Acar or Spicy Pickled Vegetables

~Ingredients~

Acar Chilly Paste

•  2 handful dried chillies

•  10 small onions

•  2 stalks lemon grass

•  2 tbsp coriander powder

•  1/2 cup oil

•  3 tbsp vinegar

•  5 tbsp sugar

•  2 tsp salt

Vegetables for Blanching

•  2 cucumbers

•  1 carrot

•  10 long beans

•  1 small cabbage

•  3 red chillies

•  1 tsp of kunyit powder

Garnishing

•  Pounded caramelised peanuts (kacang pipang)

1)  Soak the dried chillies in hot water.  Once they are soften, blend them with the small onions and lemon grass.  Add in the coriander powder and continue to blend till paste is fine.

2)  Heat up the oil and add in blended paste. Fry till fragrant and add in the rest of the ingredients for the Acar Chilly Paste and continue frying for 5 min.  Cool the paste once done.

3) Cut all the vegetables into bite size.  There is a need to deseed the cucumbers and red chillies prior to cutting them into bite size.

4) Boil some water in a kuali, add in the kunyit powder and then blanch all the vegetables for 2 minutes.

5) Cool the vegetables and then squeeze them in a clean muslin cloth.

6) Pour the Achar Chilly Paste onto the vegetables and mix well.

7) Garnish with pounded caramelised peanut before serving.

Note:  Acar can be stored in glass bottles and is good for up about 10 days if refrigerated.