Spicy Ash Plantain Curry

Ash plantain (Saambal Vaalai, as it is called in Tamil) is often used in Sri Lankan and South Indian cuisine. I am not very familiar with the varieties of plantains but as far as I am aware, ash plantain is the more common and popular variety in Sri Lanka and is a cooking plantain.

Today’s recipe is that of an ash plantain curry that my mother quite often makes at home.

Spicy Ash plantain Curry

Time taken: 25 mins

Serves 3

Ingredients:

Ash plantain – 2
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Onion – ½
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Tamarind extract – ½ cup
Thin coconut milk – ½ cup
Curry powder – 1 ½ tsp
Salt, to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp + more, for light frying

Method:

Peel the ash plantains and slice them.
Lightly fry the ash plantain slices in a little oil. Keep aside.
In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil and sauté the fenugreek seeds, chopped onion and curry leaves for a minute.
Add the lightly fried ash plantain slices to the pan. Mix well and continue stir-frying for another 2 – 3 mins.
Then, add the tamarind extract to the pan, followed by the thin coconut milk and the curry powder.
Season the curry with salt to taste. Mix well and cook the curry for about 10 mins till the gravy thickens.
Just before removing the pan from stove, add a tsp of sugar and mix well.
Serve the spicy ash plantain curry with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vegan Eggs

As I have often mentioned on this blog before, my mother enjoys being creative and experimental in her cooking. When she gets into that mode, she starts whipping up several dishes in succession. This weekend, we have been treated to a number of new dishes at home.

Today’s dish is a special treat and ideal for a weekend breakfast treat.

Vegan eggs

Time taken: 30 mins

Makes 4

Ingredients:

Rice flour – ½ cup, roasted or Wheat flour – ¾ cup, steamed
Semolina – ¼ cup, roasted
Onion – ½, chopped
Green chilli – 1, chopped
Carrot – 1 tbsp, grated
Walnuts – 1 tbsp, chopped
Vegetable oil margarine – 2 tbsp
Kesari powder or saffron – pinch
Salt, to taste
Pepper – pinch

Method:

Mix the flour with salt and pepper and hot water to make a dough. Divide the dough into 4 balls. Keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp margarine in a pan and lightly fry the chopped walnuts, onion, chilli and grated carrot for about 2 mins.
Add ½ cup of water to the pan as well as salt, pepper and a pinch of kesari powder.
As the water starts bubbling, add the semolina to the pan and stir it till it thickens and the chopped onion and walnuts have mixed well with the semolina. Make 4 balls from the semolina mixture.
Roll out the rice flour dough balls into an oval disk.
Place the semolina mixture balls at the center and close the edges, shaping it like an egg with the semolina mixture at its center.
Steam the vegan eggs for about 5 – 10 mins.
After cooling, slice the eggs into halves and serve with sliced onion, tomato and sauce.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ash plantain and Carrot with Beetroot Sauce

Today is the Virtual Vegan Potluck! I had come across this post recently, and as one who generally enjoys potlucks, decided to join a virtual one after a quick chat with my mother who has contributed more than 90% of the recipes on this blog to-date. So today’s recipe is an ash plantain and carrot with beetroot sauce recipe that my mother concocted, given that I had mentioned beets was the featured ingredient.

Ash Plantain and Carrot with Beetroot Sauce

Time taken: 35 – 40 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Ash plantain – 1
Beetroot – 1
Carrot – 1
Ginger – 1 tsp, chopped
Garlic – 1 or 2 cloves, chopped
Green chilli – 1, chopped
Onion – ¼, chopped
Sesame/ Gingelly oil – 1 tsp + 1 tbsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

Wash the three vegetables, without peeling them.
Boil the ash plantain and beetroot for about 15 mins.
After boiling, peel the ash plantain and beetroot separately.
If you prefer the carrot to be boiled or steamed, you will need to do so separately. Else, simply peel the cleaned, fresh carrot and slice thinly and arrange in a serving dish.
Slice the boiled and peeled ash plantain and layer the slices around the carrot in the serving dish. Sprinkle with salt.
Peel the beetroot and chop it up.
Heat a tsp oil and fry the chopped ginger, garlic, chilli and onion lightly.
Transfer the lightly fried ingredients to the blender together with the chopped beetroot and salt, to taste, and blend to a puree/ sauce.
Stir in a tbsp of sesame oil after blending.
Pour the sauce over the dish with the ash plantain and carrot slices.
Garnish with thin slices of chilli and serve.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

For accessing the other blogs participating in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, press the ‘go back’ or ‘go forward’ buttons below.

