Restaurant Review: Satay India
As the name implies, Satay India do both Malaysian and Indian cuisine. However, sometimes they will only offer one of those (I think it depends on which chef is on that night).
Satay India, located on Allen Street in Wellington city, often does two for one deals during the week – as long as you purchase a naan bread with each curry, you get the cheaper curry free.
I have to say that they make the best butter chicken I’ve ever had. It’s creamy, tangy, and has a sweet caramel taste to it. And it’s not too sweet like most butter chickens can be. It’s just divine!
The naans are always fresh and delicious too. They make the stretchy bubbly type of naan unlike the floury bready stuff we got in the UK. In fact, our two experiences of UK Indian wasn’t that great. The butter chicken was a specialty at the restaurant we went to in Wales, but was not like any butter chicken we get here in New Zealand. It was certainly buttery, but not the right colour, texture or taste. It just wasn’t right. All I could think about was how much I missed the butter chicken at Satay India!
Aside from the butter chicken, their other curries are also very good – according to friends. I’ve had a few of the other curries but I like the butter chicken best. I’m not too sure about the vegie ones though – they always seem boring but maybe that’s because I like my meat!
If you are into your beers and curries, Satay India offers Kingfisher Strong in a 650ml bottle. For about $12 a bottle and with an alcohol content of not more than 8%
, it’s not a bad deal at all.
They do takeaways which I’ve been told is great value for money too.
The only complaint I have is that you can’t take home any left-overs if you have the banquet. Something that isn’t obvious when ordering. Also, they forgot to give us our poppadoms that time too – boooo!
To be or not to be
OK, so I’ve been pregnant once and that doesn’t make me an expert, but here are some things (apart from the usual morning sickness, swelling, pain etc.) that I think anyone thinking of having a baby might want to know:
- You will be extremely tired. More tired than when you did an all-nighter out partying, or for us geeks when you stayed up studying for exams… You might be less tired in the second trimester but then you’ll get tired all over again towards the end. You’ll be even more tired when it’s time to have the baby so rest and eat when you can before going to the hospital!!
- You will miss eating, both in terms of types of food as well as the amount. Pregnant ladies love food but usually it’s less more often rather than lots at one sitting. Going out to dinner isn’t so fun when you can only have half your meal. And you can’t just buy sushi when you want it. Also giving up the drink is another downer (although I admit to taking a couple of ‘tasting sips’ on occasion).
- You will get bored. This happens once maternity leave wears out its novelty. When you’re really big and really tired there isn’t much you can do for entertainment except maybe watch TV. Even then the Food channel repeats become tiring, especially when you know you can’t be arsed trying any of the recipes.
- You will get big. Obvious yes, but worth mentioning because simple tasks can became quite difficult – like putting on shoes, shaving legs, moisturising, hanging out washing, even lying yourself down to sleep. Your belly also gets wet washing dishes and hot cooking dinner!
- You will ache in places you’ve never ached before. This is even before labour begins.
Having said all that, I’ll quote what my wise sister-in-law once said about pregnancy- “You hate it and love it at the same time.”
And look what cuteness comes out of your troubles!
Abby Update at 8 Weeks
Oh gosh. I feel so bad because my attempt at breastfeeding today made Abby cry real tears!!
She only started getting tears in her eyes a couple weeks ago but just today they made it out of her eyes – all because she hates feeding from mummy. We even visited a lactation consultant at Plunket to see what help she could offer. I now have a milk drip contraption that you tape to your boob so you can give expressed milk at the same time as breastfeeding to give Abby what she wants straight away. Haven’t tried it yet. The main problem is that Abby gets upset as soon as I try to breasfeed… *sigh*.
So, breastfeeding is still not going well and expressing then bottle feeding is the way she rolls at the moment.
We're off to see The Wizard!
Abby and her cousin Bridget had a little photo shoot yesterday. It’s the thing to do when you’re only a day apart. They were very cute – two little babies with uncontrollable limbs and facial expressions. Bridget noticed Abby was next to her but Abby seemed oblivious to Bridget’s company. Very cute indeed.
Abby is getting more interactive and definitely trying to communicate. The hubby is sure she says a mumbly ‘Hello’ back to him when he greets her.
She’s still a lot of work but I think she may have a routine sorted. Holy moly she even managed to sleep through the night on several days this week! Unfortunately I still have to get up in the middle of the night to express but it’s better than feeding as well. I’m beginning to feel like a normal person again.
And now I know why she’s crying (most of the time) and that she sometimes just wants to be awake and play, it’s not as stressful as it used to be. We may be making progress yet!
Stuff I Luff
- Sleep. I’ve mentioned this many times, but like someone said to me “You don’t know tired until you have a baby”.
- Sleeping Abby. Then I can do normal things like eat and shower.
- Sunny days. Wellington had some wintery days recently but touch wood that the summer weather has finally arrived and here to stay (for at least the rest of the summer).
