My mum was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mid last year, and I could not help but to feel resentful.

I grew up in a family of food-lovers. We make a dinner out of almost every possible occasion. From Easter holiday to anniversary dinners, everything seemed like a legit reason to enjoy a good meal. With my mum’s condition however, the rest of the family had to stay close to her prescribed diet to avoid tempting her into binging.

A simple dish of sweet and sour pork, which we enjoyed, became The Dish That Must Not Be Named. Bak Kwa (barbecued pork), char siew pastry and short cakes all became food we can savour, but only in private. As if that wasn’t dreadful enough for a family who is committed to good food, my mum found out that she had gout shortly after. In her case, seafood, nuts and beans cause gout attack, so that’s off our grocery list as well.

Everyone in the family felt the dull weight upon our shoulders. Not only were we left with the limited ingredients, but as no one but the domestic help cooks, we also lacked in cooking variations. Our home cooked meal consists mainly of brown rice, steam chicken and vegetables.

In hopes of revisiting the good old days of enjoying food with the family, I decided to pick up recipes. I wanted to start with a simple dish. Thanks to the folks at Changi General Hospital, I found the *Stewed Chicken with Bittergourd recipe.

A healthy dish that presents both vegetables and meat in a serving, the flavour comes mainly from ingredients such as chilli and garlic. However, it turned out slightly blend – speaking from a non-diabetic palette that is. So if you’re looking to enjoy this with the family, consider adding a little salt.

“It is okay for diabetics to take salt, unless they have high blood pressure.” says Magdalin Cheong, Chief Dietician at Changi General Hospital.

The gravy is a combination of tastes. The spice is rather prominent, while a hint of the pumpkin’s sweetness remains, and then finally the bitterness stays on the back of your palate, while you take in the flavour of the savoury chicken.

The time you leave the stew to simmer varies. Although the original recipe suggested 20 minutes, but at the 10th minute, I found that the pumpkin was a bit too soft and the gravy overflowing. So monitor your cooking and remove it from stove whenever desired result is achieved.

These are the ingredients you need:

600g Chicken Breast Meat

½ Tbsp Olive Oil

5 Dried Chillies

3 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and chopped

½ Bitter gourd, cut into 2.5cm(1inch) pieces

¼ Pumpkin, cut into 2.5cm(1inch) pieces

2.5cm (1 inch) knob of ginger

200ml water

1tsp of Corn Starch(or Corn Flour) mixed with 1tbsp of water

Method

· Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch chicken for about 30 seconds. Remove chicken from boiling water, drain and put it into a bowl of ice water.

· Remove chicken from cold water and cut into bite-sized pieces.

· Heat olive oil in a claypot over medium heat. Add dried chillies and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

· Then add garlic and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes.

· After which, add bitter gourd, pumpkin, ginger and chicken. Stir fry for another minute.

· Then add water to bring mixture to boil.

· Place lid over the claypot and reduce heat to low. Leave it to simmer for 10minutes, or until chicken and pumpkin are tender. Add corn starch to thicken the gravy. To be served with either rice or pasta.

*Recipe taken from A cookbook for diabetics by Changi General Hospital’s Chief Dietitian Ms Magdalin Cheong, & Executive Chef Mr Daniel Yeo.