Kerupuk (traditional crackers) Seller

@Taman Manula, Bandung, West Java.

Banana Seller

18.04.2010 - Cipete, South Jakarta.

Soto Betawi, traditional soup from Jakarta.

June 2009, when we left India, some of my friends sent me email and told me that they would miss the colorful pictures from my blog posting.
Ooh, let me tell you all, you'll enjoy the other colorful pictures from my city, Jakarta!

Ten months living in Jakarta, we never have run out of place to be explored.
From museums to amuzement parks, from traditional markets to the glittering shopping centers. ...And we are still waiting to have a chance to visit our Presidential Palace (I hope our President reads my blog and would give us permission to visit his office, I promise to share pictures if it happens!)

Jakarta is also known as Betawi. The capital city of Indonesia, the dynamic city with thousands of problems; over populated, transportation problems, flooding that come every year, corruptions *can't mention in detail, and the latest one... the riot in Priok.

In the other hand, this city offers lots of opportunity... jobs/carrier, entertainment, colorful and dynamic life.

Originally, I'm not from Jakarta, and I didn't grow up in this city, didn't spend my school in this city. But I started my career as a fresh graduated in this city. That time I fell in love with the city for the first time. I was 'single' at that time, ... during weekends I spent my time to explore different corners of Jakarta using public transportations; bus or train. Exploring different kind of food, but (unfortunately) didn't take too much picture. I love the dynamic of this city, the fast beat!
Since I enjoy living in a big city, it's not hard to adapt with this crowded situation, so do my family...

This time, we decided to introduce more of this city and its culture to our children. Language barrier is their main problem at the beginning. But now, they learn more about Indonesian Language at school and feel more comfortable to interact with others.
It's not difficult to bring the children around Jakarta. I mean, it is save and lots of places are kid friendly, not all for sure (except if you're overprotectived, it'll be hard to find a save place that you need).

So far both of our chilren really enjoy to visit bazaars, exhibitions, museums, zoo and also markets :). I don't have to explain about shopping malls; as most of children love shopping centers, right ? Last semester, my daughter learned about Jakarta history in the school, so she got more information about this motropolitan city and made her excited to talk about some historical places.

So that's all, the short introduction about our life in Jakarta and just to let you know... we really enjoy our life here (except, the traffic jam of course !).

Here, you can find many kinds of food. From traditinal food to fancy international culinary. From healthy 'slow cooked' food to super fast food!
Traditional Indonesian food from almost every corners of this country can be found here, as well as food from other countries.

For now, let me introduce one of traditional 'soup' from Jakarta. We call it 'Soto Betawi' (~soup from Betawi/Jakarta). So, what is the special about this soup? It is the richness of its flavor. You can check the ingredients list... there are cinnamon (stick), cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, nutmeg, plus garlic and shallots. The nice combination of herbs, spices, coconut milk, beef and tomato will produce the soup which has very deep of flavor.
Coconut is perhaps the most versatile of this soup, it harmonizes all the flavors.
That's not the end... you still need sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), lime juice, melinjo nut crackers (emping) and spicy sauce as the companion to serve the soup.

Soto Betawi
Source : Primarasa, Soto Nusantara.
Bahan :
300 gr daging -- saya pakai 500 gr daging
300 gr jeroan sapi (usus dan babat) --saya tidak pakai jeroan
2000 ml air untuk merebus
1/2 biji pala
3 butir cengkeh
5 cm kayu manis
4 lembar daun jeruk
2 sdt garam
1 sdm minyak goreng, untuk menumis
250 ml santan, dari 1/2 butir kelapa

Bumbu halus :
4 cm jahe
8 butir bawang merah
3 siung bawang putih
1 sdt ketumbar sangrai
1/2 sdt merica
1/8 sdt jintan sangrai

Pelengkap :
250 gr tomat, potong-potong
3 batang daun bawang, iris halus
3 batang seledri, iris halus
3 sdt bawang goreng
kecap manis, air jeruk limau, emping goreng, dan sambal rawit.

