Kuala Lumpur: Breakfast Tales

WE aren't the kind of family that eats the usual eggs, bacon, sausage and toast breakfast. Nor do either of my children know what Cocoa Krispies, Frosted Flakes or even Weetabix are.

We seem to fall into a routine breakfast that is location-dependant. In Croatia it was heaping large amounts of watermelon. In Argentina we had fruit salads with tahini-honey dressing and bee pollen.

Brazil brought us chia seed/banana pancakes at first before we evolved to mouth-watering chocolate pudding with homemade granola. In India we all loved a good masala dosai and in England Zenchai always started his day with his grandmere's homemade bread followed by a (vegan) protein shake (we use the Sunwarrior brand). 

Since being in Kuala Lumpur our accomodation has been diverse, sometimes having a kitchen and sometimes not. When we didn't have a kitchen we ate masala dosai or fruits, then when we had a well-appointed kitchen, I made granola and smoothies (almost every store-bought variety of cereal is sugar-coated or well overpriced). Now we have a kitchen, but it is pretty lame. 

When we lived back London I used to make a scrummy, nutritious chia seed pudding. Zenchai used to lap it up. So I pulled out all the stops and created a travelling rendiditon of it. Fortunately, the stores here have a huge variety of health foods, so it was pretty easy.

However, I haven't used chia seeds even though they sell them here. Instead, I use Thai sweet basil seeds (we have some leftover from our last trip here), which react the same as chia.

Kuala Lumpur Breakfast of Champions:

2-4 TBS Thai sweet basil seeds or chia seeds

water or nut milk (enough to cover the seeds)

1/4 - 1/2 C coconut milk (depending on how coconutty you like it)

splash vanilla essence

dribble maple syrup or honey (optional)

one chopped banana

2-4 dates

chopped brazil nuts

dried mulberries

goji berries

Here is the skinny:

Pour the water or nut milk over the seeds, add the vanilla and maple syrup. Stir until well combined. Then add the coconut milk, stir well and place in fridge for 5-10 minutes. While the seed mixture is in fridge you can chop the banana, brazil nuts and dates. When the fridge time is up, add the remaining goodies. Spoon into mouth. Smile, it tastes naughty but it is packed with nutrition.

 

Comments

[Bill M]

It's after dinner here, so fullness damps temptation. It's "masala dosa," by the way. Maybe "dosai" is a plural?

[Claude]

Hi Bill. Actually, here in Malaysia it is spelled 'dosai' everywhere, whereas in India, for the exact same dish, it was spelled 'dosa'. Since we are in Malaysia, we decided to go with the local version.

[Mary]

Found you from Cashing Joy... love the concept of your blog! I'm a long-time vietgarean who has not yet made the leap to veganism. Looking forward to reading about your journey!