Day 2: 5 April Beckys 30 Days, 30 Giveaways!

They say that nothing in life comes free. But here I am, giving away RM100 in cash, and you can win it without even lifting a finger!

Ok, maybe you do need to lift ONE finger. All you have to do is:

Step 1: Head over to my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RebeccaSawBlog

Step 2: Tag yourself in one of the photos from the photo album titled, Day 2: Beckys 30 Days, 30 Giveaways.

Step 3: Share the photo on your wall!

Follow the steps stated on the visual, its just that simple!

So, share the good news with your friends, and dont worry if you didnt win yesterdays giveaway, because there are still 29 days left to go!

Note: Throughout the 30 days of this giveaway, there is a possibility of recurring winners as winners are selected at random. So, even if you have won a prize, do continue to participate in the rest of the giveaways!

Rich Maha @ Vermont South, Melbourne

I may have only one picture out from the meal but it has been one of more memorable ones in Melbourne to date. The best part? It was not at some fancy hatted restaurant, didn't involve live lobsters, wagyu beef or foie gras but at a humble eatery in the compound of an old shopping centre serving southern indian curries. Not to mention almost 30km out from the CBD.


The Wife had a friend visiting in Melbourne and that meant catching up over a meal. Without travelling too far, we were told Rich Maha was around the corner from he was living with his relatives and we might as well just eat there.


No regrets.


Walking into the place, you get that familiar whiff of spices you find in southern indian curries. The layout is almost what you would find in a typical "mamak" or a place that sells banana leaf rice in Malaysia. On one side, you have a selection of curries and the open kitchen at the back that caters for the roti, thosai and noodles. The dining area is exactly the same too, rows of long tables to cater for communal sharing when it gets busy. Luckily that night, we were one of the few tables and could sit comfortably without having people stare at my food.


One of the first thing that pop to me was the mee mamak. Essentially fried noodles done Malaysian Indian style, its a little spicy and comes with pieces of potatoes, tomatoes, tofu puffs and vegetable. It's obviously not the best I had but certainly very close.


That night, we feasted on beef rendang, goat curry, fish curry and some eggplant masala accompanied with thosai as well. The curries were all spicy and fiery, obviously no attempt was made to cut down the chilli content for the locals. We like our thosai crisp but this came out slightly soggy but hey, I am amazed they even sell thosai compared to the more common roti.

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It really reminded me of home and for a second I almost thought I was at home in Malaysia.

Prices are average and you shouldn't be paying more than $15 a meal but don't expect excellent service, just remind yourself you are here just for some curry loving.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5 stars. Worth the 30km drive for some food that reminds me of home.

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Art Mansion, Crumbs Macarons & Purple Cow Cupcakes

Art Mansion Bistro took over from Muse at Jaya One this month, bringing pop art paintings for sale in a gallery-like setting.

Despite the name & management change, there's not much difference in the menu _ expect hearty pizzas, pastas & other Italian-influenced favorites.

Wandering for a bit to The Bee next door, which now offers macarons made by home baker Crumbs (not to be confused with Bangsar's Crumbs cafe). The most fascinating flavor: Cempedak (!!!), pleasurably bold. These macarons are also available at The Bee in Publika for RM3.90 each.

Other options: Madagascar vanilla mousse with salted caramel, strawberry with organic fruit preserve, hazelnut praline, wasabi & pistachio with Swiss white choc ganache! _ each enjoyable, especially if you like sticky-gooey sweets.

Also now available at The Bee: Purple Cow homemade cupcakes _ creamy ones, with minimal sugar & no artificial flavoring or preservatives. The vanilla bean-infused cupcake with vanilla butter cream frosting supplies simple satisfaction.

Purple Cow's bestseller: Chocolate fudge cake. As they describe it: lush & decadent.

Cupcakes are about RM5 each, worth the cost, with premium ingredients. The Cafe Latte cupcake is infused with Indonesian coffee & topped with coffee butter cream.

Wrapping up with cocktails at Art Mansion Bistro: Honey Margarita (tequila, honey) & Waterfall (kahlua, bailey's, blue cacao, midori, brandy). Pretty potent.

Art Mansion Bistro,

Jaya One, Pet! aling Ja ya.

I baked: Delia Smith's American Brownies

Before we moved into our house, I kitted the kitchen with a nice oven so that I could bake lots of nice things for my family. Unfortunately, laziness and lack of time prevented me from baking as much as I would have liked.

This morning, I woke up and decided to make a nice treat for my children since it is Easter week.Chocolate brownies is something relatively easy to make and a huge hit with the whole family.

Today, I only had 1 hour to prep and bake it in between chores and picking my daughter up from school. Usually, I use Jamie Oliver's recipebut today I decided to try Delia Smith's recipe instead to compare and contrast the result. It turned out really well (hooray!), I would say that these brownies are less "oily" (we find Jamie's one can sometimes leave butter residue on our fingers after eating) and still fudgy in the centre. Certainly feels much healthier. ;)

Baby C came home from school and squealed in delight when she saw what mummy had in store for her. Happy child equals a happy mummy.

