Ingredients
500 ml water
180 gr javanese palm sugar, grated or chopped
3 sdt agar-agar bubuk
1 pandan leaf
300 ml coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Put water, grated palm sugar, agar-agar and pandan leaf in a pan. Cook simmer until sugar and agar-agar dissolve, stirring occasionally.
2. Discard pandan leaf, mix the agar-agar mixture with hot coconut milk and salt. cook until boiling.
3. Pour in the jelly mould (16 cm). Let it cool and hard. The pudding will form a separate layer by itself, beneath a layer of transparent sugar and coconut milk layer on top
4. store in refrigerator. Sliced and serve cold.

preparation: 15 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes
cooling time: 1 hour

Besides safety concern, pot rack gave value added to kitchen interior. A large basket pot rack  has pretty classic curvy ornaments. You can put your favorite pot plant on top of the rack. Free standing pot rack put on the corner could be a display of family antique pots. Even a wall mounted pot rack can be useful to put your collection of kitchen accessories. Just choose on Enclume potracks and find the best you like. Remember, a kitchen is heart of a home. The more convenient, efficient, and even relaxing kitchen may increase the comfort and happiness of family member.

• 1/4  fresh pineapple, peeled and sliced
• 1 granny smith apple, cored and sliced
• 1 mango (not too riped), peeled and sliced
• 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 2 water apple (if available), sliced

For the dressing:

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp shrimp paste

3 tbsp brown sugar/palm sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp tamarind, solved in 1 tbsp warm water

1 tbsp crushed fried peanut

How to make:

In a large bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients until it become a paste.

Add the fruits and stir well to combine. Better serve cold.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Serve 6

Durian is a spiky, round, green fruit that grows on trees throughout the islands. Despite the fruit’s unsavory smell (some compare it to the smell of sewage), durian’s creamy white flesh is quite tasty. It is a popular snack in many Southeast Asian countries.

Mangosteen has tough purple skin that protects the delicious white fruit inside. The brown skin of salak, or snake fruit, looks like snakeskin, which gives the fruit its nickname. Its crisp, light-colored flesh tastes somewhat sour.

Jackfruit resembles durian on the outside but grows much larger, up to forty pounds. Indonesians eat jackfruit in two different ways. When it is ripe, they pick the fruit and eat it as a sweet snack or dessert. Unripe jackfruit is cooked with
coconut milk and eaten as an entrée. Bananas of all varieties and sizes grow on the islands, and Indonesians enjoy them just as you might—as a snack or in a dessert.

Of all the fruits that grow on the islands, coconuts are probably used most often in Indonesian cuisine. The tough husk of the fruit is cracked open, and the juice is savored as a cool, sweet beverage on the steamiest of days. Coconut milk is the primary ingredient in curries, rice dishes, and desserts made all over Indonesia. Crisp, white coconut flesh also makes a delicious snack.

Sate, for example, is made with different meats in different places. On the Hindu island of Bali, sate is usually made with pork, a meat that Muslims avoid for religious reasons. Throughout the islands, beef and chicken are popular choices for sate, although many Hindus choose not to eat beef for religious reasons. Traditionally the cooked pieces of meat are dipped in a peanut sauce that varies in taste and intensity depending on where it’s served. On the island of
Java, sugar is added to almost everything, and the sauce tends to be very sweet. In Sumatra the Minangkabau people make a very spicy peanut sauce.

Throughout Indonesia, rice is considered a symbol of bounty and is served at nearly every meal. In Java and Bali, people leave offerings of food and flowers to the rice goddess. Favorite dishes include yellow rice (rice flavored with turmeric), fried rice, and black rice pudding.

In the mountains of Sumatra and the island of Madura, however, corn is the staple food. In these areas, which
receive less rain than Bali, Java, and the lowlands of Sumatra do, corn is easier to grow than rice. Corn with shredded coconut and corn fritters are two popular dishes.

In mountainous Irian Jaya (western New Guinea), sweet potatoes are the major crop. In the eastern part of Indonesia, a starchy food called sago forms the basis of the diet. Sago comes from the sago palm tree, and Indonesians
in this region use sago flour to make a kind of sticky bread that they eat with vegetables.

This hot island country is the fourth most populous nation in the world. Indonesia’s national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (“They are many, they are one”), sums it up. The islands are home to people from more than three hundred ethnic groups who speak just as many languages. In 1945 the Indonesian government made BahasaIndonesia—a language that combines elements of Malay and Javanese—the official tongue of Indonesia. But many languages and dialects are spoken on the islands. Although children learn Bahasa Indonesia in school, they often communicate at home in their parents’ language.

