Grand Father Dear.

To my dear grandfather (Simbah Kakung)

I thought a lot of him, he loved all his grandkids.  He was kind and generous, he was there for us always, and always.  Today is thirty-five years since he passed on, it seemed so long time ago, but you don't' think that way to a loved one.  He's with me forever.  Eighteen of April is a significant day for me.


We were little then, often he waited for us to come for a visit, and he would be happy to share with us his delicious hampers which were gifts from family or friends.  I remember, he allowed us, grandkids, to have our pick, and he was happy enough to have what was the leftovers.
I understand now the joy of watching the little ones enjoy their food.

He was a very independent man, most people at that age had a housekeeper or helpers in Java.  He loved cooking and also fasting, salt was never on his menu, I am sure all us kids remember that clearly.   He had his food without salt most of the times, he abstained from it.  He believed in gaining spiritual power if you can deny worldly things, indulgences were not on his vocabulary.  Well, not taking salt daily was one of them for him.  Cooking without salt is not tasty at all, I believe so, salt brings out flavours.  But for my grandfather, delicious food was not necessary, to him having food was for living, not to live for food.

This is my sweet memory of him, he loved cooking, one day I saw him cooking sayur waluh lodeh. (Pumpkin and vegetables braised in coconut milk).

Freshly picked young leaves of pumpkin are ready to wash.

To his memory,  today I am cooking the 'Sayur Lodeh Waluh'.  He loved it, I remember vividly, he even put some of the young pumpkin leaves in it. He used all simple but fresh ingredients.  It served with steamed white rice and tempeh goreng bawang (fried tempeh with garlic flavour).

Recipe (My Grandfather's Style)
Pumpkin and Vegetables Braised in Coconut Milk

Sayur Lodeh Waluh
Two cups light coconut milk
1 chilli, 1shallot, 1 garlic, sliced thinly
1 small thin sliced of galangal and 1 daun salam (Javanese bay leaf)
A sliced of matured tempeh
The vegetables
1 cup chopped pumpkins
Some pumpkin leaves, shredded
(here are the ingredients, he loved simple things,  not fussy)
The normal sayur lodeh would have (the bean and rice-stink beans and dried prawns), coconut sugar and salt to taste.

Method
This is his method and techniques as I remember.

1. Place the light coconut milk in an earthy ware pot
2. Place the pot over the stove, add in the sliced spices
3. Bring the coconut mixture to a  gentle simmer.
4. Put in the pumpkin, cook for a few minutes until the pumpkin softened.
5. Add in the young pumpkin leaves, continue cooking for two minutes.

To serve
Serve with hot rice garnished with tempeh.

Step By Step

wash the pumpkin leaves

chopped vegetables, sliced onion, chilli, garlic and shallots

and shredded pumpkins leaves

The tempeh is ready to  fry

Coconut milk in a pot with all garlic and spices

a small galangal

the last two minutes of cooking lodeh, adding

the pumpkin leaves, continue cooking until the

leaves are cooked.

Beautiful, Colourful and Unsalted Sayur Lodeh

To Cook the Tempeh

Cook tempeh on a shallow fry pan with little oil

Turn them over after a few minutes of cooking.

Tempeh, beautifully cooked.

Today, my cooking was done beautifully, we had it for our lunch, thinking and thanking for his love.  Thank you my granddad dear for the Memory.

I learned to enjoy eating without salt today, it was not bad, but I don't think that I could do it daily.

I believe that my siblings can get access to this blog, well if they are not too busy, they may be able to check this out.  What do you think sis and bro?  I think we all miss him.

My granddad joined my grandmother in 1977.  I could not remember my grandmother, she had passed on a long time ago, I was only one year old.  But I know she loved us just the same.  Thank You Both for Your Love

I wish you all to have a pleasant midweek and happy reading. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Until Next Post

Susy