WARUNG SELASA
Anastasia “Dewi” Tjahjadi
Indo Java, 85-12 Queens Boulevard Elmhurst, NY 11373
More than a decade ago, when Dewi moved to Elmhurst, finding Indonesian products was so difficult, her family went to the expense of shipping them from her hometown of East Java.
Dewi and her friend opened the original Indo Java grocery story in 2011, and two years later, moved to its larger present space.
She ran a restaurant too, but when she closed it, customers were still clamoring for her cooking.
Warung Selasa launched in 2018 -- ordering via Instagram from a different menu each Sunday night for pick-up at Indo Java each Tuesday. "Warung" means "pop-up" and "Selasa" means "Tuesday."
And if you're lucky enough to gather at least 10 hungry people, you can arrange for Dewi to cook at your home.
MORTAR AND PESTLE
I brought this from my hometown of East Java. It's 20 years old and made of stone. It's old style. I think it's like three or four kilos. It's heavy.
This is an important cooking tool in our kitchen. We do everything right here for the pounding, pressing, for the rotating -- we do everything right here from scratch.
If you want to make a shredded chicken, you just smash it. It gets smaller, smaller... then it becomes shredded.
If you use a food processor, you put in some water or oil. Without the oil or water, it's going to be smooth. It's makes a big difference. That's how you make a sambal absolutely different.