Peace.Love.Quinoa: Apple Parsnip Mash

This is Thirty: Sautéed Beet Greens and Kale

Chickpea Cutlet

Chickpea cutlet

Time taken: 1 hour + soaking time for chickpeas (if not using canned)

Makes 4

Ingredients:

Chickpeas – ½ cup, ground
Onion – ½, chopped
Green chilli – 1, chopped
Pepper – 1 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Coriander leaves – few, chopped
Wheat flour – ¼ cup
Bread crumbs
Low fat oil, for deep-frying

Method:

Cook the chickpeas (if not using canned) for at least 30 mins and then grind it.
Take ½ cup of the ground chickpeas in a mixing bowl and add the chopped onions and chilli.
Season with salt and pepper and toss the coriander leaves into the mix.
Toss the chickpeas mixture together and then divide into 4 balls.
Prepare a batter by mixing the wheat flour with a little water.
Coat the 4 cutlet balls in the batter and then roll them in the bread crumbs.
Deep-fry the cutlets in low-fat oil over medium heat.
Transfer the cutlets to a plate lined with grease absorbing paper, before serving.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Butternut squash and Green Peas Curry

Today’s recipe is one of my mother’s simple and delicious pumpkin recipes. The butternut squash is called the ‘Dubai pumpkin’ for some reason in the markets of Colombo.

Butternut squash and green peas curry

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves 3

Ingredients:

Butternut squash or regular pumpkin – ½ cup
Green peas – ¼ cup
Onion – ½
Green chilli – 1
Ginger – 1”
Garlic – 3 or 4 cloves
Thin coconut milk – ½ cup
Salt, to taste
Pepper – 1 tsp
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Peel the butternut squash and chop it up into smaller chunks.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan and fry the chopped ginger, garlic, green chilli and onion for a min or two.
Add the chopped butternut squash and green peas to the pan and stir fry for a few mins.
Add the coconut milk to the pan, as well as salt to taste, and cook for about 10 mins.
Add the pepper, when the milk is about to dry up, and remove the pan from stove.
Garnish with coriander leaves, chopped onion and tomato and serve warm with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Spicy Carrot Curry

I was a finicky eater growing up – and one of the vegetables that I couldn’t stand for many years was carrots, particularly steamed carrots, which happened to be my mother’s favourite. Until one day, surprisingly, I started liking them. I now particularly like the smell of fresh carrots.

Today’s recipe is that of my mother’s spicy carrot curry.

Spicy Carrot Curry

Time taken: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Carrots – 2, medium
Onion – ½
Ginger – a small piece
Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Green chilli – 1
Thin coconut milk – ¾ cup
Curry powder – 1 tsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Clean the carrots, peel and chop them.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan over low heat and fry the fenugreek seeds and chopped ginger, garlic and onion for a min.
Then, add the chopped carrots, curry leaves and chopped green chilli and continue frying for another 5 – 7 mins. Add a little oil if the carrots or onions start burning.
Add the coconut milk to the pan, together with the curry powder.
Cook for about 10 mins over medium heat. Add salt, to taste.
Garnish with coriander and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Seeni Ariyatharam

Today’s recipe is that of another Jaffna traditional festival snack – seeni ariyatharam. With the modification of one ingredient, it can be found in traditional festival Sinhalese and South Indian cuisine under the name of ‘athirasa.’ In Sri Lanka, ‘seeni ariyatharam’/’athirasa’ is most often made during the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year which comes around in April.

This is my mother’s recipe for seeni ariyatharam accompanied by a photo I took of some that a neighbour brought us for Theepawali earlier this month.

