Nonya Achar, Movie Awards & TV Shows

It's been a slow past two weeks with not much exploring and time spend at home. Actually very nice to just lounge around as our next visitors arrive in just under 6 weeks and then the roller coaster ride start again. Time flies and I can hardly believe the first month of 2012 is already behind us. Don't forget, this is our last year on earth or at least according to some prophets. More on this in a separate post.

After recovering from my little stomach bug, I have spent some time on two of my favourite past times. Movies and Food. So here goes. Since discovering my special Mutton Curry from the little shop in the middle of Ang Mo Kio Hub I have been trying to find out what the vegetable stuff is they give me with the rice. Last weekend when Jen was here I asked her and she said it is Achar. Now, I know South African Indian achar and it certainly did not look anything like that.

I did some Internet research starting with photos to match the dish and eventually, Eureka, I found it. It is Nonya Achar, or Peranakan Spicy Pickled Vegetables. I love the stuff and can eat it with everything, okay maybe not ice cream. Perenakan cuisine is a whole new dimension that I can explore and enjoy and the first step was to re-create the Nonya Achar. I found several online recipes ranging from the original Homemade recipe, very complex to some much easier Simplified recipes. I had to do my own version and here it is.

I used thinly sliced red onion, cucumber, thinly sliced lenght wise and cut in halve, cabbage thinly sliced, carrots thick Julienne style and finely two fresh red chillies chopped with pips. To make the pickle sauce I used 2 teaspoons white sugar, 1 thirds cup white vinegar and 1 third cup water. Mix together until sugar dissolves. And here is my own touch. Add a good splash of fish sauce and balsamic vinegar. Mix together the sauce and the vegetables and let it stand in the fridge for a few hours before use. It is to die for. Tangy and crispy with a sour and spicy kick from hell if you add the chillies. I have been having little bits for the past 4 days and will make a new batch tomorrow.

Been searching in the shops to see if you can buy it and found it today. They keep it on the shelve where all the Tofu is in Fairprice. Bought a tub for comparison purposes but my version rocks.

One of the benefits of being a Trailing Spouse and not working at this stage was the fact that I could watch the Goldenglobes and the SAG awards live for the first time in my life. Back home it was always on a Monday morning and even if I did record it the results would have been all over the news and media and that is like reading the last page of a book and then trying to enjoy it. Just not on. So, there are some seriously good  movies and TV shows in the running with the Oscars round the corner and the nominations finalised, not too mention some outstanding acting.

I have seen most of them and can highly recommend, The Descendants, Moneyball, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Warhorse. The Artist is a black and white which I just do not like but sure it must be good based on the wins so far. My personal favourite but does contain some shocking scenes and not for the faint hearted. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

There is also some great TV shows like Boardwalk Empire, Boss, Modern Family, Episodes and Homeland. I have watched the trailers but the one that stand out is definitely Homeland. I watched episode 1 and it's one of those shows you just have to know what happens next. Thankfully, I had the whole season 1 downloaded and ended up watching all 12 episodes in two days. Bloody magnificent.

Homemade pizza tonight. Yippie.