More than half of Indonesians—including Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese people—live on the island of Java, which accounts for less than 10 percent of the country’s total land area. Java is the most heavily populated agricultural land in the world.

Life in the rural areas and villages of Indonesia has changed very little in the past one hundred years. Families typically get up at dawn and cook breakfasts of rice and vegetables, preparing the food on wood-burning stoves. Muslim Indonesians pray immediately after rising. After breakfast, children walk to school and their parents
report to work in the rice fields, or sawah. In many areas, farmers still use oxen to plow the fields. The rice is harvested and threshed by hand and then left to dry in the sunshine. At the end of the day, children help with chores around the house. Their parents may ask them to run through the sawah to frighten away birds that eat the crops.

In Jakarta and other Indonesian cities, people generally get up early for school or work. After a breakfast of rice with a fried egg, 10 children make their way to the bus stop or to school. Many men work on farms outside the cities. Others have business careers, or they work unloading ships at the nearest port. Although more Indonesian women have careers than in the past, many women stay home to clean, cook, and care for their families.

In the middle of the day, Indonesians with an appetite don’t have to look far to satisfy their hunger. Kaki lima vendors (sidewalk vendors) fill the village and city streets, ringing brass bells or banging on Chinese wooden blocks to attract customers. When someone orders food, the vendor tosses a few bamboo skewers of sate on a small charcoal grill or heats a big bowl of soup.

Another street food alternative is the warung, or food cart, which is basically a tiny restaurant on wheels. Customers take a seat at the small bench provided and order a drink or whatever main dish or dessert the vendor offers.Warung vendors tend to specialize in a particular dish and are known for making some of the best food on the islands. In the early evening, families gather for dinner, which usually includes rice, vegetables, and meat or tofu, made from soybean curd. A trip to the movies or the market or a visit with friends typically ends the day.

The water surrounding Indonesia is as much a part of the landscape as the islands themselves. The Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arafura Sea, Java Sea, Bali Sea, Flores Sea,Timor Sea, Celebes Sea, and Sulu Sea all wash up on Indonesian shores. The first people to come to Indonesia were fishers and traders who arrived by way of these
waters. Both fishing and trade still play a big part in Indonesia’s culture and economy.

In contrast to the flat, deep blue expanse of the surrounding seas, many of the islands are spiked with mountains and volcanoes, including one hundred active volcanoes. The tiny island of Flores alone is home to fourteen volcanoes. The Moluccas, Indonesian islands between Sulawesi and New Guinea, are made up of very old volcanoes that have worn down over time. Black sand beaches along the coast give way to rugged mountains and lush tropical rain
forests farther inland.

On many of the islands, such as Java and Sumatra, farmers have carved fields into the hillsides to grow rice, a
staple in the Indonesian diet. Settlers from China first planted rice on the islands thousands of years ago. Nourished by Indonesia’s warm, wet climate, the crop was quick to take hold. Indonesia is located in what is called the ever-wet zone, an area that includes land both north and south of the equator. During monsoon season, a rainy period from December to March, winds from the northwest move storm clouds across the South China Sea to the
Indonesian islands. Torrents of rain fill the rice paddies.

Although temperatures in Indonesia hover at about 80°F, the humidity often tops out at a sticky 100 percent. In this greenhouse-like climate, it’s not just rice that thrives. Coffee, corn, soybeans, sugarcane, and tropical fruits such as coconuts, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and papayas also grow well.

Hundreds of years later, missionaries and merchants from India traveled to the islands of Java and Sumatra. They brought Hinduism and Buddhism along with the curry cooking tradition and turmeric, a favorite East Indian spice. Arab traders, who introduced the religion of Islam to the islands, also brought recipes for kabobs and mutton (sheep) dishes. The Europeans, mainly the Portuguese and the Dutch, contributed vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes. In
return, traders took spices native to Indonesia, such as nutmeg, pepper, mace, and cloves, back to their own countries.

Modern Indonesian cuisine reflects the influence of all these settlers. It’s difficult to name a dish that is typically Indonesian, because many favorite recipes and flavors come from other countries. The lemongrass flavoring and spicy peanut sauces featured in many Indonesian recipes, for example, have been borrowed from the cuisine of Thailand to the north. It is just this blending of flavors and traditions that makes sampling Indonesian dishes so much fun. As you try the recipes in this book, keep in mind that you are getting a taste of the countries and islands that surround Indonesia, too. As they say in Indonesia, selamat makan—enjoy your meal!

