Gluten-free Cooking for Kids

Ruthie's best friend from school is called Fia and she is from Indonesia.  A few months ago, I was chatting to Fia's mum, Muthiah in the playground and within a few minutes, the conversation veered into the territory of Indonesian food.  It very quickly became apparent that Muthiah is a keen cook and someone who really enjoys sharing the traditions and culture of Indonesian food.  Having sampled the delights of Muthiah's cooking, I felt privileged to be given the opportunity to have a cooking lesson and to see first hand how to make authentic Indonesian food.  Muthiah has very kindly agreed to share her recipes and has adapted them to be gluten free. 

Indondesian food mixes spices, flavours and textures from many different cultures and includes Dutch, English, Portuguese and Indian and Malay influences.  A great deal of thought and attention is given to the presentation, and how best to accentuate different tastes and textures within a dish.  This means that many dishes require quite a lot of preparation.  There are spice pastes, lots of different ingredients and a wealth of crispy, crunchy accompaniments that make up a special dish.  The brightly coloured wafers in the picutre are prawn crackers, which are eaten with every meal.  We also sampled some home made little shallot flakes, which are generally sprinkled on top of food to add a little sweetness and crunch.  They were delicious and very addictive. 

The first thing we made was Ruthie's favourite, Mei Goreng which is a traditional dish of noodles with chicken and prawns.  Muthiah used ready cooked rice noodles for this dish.  You can buy cooked rice noodles at most supermarkets but please check the labels as they are not always gluten free.  You could also use dried rice noodles which require a quick soak in hot water before using.  Nasi Goreng, is another very popular dish, made in the same way, but using jasmine rice instead of noodles.  Then Muthiah showed me how to make lumpia which is a type of spring roll, containing a variety of fillings.  Unlike spring rolls, these are not fried, but are more like a very light pancake, with a delcious savoury filling.  Muthiah made these using Doves Farm self raising gluten free flour.  They disappeared in minutes.  There is something completely magical about the very soft exterior of these rolls and the vibrant filling.  I can see myself making these rolls on a regular basis. You will find all the recipes in the recipe section of the website.