Curry leaf plant from cutting

I took 1 year to grow a curry leaf plant!

Although I didn't record the date exactly, I remembered it was the day when I took some curry leaves from our neighbour downstairs to cook this cereal prawn/tofu. I took 1 extra cutting and just poked it into the soil and left it to grow.

For months almost the whole year, the curry leaf wasn't growing at all. While it still looked green, the leaves were always droopy. It didn't die either.

Then one day, my mum suddenly told me that she saw baby curry leaves coming out! I quickly took a photo (below). The day was 16 Jan 2013. It was a year later. :) The long stalk on the right is the old cutting. And the tiny leaves are the new leaves.

6 Feb 2013. You can see more clearly here the old brown steam and the new green stem. We cut away the old stalk of leaves already. The curry leaves were growing fast!

4 Mar 2013. More curry leaves!

17 Mar 2013. And more!

4 Apr 2013. It stopped growing a little while. I was getting abit worried. But new leaves were spotted again.

5 May 2013. Here's another photo taken to see how tall the plant is now.

I hope it will continue to grow into a little tree. Now I don't need to go to our neighbour to get curry leaves. Just cut some at our corridor.

Sometimes, you really need lots of patience to see the results. Not just for gardening.

Nestum Cereal Prawn/Tofu

Ever since that Salted Egg Yolk Tofu, I have been eager to try cooking cereal prawn, which also uses curry leaves. I bought a can of Nestum cereal just for making cereal prawn. Ya, I don't like drink cereal since young till now.

Tried a few times, my cereal prawn not always successful. Sometimes, I'm too stingy with the cereal, sometimes, the cereal not crispy enough, or rather the crispiness did not last long. (No choice, my family all eat dinner at different time, so cannot satisfy everyone, those who eat late, no choice lor).

The Nestum Cereal Tofu, which was cooked just last night, is one of the most successful one. Lots of cereal (though still not enough) and the cereal is crispy. Everyone is very satisfied after eating it. Children only like to eat the cereal, I think can just cook butter cereal for them, without the prawn or tofu. Hehe!

Nestum Cereal Prawn

Ingredients
16 large prawns, shelled and deveined, washed and pat dry
(you can keep the shell intact, but our family me lazy to peel mah)
salt and pepper, to taste (I will update after more trials)

1 large tbsp butter (40-50g)
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 bird’s eye chilli, sliced thinly (optional)

* Cereal mixture:
8 tbsp nestum cereal
4 tsp milk powder
3 tsp sugar
Mix them altogether and set aside.

* Still fine-tuning for perfection. Will need to add more cos too good and not enough for everyone.

Method

1. Marinate the prawns with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a frying pan (my pan too small lah) and pan-fry the prawns till cooked. Dish out and drain well.
(You can deep-fry them till golden brown and crispy but me opt for healthier lazier version.)

2. In the same frying pan, melt butter, and then add in curry leaves and chilli (if any) and stir fry until fragrant.

3. Add in cereal mixture. Stir rapidly until well mixed.

4. Off the heat, add in the prawns. Stir until the prawns are well-coated. Dish out and serve immediately.

Nestum Cereal Tofu

(same recipe as above, replacing prawns with 3 pieces firm tofu, each cut into 8 pieces)

I am submitting this Nestum Cereal Prawn to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012), hosted by Wen's Delight.

Salted Egg Yolk Tofu

My mother got some curry leaves to plant plucked from somewhere in my neighbourhood. It was almost dying.

A day after it was re-planted and watered. It was revived!

Last time we had to pick curry leaves from our neighbour whenever we wanted to cook cereal tofu/prawn (still experimenting). Now we can have curry leaves whenever we want.

Salted Egg Yolk Tofu

Ingredients
2 pieces firm tofu, each cut into 8 pieces
some corn flour, for coating

1 knob butter
1-2 sprigs curry leaves
1 bird’s eye chilli, sliced thinly (optional)
1 cooked salted egg yolk, mashed (you can use 2 if you like more)

Method

1. Cut the tofu and pat dry on paper towel. Lightly coat the tofu with corn flour. Heat some oil in a frying pan and pan-fry the tofu on both side until light golden brown. Dish out and drain well.

2. In the same frying pan, melt butter, and then add in curry leaves and chilli (if any) and stir fry until fragrant.

3. Add in salted egg yolk. Stir rapidly until well mixed.

4. Add in the fried tofu. Stir until the tofu are well-coated. Dish out and serve warm.

You can check more Salted Egg Yolk Tofu recipes from here:
http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2009/10/salted-egg-yolk-tofu.html
http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com/2011/03/salted-egg-tofu.html
http://www.thelittleteochew.com/2010/06/crispy-tofu-with-salted-eggs.html

I am submitting this Salted Egg Yolk Tofu to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012), hosted by Wen's Delight.