- Remembering to charge my laptop and phone before it’s too late.
- Green Day. I’m an old school fan from the 90s with all their albums and I still love listening to them.
- Sandwiches. Love sandwiches.
- Fez not farting at night. We have him in our room and waking up to a silent-but-violent is not cool!
- The husband feeding me chocolate ice cream as I blog.
Abby Update Extra
Oh, also forgot to mention in the Abby Update at 6 Weeks some of her developmental milestones.
She’s smiling now (has been for a while actually) and making lots of those cute baby sounds. She even tries to have a conversation with you if you talk to her.
We’ve named some of her more interesting sounds: the Horse – a rolling plurrr sound; the Shopping Trolley – a rusty squeeeeaak; and the croaky Mafia Boss – ehhh, ehh, ehhhhhh!
Her musical mobile has been a great distraction when she’s grizzly and we need to put her down for a little while. She’s also fond of playing on her playmat, often kicking and punching the toys while letting out sounds of enjoyment.
Her eye coordination is still a little off and she ends up a bit cross-eyed when trying to follow things. She can support her neck quite well already – something that she could do from the first day, surprising the pediatrician during her exam at the hospital.
There is however a fine line between play time and over-tired time so Happy Abby can become Crabby Abby pretty quickly! (Unfortunately Abby is one of those names that rhymes with lots of other adjectives like shabby, flabby, scabby, drabby…)
Abby giving a dirty look
Abby Update at 6 Weeks
So the magical six weeks has arrived…
In her sixth week Abby got chicken pox and her first lot of jabs – what a lucky girl! She also found out her hands are super tasty and has gone through yet another growth spurt. She is now 5.5 kilos and managed to grow two centimeters in a week – imagine the growing pains!
Abby finds her thumb
My weekly email from Kidspot tells me about a thing called the Arsenic Hour, where young babies are extra fussy in the early evening and only having light sleeps (usually in your arms). Abby had one of those evenings yesterday keeping mummy and daddy busy for about four hours. It didn’t help that she was probably in pain from her immunisation. I tried giving her Pamol and she threw up all over herself. I tried giving her Pamol again after her next feed and she threw up all over herself, me and the bed. I don’t think she likes Pamol.
Getting big and cuddly
Expressing milk is becoming harder as I have to keep adjusting to the increasing volumes that we should be feeding her. I’m going to make an appointment to see a lactation consultant to see why breastfeeding is so traumatic for Abby (she screams as soon as you hold her close to try and breast feed). Sometimes she latches and suckles and I think “Yuss!” but after a few sucks she pulls away and the screaming fit starts. Breastfeeding would be better for the both of us as she’ll get what she needs as soon as she needs it and I save hours each day, and have more sleep, if I don’t have to express.
Abby sleeps as Fez looks on
Fez is extremely good with Abby, as he is with all kids. He’s however beginning to show signs of jealousy such as snuggling up close and getting his face in the action too when we are playing with Abby. At the same time he also seems protective of her and sleeps next to her when she’s on her bouncer, and sometimes sits at the bedroom door when she’s crying as if to say “Do you know she’s crying??”.
This is the last week that the hubby is on holiday. It’s back to work for him next week so I’m not looking forward to being on my own during the day again.
Fingers crossed that by the end of this week she’ll be right as rain and be a good settled baby with a firm routine – yeah right!
Abby at 6 weeks 4 days
Durian custard and sticky rice
Durian custard and sticky rice
Serves 4-6
My husband would wrinkle his nose at this dish. He probably would hold it and stick out his tongue at the same time because he hates durian. He thinks it smells like farts and puts it in the same basket of foods that people shouldn’t eat, along with bitter melon.
But if you’re like me (and possibly also a ’strange Asian’), durian is delicious. I like it as it is, chilled a little and straight from the husk. But I also like it in custard form on top of fragrant sticky rice.
The main purpose of this post is to remind me how to make this for next ime. It’s one of those dishes that mum makes and I had to ask for instructions. She always does things by feel and I wanted to record some measurements as I was doing it myself.
Ingredients
- 1 durian segment (about 1 cup)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1 T sugar
- 2 t corn flour
- 2 C glutinous (sticky) rice
- 2 C water
Bag of glutinous rice
Method
- Mash the durian and combine with the rest of the ingredients.
- Put the custard into a bowl.
- Fill a large pot with a few centimetres of water and bring to the boil. The water should come 1/2 of the way up the bowl.
- Lower the bowl into the water and cover the pot with its lid.
- Lower heat to medium-low and steam for 25-30 minutes until custard is set. You may need to top up with boiling water if you run low.
Cooked durian custard
- Serve with sticky rice. To cook sticky rice I used a rice cooker. I put 2 cups of washed rice with just under 2 cups of water.
Durian custard served with sticky rice
Previously on Eggshell Green
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