Recipe: Burmese Curry Paste

"This makes my mouth sing"

Curry paste cooked with carrots
and a side of mashed cauliflower

This recipe is still a bit rough around the edges. I received it through a friend who is of Burmese descent.

Ingredients

• 1 Large Onion. Cut fine
• 5-6 tbs Canola oil 
• 1 inch ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• Half teaspoon Turmeric powder
• Optional: half teaspoon chilli powder 
• Half teaspoon paprika
• Half teaspoon prawn paste (can skip if you dont have this, or maybe use fish sauce instead)
• 1 tablespoon crushed dried prawn (I don't have this so I would just use more shrimp paste)

Method

Crush Ginger and garlic is crushed in mortar and pestle to a paste. Start cooking onion and oil first until soft. Then add ginger garlic, turmeric and chilli 

Add paprika, prawn paste, and dried prawn last as it burns.


Use this curry paste and cook with any of the following:

• eggplant
• eggs
• pumpkin
• laksa - you can make a kind of laksa by adding coconut cream, chilli, konnyaku noodle, and prawns

Coconut Jelly Recipe

This recipe is copied from the Encyclopedia of Asian Food. I have made some minor alterations for clarity, and also many of you will want to swap sucrose for something else. 

Photo from http://asiasociety.org/

A favorite in Burma, where it is called kyauk kyaw (pronounced chow chaw), Burmese for agar-agar, or any jelly made from it.Serves 8.

Ingredients

7g agar-agar strands (or 4 teaspoons agar-agar powder)
400 ml can coconut milk
375ml water (1 and 1/2 cups)
125ml (1/2 cup) canned coconut cream
125g (1/2 cup) sugar, rose water to flavour - I use fructose or honey instead

Directions
Soak the strands of agar-agar in cold water overnight or at least 1 hour. Drain and measure. There should be 1 and 1/2 cups, loosely packed.
Put the strands with coconut milk and water into a saucepan and stir constantly while bringing to the boil. Add sugar and keep stirring and simmering 10-15 minutes or until all the strands are completely dissolved.

If using agar-agar powder, sprinkle over the coconut milk, add sugar and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut cream.

Flavour to taste, then pour into a dish rinsed out with cold water and allow to set. Cut into diamond shapes or squares. This firm jelly is meant to be picked up with the fingers.

Recipe excerpted from the Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)

Easy Indian - NSD Safe

Yay I found some Indian food at Coles that is safe :-D

The first one is Chicken Tikka. This one is a bit pricy, but still much cheaper than eating out. And you won't have to worry about unknown starchy additives. 

This is the second one. All the other Pataks bottles had starchy additives except this one. Make sure you read the label on the back as you will need to buy several other ingredients, ie. meat, canned tomato, minced ginger and some garlic. 

Prawn Masala (NSD, Paleo)

Ingredients:

Half a kilo prawns (shelled)

600-700g Eggplant 

1 can whole peeled tomato (400g)

1 onion, medium size, cut 

1-2 cloves garlic, cut finely

Masala spice powder to taste

2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Fry turmeric, onion and garlic in plenty of coconut oil. 

When onions are cooked add masala powder, eggplant, and tomato. Mash the tomato with your spatula. 

Cook until eggplant is very soft then add prawns last, as these cook quickly. 

Pancakes without the pain !

-- Benefits --

* less fatigue 

* weight gain - was far too skinny

* less stiffness

* possibly improved amylose tolerance
* easier to cook than the other non-starch recipes - the other ones I've tried would fall apart when I flip them, or burn before they even cook through, or be too dry.

Problem: don't overdo it or candida could be an issue. These days I cook this mainly when I know I will need to do a fair amount of physical work, such as moving house.

