi Muhammad SAW, but that’s just a bald transliteration.  There may be a specific Arabic term that has been adopted into Malay.

    Also unlike other holidays in Indonesia, today the malls were packed.  As we took our daily trip to the gym, we were simply overcome by the number of people.  Now, there may be a good explanation for this.  Given that a much larger percentage of Malaysians are not Muslims, a much larger percentage of Malaysians may view this as just another day off with no religious connotations.  But that doesn’t seem quite right, because there were tons of Malays at the mall today too.  So chalk that up to another difference.  In Jakarta, despite the fact that there is a very large non-Muslim population, almost the entire city shut down on holidays, both Muslim and non-Muslim.  Sure, you could get a cab, but unless you were going to a hotel or something, you wouldn’t find many people around.

    We have also learned the translation for the abbreviations SWT and SAW which often follow the names of Allah and Muhammad (see above).  SWT stands for subhanahu wa taala, which means "the Almighty and most worthy of praise" in Arabic, while SAW stands for salla’llahu ‘alaihi wasallama, which means "may Allah bless him and give him peace"  in Arabic.  Not that this comes up much, but you do come across it a lot while reading things that have to do with religion in Malaysia and Indonesia.