3 to 5 ingredient recipes for students who lives in hostel

I am student who lives in a hostel in Tanjung Malim, Perak while my family is back in Puchong, Selangor. I cannot go back and forth from class to home so it was high time that I had to stay in an out-of-campus hostel which means no proper food source. Living in Taman Bahtera, I have faced difficulties in getting three meals per day where I had to go to an extent of having one meal per day. It is even worse if the degree students are not around. Out of four food stalls, only one would be open. That also will only be opened in the afternoon. I could take a bus and go to Pintu Timur where more stalls are at but how long could one just survive on foods from stalls and not to forget on the costing of each meal. So, I decided to take this into my hands where I learned on how to cook on my own. If you are a student, living in a hostel and have been facing the same issues that I have been then here you go. Some simple recipes for you to cook at any time you would like to.

The first one would be mushroom curry. Now it may sound weird but trust me, it tastes better than the food you can get from the stalls as it is home cooked.

The ingredients (2 pax max)

1. A pack of any mushroom you prefer

2. Any brand of curry powder

3. 2 small onions finely sliced

4. 3 to 4 clover of garlics (according to your preference)

5. Salt to taste.

Firstly, wash the mushrooms and cut them into thin and long slices. After cutting, put them aside in a bowl that amounts up to the mushroom. Then, dice the garlics and slice up the onions and put them aside. Prepare a pan and heat it over a low medium heat. Once it gets heated, place your hand over the pan and count on how long you can stand the heat. If you can stand more than ten seconds then add oil into the pan. Then, add in the garlic, followed by onion into the pan. Fry them until the garlic turns into golden brown colour. Then add in the curry powder but not too much though as you do not want it to taste bitter. Mix them around well and add in some water. Set them to boil. Once the water starts boiling, add in the mushroom and let them cook for about 15 minutes. If the curry seems thick or tastes bitter then add in a little more water. Once they start to boil, add in a pinch of salt. Stir well and taste. If it seems tasteless then add in a little more salt and let it to boil for another 5 more minutes. Then you can off the stove and enjoy your mushroom curry with either rice or bread.      

Another dish would be known as ‘Lempe’ if I’m not mistaken and it is a three ingredients dish.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour (As much as you prefer)

Warm water

Salt to taste

To start off with this dish, you will have to get a huge bowl that you can stir the mixture in. Then add in the all-purpose flour to the bowl. Add in a pinch of salt followed by some warm water. Pour the water little by little instead of pouring a whole lot of it. Stir as you pour the water so that you know when to stop. Mix until the mixture is not too watery and not too thick and feels just nice with no lump in it. Then heat the pan, add a little bit of oil and use a ladle to pour a spoonful of the mixture into the pan once it is heated. Turn them every 3 to 5 minutes so that you don’t burn them. Once you’re done frying, you can either serve them with condensed milk or have them with tea for tea break.

With two simple ingredients given, I hope it eases you one way or another. You can cook your own food now than to buy food from stalls.