Turmeric is a famous spice that is used in Asian, African and Middle Eastern cuisines. It is more prominent however in Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Malaysian, Sri Lankan as well as Indonesian cuisines since it is a staple part of their food preparation.

For most parts of the world, the turmeric benefits calls for it to be a food preservative as well as food coloring. This is where the yellow in mustard, cheese, pickles and margarines come from. Aside from the turmeric uses in the culinary world, there are other turmeric benefits that people are not often aware off.

Health Benefits of Turmeric

Recently, it has been gaining popularity because of some studies indicating that turmeric benefits our mental health because it prevents the onset of dementia as well as Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers credit curcumin for such preventive capabilities. Curcumin is actually the main ingredient that constitutes turmeric.

Other health benefits of turmeric include the reduction of pigmentation, strengthening of the bones, softening of the body, the ability to make the skin supple, inhibition of cell damage as well as fighting diarrhea.

Turmeric is also a natural antiseptic as well as an anti-bacterial spice. Some use it externally to aid in the cleaning and disinfecting of burns and cuts. Another turmeric uses for the Chinese is that it helps in the treatment of depression. They also believe that turmeric speeds up metabolism thereby making it as an effective weight management spice.

Turmeric and Skin Care

Aside from turmeric benefits on health, it is also used for cosmetics. Some sunscreens or rather most sunscreens use turmeric in their formulation.

In India, many women are using turmeric paste to keep them from superfluous hair. Other turmeric benefits for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is the use of this spice as a beauty regimen for the bride and groom before marriage because it is believed that turmeric gives a certain glow on the skin and helps protect it by keeping harmful bacteria away from the body.

On the other hand, in Thailand, the government is even funding a project that will extract certain compounds from turmeric to use as treatment for inflammation of the skin. If successful, it will be very useful in different cosmetics applications.

Other Turmeric Uses

Turmeric is also used for gardening and dye. Although turmeric makes a poor dye, it is still being used in India for their clothing like the saris. The reason why it is not suitable as a dye is because it is lightfast. For gardening, it can be used to deter ants from attacking your garden. Up to date there is still no clear reason on why ants hate turmeric but it does work and for most gardeners, that’s all that matters.

Other turmeric uses also include the application of this spice for ceremonial purposes. In fact a lot of history is still linked to turmeric because up to date it is still used for ceremonial rituals. The turmeric you buy in groceries is not pure and often has other components mixed in already. For you to be able to enjoy the full turmeric benefits, the spice must be pure.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tobbey

The most inviting part of visiting Indonesia is undoubtedly the extreme variety displayed in the food department. With affordable meals at a street side stall to a sumptuous meal at a 5 star hotel, each bite will appeal to your taste buds in its own unique way. If you would like a taste of authentic Indonesian food which is preferred by most citizens when on a low budget, ask around for ‘kaki lima’ which literally means ‘Five Feet’ – two feet of the owner and three belonging to the cart he carries. Simple dishes like fried rice, noodles and porridge are the specialties of these hawkers.

A Rumah Makan or eating house is slightly more formal specializing in a certain type of cuisine. A chain of Nasi Padang restaurants offer a very unique concept to their customers. You don’t need to think too deep about what you would like to order. Walk inside the restaurant, grab a table and within seconds your table will be flooded with small portions of a variety of dishes. Whichever dish appeals to you, go ahead and taste it while you pay only for the dishes you decided to consume.

Another level higher up in terms of eateries will include the several food courts and restaurants, easily found in most Indonesian malls. During the first few days of your trip, it would be a good idea to eat at these hygienic locations complemented with air conditioners. The EsTeler 77 is a local food chain popular for its iced fruit deserts.

If you are one of those who fancy the western eating style, you won’t be disappointed either. Air conditioning, table cloths, tabled seating and formal waiters with food that matches its excellent service, are features of what Indonesians call a ‘Restoran’. Bali and Jakarta are two cities where you won’t have trouble finding such establishments to suit your hygiene requirements. Such a meal would usually cost above Rp 100,000 per head, which is still relatively cheap.

The accommodation in Indonesia where you might be staying at would usually be equipped with its own kitchen to serve their guests and also walk ins. The class of the hotel will determine the level of hygiene followed by the hotel restaurants. Let Excitehotels.com find a great hotel in Indonesia that will also take care of your accommodation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lara_Agarval