1. Rebus daging (dan jeroan) hingga mendidih, tambahkan pala, cengkeh, kayu manis, daun jeruk, dan garam. Masak terus sampai daging (dan jeroan) lunak, angkat.
Angkat daging (dan jeroan) dari kaldu.
2. Ukur kaldu sebanyak 1500 ml. Bila kurang, tambahkan air panas. Potong-potong daging dan jeroan 2x2 cm, masukkan kembali ke dalam kaldu. Jerangkan di atas api.
3. Panaskan minyak goreng dalam wajan, tumis bumbu halus hingga harum, masukkan santan, aduk, angkat.
4. Masukkan santan berbumbu ke dalam panci kaldu. Timba-timba hingga mendidih dan matang. Angkat.
5. Penyajian: Siapkan mangkuk saji, masukkan daging (dan jeroan). Tambahkan tomat iris, daun bawang, seledri, dan bawang goreng.
Bubuhkan kecap manis dan air jeruk sesuai selera. Hidangkan dengan emping goreng dan sambal cabe rawit.
----English version recipe will be uploaded tonight -----

[TGIF] Double Chocolate Brownies

Friday Morning, March 19, 2010.
Friday morning routine passed by just like the other morning. My husband left the house just about 10 minutes after 6am, and around 7.15 am my children were sitting in the car, while I was getting ready to send them to school. I saw them from our terrace, they wore their seatbelt on while waiting for me locking the house door.

And... it happened very quick; when I was in hurry stepping down from our terrace to the carport, I almost fell down on the staircase (that connects the terrace & the carport), because some of the stone tiles were broken. Luckly, I didn't fall down completely! Unfortunately, my left left ankle was twisted. It was very, very painful. I just sat down on the staircase trying myself to calm down. My children jumped out from the car, trying to help & comfort their mom. Nothing we could do to fix it...

Now, one and a half week after the accident, my ankle is getting better, but I have to be careful everytime moving and can't move too fast (I mean 'normal fast'). Hopefully, next week I can return back to my regular swimming activity. I was swimming last Wednesday covering only a short distance (1500m). I did it... but after that my ankle got worst.

The moral story is: fix or repair the thing that is broken immediately, do not wait until an accident happens. *Finally, we fixed our staircase two days after the accident.

So that Friday, after picking up my children from school, we went straight home. We decided to bake our favorite brownies, using our very favorite brownies recipe from Martha Stewart Living magazine. A simple recipe with the ingredients that are always available in our kitchen.

The result is always delicious. The inside part of the brownies is fudge. Don't be surprised if someone tries it and he/she will keep coming to grab square by square.

There's no special tip for baking brownies. Simply follow the recipe.
Just to let you know, while preparing this brownies;
* I always melt the chocolate+butter using a microwave oven instead of melting it in double pan. I use the 'defrost' programme.
* I'm not using expensive or fancy brand of chocolate, I choose 'colata' dark chocolate brand (an Indonesian local brand), and it works. This recipe is very 'friendly' and 'kindful'; even it recommends a good quality chocolate, but using an 'average' quality chocolate, it still can produce very good brownies.
* I use 22cm square pan, instead of 8 inch square pan, and I get 25 square brownies.
* Brownies Recipes always require to let the 'fresh from the oven' brownies cool completely, before cutting into square. Unfortunately, this requirement doesn't work in our home. The very tempting chocolate smell that blows to all corners of our home make my children keep asking to try the brownies. So normally, I just let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Trust me, the warm brownies always good to be enjoyed.

Those of you who love your brownies fudgy then this is the recipe of your dream. And because brownies are so simple to bake, you don't need to reserve them for a special occasion (but the treats will make any days feel like one).

Double Chocolate Brownies
Source : Martha Stewart Living Magazine, February 2004 - (15 years of delicious desserts).
Makes 9 large or 16 small squares.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan ~ 90 gr
6 ounces coarsely chopped good-quality semisweet chocolate ~ 170 gr
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.
2.Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until butter and chocolate are melted. Let cool slightly.
3.Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; set aside.
4.Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture; beat until combined. Add flour mixture; beat, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated.
5.Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 35 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out brownies; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
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Actually, this brownies always remind me to all of our nice friends in St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai. Some of our friends called me 'brownies lady', since many times I brought brownies for refreshment or for 'bake sale' in church. I always bake the brownies using this recipe.

I post some pictures in the Church to remember the beautiful friendship. Hope to see them again, oneday.