Seeni Ariyatharam

Time taken: 45 mins + soaking time for raw rice, if preparing flour from scratch

Makes 10

Ingredients:

Raw rice – ½ cup
Sugar – ¼ cup
Cardamom – a few, crushed
Low fat oil – for deep-frying

Method:

Soak the raw rice and then using a dry grinder, grind the rice into flour or alternatively, simply purchase the pre-prepared raw rice flour.
Heat the sugar in ¼ cup of water in a sauce pan, with some crushed cardamom, over low heat.
When the consistency is syrupy (not too thick), remove from the stove. Stir in the raw rice flour to make the dough. If the consistency of the dough seems too watery, add a tbsp of raw rice flour. It should also not be too thick but smooth.
Heat the oil in the pan over low heat.
Dab the surface of a small piece of banana leaf with water and then scoop a little of the ‘seeni ariyatharam’ dough onto the banana leaf and flatten it lightly into a circular shape.
Drop the ‘seeni ariyatharam’ into the oil pan and deep-fry. Flip it to the other side so that both sides are browned before transferring onto a tray lined with grease absorbing paper.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Beetroot and Garlic Curry

The recipe of my mother’s that I am sharing today is a fusion of the south and north Sri Lankan cooking. Garlic curry is a specialty of the southern province of Sri Lanka and I hope to soon share the recipe of the dish that I had enjoyed during my several trips along the southern coast. In the meantime, my mother’s experimental cooking has fused her beetroot curry with garlic and has resulted in a quite pleasant, unique curry.

Beetroot and Garlic Curry

Time taken: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Beetroot – ½ cup, chopped
Garlic – ¼ cup, peeled and sliced
Onion – 2, chopped
Coconut milk or water – ½ cup
Tomato – ¼ cup, chopped
Curry powder – ½ tsp or Green chilli – 1, chopped
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and fry the garlic and onion for a couple of mins.
Add the chopped beetroot to the pan and mix well.
Add the coconut milk or water and salt, to taste.
Add the curry powder or chopped green chilli to the pan and cook for about 15 mins.
When the liquid starts drying up, add the chopped tomato and cook for a further 5 mins.
Serve warm with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Banana bun

This is a recipe of my mother. I remember the first time my mother ventured into using bananas in her baking. It was in mid 80s Jakarta, where every embassy had been invited to put up a stall, at a banana food festival and all food had to be made of banana. Besides organizing the Sri Lankan stall, my mother experimented and baked her first banana cake then. Ever since, she has tried using banana in different baked products.

This banana bun is great as both a tea-time snack and as breakfast food.

Banana bun

Time taken: 2 hours

Makes 9 buns

Ingredients:

Multi-purpose flour – 1 ½ cups
Yeast – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1 tbsp
Vegetable margarine – ¼ cup
Banana – ½ cup, mashed
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Cinnamon – ½ tsp, crushed
Vanilla essence – ½ tsp

Method:

In a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt to the flour.
Prepare a yeast solution by adding ¼ cup of lukewarm water to a tbsp yeast and a tbsp salt. Let the solution rest for 2 – 3 mins before adding to the flour in the mixing bowl.
Add the vegetable margarine and mashed banana to the mixing bowl as well and make the dough for the bun.
Sprinkle the raisins, crushed cinnamon and vanilla essence and knead the dough. Divide the dough into 9 balls and let the dough rest for around 30 – 40 mins.
Transfer to baking tray and bake at 170⁰C/338⁰F for 25 mins first on the lower shelf and for another 15 mins on the top shelf so that it is sufficiently browned.
Serve warm, either plain or with a dab of margarine or sprinkled with sugar.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Apple cake

Today’s recipe is my mother’s apple cake recipe.

Apple cake

Time taken: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Apple – 1 ½ , large
Cinnamon – 2 large sticks
Green food colouring – ½ tsp
Lime – 1
Vegetable margarine – ¼ cup
Sugar – ¼ cup
All-purpose flour – 1 cup
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Baking soda – ¼ tsp
Rose essence or Apple essence – few drops

Method:

Peel the apples and chop them up. Place them in a sauce pan and add water so as to just cover the apple chunks.
Add some green food colouring and 2 large cinnamon sticks to the pan. Cook the apples over low heat until the water dries up.
After the apples have cooled sufficiently, remove the cinnamon sticks and transfer the cooked apples to a blender.
Grind the cooked apples to a puree. Add the juice of 1 lime to the apple puree and mix.
Whisk together the vegetable margarine and sugar. Add the blended apple and lime juice mix.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
Gradually add the flour mix to the apple and margarine mix to make a smooth cake batter. Add a few drops of rose essence.
Transfer to a baking tray and bake the apple cake at 170⁰C/338⁰F for 30 mins.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.