Restaurant Veloo Villas @ Bayan Baru, Penang

While waiting at a traffic light I saw a busload of people heading towards a restaurant. Apparently, there was a function at PISA attended by Indians and during lunchtime, they head over to the newly opened Veloo Vilas for lunch. This was how I knew that there's a new Indian restaurant in town. Woohoo!!

After an unsuccessful attempt to have lunch there yesterday with my colleague SL, I suggested to hubby that we have dinner there instead. We were there about 7.45pm and there were quite a number of patrons there.

This restaurant seems to be a hit among Indians and Chinese alike:)

Velo Vilas serves  rice (both on metal plate or banana leaf) with a variety of finger licking good dishes as well as a selection of roti and naans. I'm eyeing on the Tandoori chicken..lol!

One can opt to sit outside the restaurant, or inside. Young and old seemed to be enjoying the food here.

We both ordered mutton and some vegetables to go with our rice.

Are you hungry yet???

Mutton, mango chutney & cabbage

The 'I can't wait to dig-in look'

The total bill came to RM 22.40 including drinks. I will definitely come back, this time to try the Tandoori chicken and naan. It's calling out to me now.......

Tomato Risotto

Risotto, my comfort food all the time. Cooked this 2 days ago, and albeit slightly watery, it was quite good.

I should put less stock next time so that it would be more starchy not soupy.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cups arborio rice

1 medium-sized tomato (cubed)

Bacon bits (fried 'til crisp)

1 onion (chopped finely)

2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

A splash of white wine

300 ml chicken stock

1 tbsp tomato sauce/tomato paste

Parmesan cheese

Salt and black pepper to taste

Basil for garnishing

Steps:

1. Fri bacon bits until crisp. Set aside.

2. Add 1 tsp olive oil to the remaining oil from the bacon and saute onion. Add in garlic halfway and saute the onion and garlic until they've soften.

3. Add in arborio rice and give the mixture a nice stir.

4. Pour in white wine and stir evenly.

5. Pour in chicken stock gradually and keep stirring.

6. About midway through, add in tomato and tomato sauce and continue to stir.

7. When rice has absorbed the liquid, pour in more chicken stock.

8. When the rice is soft, add parmesan cheese and bacon bits. Stir mixture evenly.

9. Add black pepper and salt (if necessary).

10. Garnish with basil and serve immediately.

For a better explanation on how to make risotto, visit this page.

Traditional Lamb-Stew

We got 1/2 kg lamb from Giant last weekend and immediately thought of making lamb-stew. Hubby searched around online for several recipes but they seemed to be too time-consuming or they call for ingredients (such as Pecorino cheese)  I do not have. After much thought, he decided to cook his own version of lamb stew.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 kg lamb - cut into bite pieces
2 large white onions (chopped in medium-sized cubes)
2 medium-sized potatoes (cubed)
1 medium-sized carrot (cubed)
1 medium-sized tomato (cubed)
1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
100 ml (or more) red wine
200 ml beef stock (if you prefer saltier taste add more)
50 ml balsamic vinegar
1 pc bay leaf
1 big slice of German ham (bought from Tesco)
Rosemary and Herbes the Provence (bought from Tesco) - all to taste
Salt and black pepper - to taste
Parsley for garnishing (fresh or bottled)

Steps:
1. Heat the pan and pour in olive oil (about 2 tbsp). Fry German ham until crisp. Set aside.
2. Using the leftover oil, add in onions and saute until onions are soft and slightly burned.
3. Now, add in the lamb cutlets and continue to fry them until the meat turns brown. Add more oil if needed.
4. Add in beef stock and continue stirring until lamb is evenly cooked.
5. Add in balsamic vinegar, stir the mixture then pour in red wine and continue stirring.
6. Tear the ham into slices and put them into them mixture. Keep stirring.
7. Add potatoes and carrots into the stew and mix evenly. Add in tomato and tomato puree.
** From steps 4-7 you may add more water if the stew is too dry
8. Let the stew simmer on low fire and stir occasionally for 1 hour.
9. Along the way, add in bay leaf, rosemary and Herbes the Provence, salt and black pepper.
**The secret of good stews are to continue tasting them once in a while to see how much salt/pepper/herbs to add according to your liking. Also keeping stews overnight will bring out the flavours when you consume them the following day.
10. Once the vegetables are soft and meat tender, serve with bread/pasta and garnish with parsley.