Duck Eggs in Turmeric Gravy

Who says you need to buy all the ingredients when you want to cook a dish?  I can tell you that in some situations you can get all the ingredients for free.

I recently went to visit my in-laws and it just so happened that quite a few of my other in-laws were already there.  By the end of the day, we decided to say our good byes, but before that, we distributed among us things that some of us had brought from our homes; things that we either planted or reared.

One of my in-laws who reared ducks began distributing duck eggs while another one distributed coconuts she had collected from her tree in the backyard.  The eldest in-law provided some carambola and some birds eye chili and I gave them turmeric roots and leaves which were growing in abundance in my garden patch at home.  All the ingredients, when put together,  became the crucial ingredients in making "Telor Itik Masak Lemak" or Duck Eggs in Turmeric Gravy.

This recipe does not focus on the idea that it is such a simple and ordinary recipe (for us over here!) but it focuses on the fact that things to cook with can be free and it can be obtained right in your backyard or the backyards of your relatives.  Nevertheless, here's the recipe!

• 5 duck eggs
• 750 ml coconut creamed, pressed from one coconut
• 15 pieces carambola
• 15 birds eye chili (less if you want less heat!)
• 1 thumb-size turmeric root, pounded
• 1 piece turmeric leaf, torn

Put all the ingredients into a pot and bring to a slow boil so that the coconut cream does not split.  Then break the eggs in a separate bowl, and slide them one at a time into the gravy.  Poach slowly until the eggs are totally cooked.  Best eaten hot with hot rice!