Moist, chewy and chocolatey

Wish I had some bunnies that I could top my brownies with so that I could have a Happy Easter brownie

American Brownies
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes 15

Ingredients
110g butter
50g unsweetened chocolate (I use Hershey's)
2 eggs, beaten
225g granulated sugar
50g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
110g chopped nuts - walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil or a mixture (I omitted this since Hubby doesn't like nuts in his brownies)

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Line a baking tin measuring 7 x 11 inches (18x28cm) with greaseproof paper. Bring the paper up a good 2 inches above the rim of the tin.

3. Melt the butter and the chocolate (broken up into small pieces) together in the top of a double saucepan.

4. Once melted, remove from heat and stir all the other ingredients into the butter and chocolate mixture thoroughly, and then pour into the lined tin.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until the mixture shows signs of shrinking away from the side of the tin and the centre feels springy. A knife inserted in the centre should come out cleanly (but do not overcook).

6. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before dividing into approximately 15 squares and transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Spiced chickpea recipe from Cookbook of the Year Tasting India

NEW YORK, April 4 An Aussie chefs cookbook chronicling her gastronomic journey through India was named the Cookbook of the Year at the International Association of Culinary Professionals Awards in New York this week.

Christine Manfield became the first Aussie chef to take home the coveted title for her book Tasting India, which features 250 recipes of authentic recipes from all the regions of the country.

The 26th annual IACP awards recognise the best in English-language cookbooks and food publications.

Heres a sample recipe from the book, courtesy of Manfield.

Punjabi Spiced Chickpeas

SERVES 6

Typical of north-west frontier cuisine, this is a wonderful dish to serve with grilled or barbecued meat. I sometimes serve it with roasted chicken that I have rubbed with similar spices to complement the chickpeas. I use dried chickpeas from Indian suppliers; they are smaller and slightly darker than some other varieties.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 curry leaves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 small green chillies, sliced
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced
100g thick plain yoghurt
300g cooked chickpeas, drained
1 teaspoon Chat Masala, a spice mix that typically consists of amchoor or dried mango powder, cumin, kala namak or black salt, coriander and dried ginger
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan and fry the curry leaves and cumin for 30 seconds over a medium heat until fragrant. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and gently fry until starting to colour. Stir in the tomato and any juice and bring to simmering point. Add the yoghurt and chickpeas and cook for four to five minutes until heated through.

Remove! from th e heat and stir in the chat masala, salt, lemon juice and pomegranate seeds. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Sprinkle with the fresh coriander to serve. AFP/Relaxnews

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Dried Salted Fish

Ingredient Name: Dried Salted Fish

Traditional Chinese Name: (yn y) in Cantonese

What is this?

• A dried fish that is preserved in salt (carried down from many centuries of tradition and food preparation)
• It is a fish that is treated with a salt solution or dry salt and then left in the sun to dry
• Chinese-styled dried fish is usually softened by partial decomposition before or during salting
• The fish comes available as you see it (see above picture) or in western super markets, is prepackaged
• Salted dried fish is commonly used in many Chinese dishes and stews
• It actually tastes very salty and the texture is quite dense, but not too hard

Howdo Iprepare it?

• Rinse in warm water before soup usage
• Cut off required portion only (as it is really quite salty) usually a quarter is sufficient

Where can I buy this?

• Commonly available in all wet marts in Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and South East Asian countries)
• You can even purchase this in some western supermarkets that stock Asian food

What is the cost?

• This is not an expensive ingredient and the price varies depending on size and packaging

Any benefits?

• Adds a lot of extra salt punch without adding other additives
• Minimal preparation is needed
• Low in fats

Any precautions?

• This type of dried salted food is extremely high in salt content and consumption should be moderated
• Some types of Chinese salted dried fish are high in carcinogenics (cancer causing agents)
• I would take extra caution with serving this to children if possible (once in a blue ! moon is OK, but why take the risk?)

Additional Information

• Store in a dry and cool place in a tightly sealed container
• Can store in the fridge for up to 3 months

Day 1: 4 April Beckys 30 Days, 30 Giveaways!

Im feeling very generous this month. How about not one, not two, but THIRTY giveaways? Yes. 30 Days, 30 Gifts!

Kicking things off is a PLUS Smart Tag worth RM130! All you have to do is follow the steps stated on the visual!

The maximum tags allowed on a single photo is 50. So, to overcome that limit, a few of the same giveaway visual photo of the day will be uploaded in a single photo album and you can tag yourself in any ONE of the photos.

Step 1: Go to my Facebook page. - www.facebook.com/RebeccaSawBlog

Step 2: Find the album with the name Day 1: Beckys 30 Days, 30 Giveaways and tag yourself in any one of the photos.

Giveaway of the smart tag ends 10pm tonight and the winner is announced at the same time. So share share share!

Note: Throughout the 30 days of this giveaway, there is a possibility of recurring winners as winners are selected at random. So, even if you have won a prize, do continue to participate in the rest of the giveaways!