-- top rated recipe (modified) --

Serves : 2-3 people 

This makes great pancakes. Possibly even better than the usual wheat based ones.. And no pain! =)

1 cup glutinous rice flour

1 egg (can double)

3/4 cup water (or milk if safe 4 u)

2 tbsp butter / coconut oil melted

1-2 tbsp fructose / honey 

Half tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda, half tsp cream of tartar (original recipe doubles this)

* Beat eggs until fluffy (can skip)

* mix everything, add milk gradually 

* Leaving the batter to sit for 10-20 mins may give fluffier pancakes

* Pan is hot enough when a drop of water dances on surface 

* When bubbles start to break it is ready to turn and cook the other side

http://www.food.com/recipe/pancakes-25690

-- my own quick & easy recipe --

7 heaped tsp glutinous rice flour

1 egg

Add water slowly whilst mixing 

Optional: Salt & honey to taste

Optional: Butter/Coconut Oil/Banana

Recipes & Resources

<< This page has moved here. Will leave this old post here though as it has comments >>

Info for getting started on the diet

• Kickas - No Starch Diet subforum - this is the best place to ask questions for newbies http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=7&page=1
• This is my food list showing what foods I can eat, and which I cannot eat - https://sites.google.com/site/cureankylosingspondylitis/no-starch-diet---food-list
• The starch content of foods:
  http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=143543

• AS Food Guide:
  http://www.kickas.org/asfood.shtml
• Recipes and important links (NSD Forum):
  http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=19382
• NSD QuickStart and tips (NSD Forum):
  http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=101430
• Spondy Monster - very nicely made intro to the NSD http://www.spondymonster.com
• Diet-Specific Recipes forum: http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=20&page=1
• Food list for Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), a similar diet to the NSD: http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/legal/legal_illegal_a-c.htm - I have noted some interesting differences. For instance their food list allows peas, peanuts, lentils/beans - all of which are not ok with me (others on the NSD also find these unsafe). Meanwhile it bans some things which I find to be ok such as aloe, noni, seaweed, stevia, tofu, tomato puree.

Recipes

• Betty Rawker
  http://pacificwanderlust.com
  http://bettyrawker.com
  http://pureandsimplerecipes.com
  http://straightupdiet.com
• Oh She Glows!
  Lots of gorgeous recipe ideas. Some will need a little modification.. http://ohsheglows.com/2014/02/10/top-13-vegan-desserts-of-2013/
• Recipes and important links (NSD Forum): http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=19382
• The coconut mama
  http://thecoconutmama.com
• Recipes & research - Mrs Ed
  http://mrsedsresearchandrecipes.blogspot.com.au/
• Here are some recipes on my other website that you might find handy: https://sites.google.com/site/cureankylosingspondylitis/recipes

Books & Compilations

• The IBS Low-Starch Diet by Carol Sinclair.
  I have a copy of this book and it is a very good introduction with lots of good recipes
  http://www.amazon.com/The-Low-Starch-Diet-Carol-Sinclair/dp/0091912865
• Paleo Diet - this is kinda similar to the NSD (with some exceptions, eg. we can't eat sweet potato). Many of the recipes will be similar. Big recipe index here http://paleofood.com/
• About the Paleolithic Diet: http://paleodiet.com/definition.htm

Yummy Almond Porridge (Paleo, NSD)

I made a really nice starch free porridge today! Nice and thick. I miss the simplicity, ease and convenience of a simple bowl of porridge, and this will surely be a standard breakfast from now on ^_^

Lately I have been bringing the dry ingredients to work, and just adding some hot water and honey. It's a really handy and quick meal, cheap, and gives me long lasting energy.

Ingredients:

Half cup almond meal

1 and half teaspoon of coconut flour 

Half teaspoon cinnamon 

3-4 tablespoons coconut oil

2/3 cup water

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients first so as to avoid lumps. Now add oil and water to a pot and simmer on stove or heat in microwave for about a minute until thick. If it gets too thick add a little water. 

Now serve with some honey on top and perhaps a little butter :)

This is the second time I made it and I got the thickness right this time. If it is too runny it should be fine to just add some more coconut flour - just be careful not to let it clump up. 

Things to try:

More cinnamon - half a small teaspoon adds a nice aroma

Glutinous rice flour - for extra energy / endurance / less fatigue. 1 tsp is good

Molasses - third to half a tsp is enough for a yummy flavour, anymore and it's too strong
Almond butter
Almond milk
Coconut milk