Sippi Sohi

Today’s Jaffna specialty snack recipe is that of “sippi sohi” (sea-shells). The snack actually resembles sea-shells if made in the traditional way. However, my mother generally makes her own colourful version of the sweet.

Sippi Sohi

Time taken: 45 mins

Serves 6 – 8 persons

Ingredients:

Rice flour – 1 cup, roasted
Urad dhal/ black gram flour – ¼ cup, roasted
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Sugar – ¼ cup
Water – 4 tbsp
Food colouring – optional
Oil, for deep-frying

Method:

Combine the roasted rice flour and the roasted urad dhal flour and keep aside.
Heat 1 cup of coconut milk, with a little salt, over medium heat. Once cooked, remove from stove and cool.
When the milk has cooled slightly but is still warm, stir in the rice flour to make the dough.
Roll out the dough and cut into little pieces. Alternatively, the traditional way of squeezing the dough through the mold can be used.
Heat the oil and deep-fry the little pieces “sippi sohi” and transfer the fried pieces to a tray lined with grease absorbing paper.
Prepare the sugar syrup by heating the sugar with water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Food colouring can be added to the syrup, while heating in the saucepan. My mother used red food colouring here to have a colourful twist on the traditional plain syrup.
Soak the fried “sippi sohi” into the sugar syrup till they are well coated and dry up.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Paruthithurai Vadai

Theepawali Nalvaalthukkal! (Theepawali greetings)

For today’s specialty food, I would like to share a delicacy from my birthplace – the “Paruthithurai Vadai”. This vadai is generally prepared in Jaffna during festival seasons. While I have had the privilege of trying out this vadai in different places across Jaffna as well as at the homes of friends and relatives, the best, crunchiest “Paruthithurai/Thattai Vadai” that I have eaten to date has been that made by my mother. So, here’s the recipe for it.

Paruthithurai/ Thattai Vadai

Time taken: 1 ½ hours + 6 hours (soaking time)

Makes 50 – 60

Ingredients:

Split urad dhal – 1 cup
Wheat flour – 1 cup, steamed
Wheat flour – 1 cup, regular not steamed
Crushed chillies – 1 or 2 tbsp
Onion – 1, ground
Curry leaves – chopped
Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp
Salt, to taste
Water, as required
Oil, for deep-frying

Method:

Soak the split urad dhal for around 6 hours. Drain and peel the skin.
In a mixing bowl, add the drained and peeled split urad dhal, wheat flour both steamed and regular, crushed chillies, ground onion, chopped curry leaves, fennel seeds, salt, bringing them together using a little water to make the ‘vadai’ dough.
Divide the dough into 50 – 60 balls. Flatten each ball on a flat surface that will not stick. Alternatively, the dough can be rolled out and cut into thin circles using a cutter;
Heat the oil for deep-frying. Do not let the ‘vadai’ dough sit out too long and transfer to the frying pan as soon as the dough has been made and the balls have been flattened into the thin ‘vadai’ shape.
Deep-fry the vadai in batches until they are golden brown.
Transfer the vadai to a tray lined with grease absorbing paper. The vadai can be stored, for many days, in an air-tight jar.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Payatham Paniyaram

With Theepawali coming up this weekend, it’s time for some traditional snacks at home. My mother made a few quintessential Jaffna festival snacks so I will be sharing their recipes here.

Today’s recipe is my great grandmother’s recipe for ‘payatham paniyaram’ (a spiced green gram snack) which is a traditional Jaffna specialty made at all the festivals and celebrations in the peninsula. Plus, people tend to make this and send out to relatives in other cities or abroad as it keeps for a relatively long time.

Payatham Paniyaram

Time taken: 35 mins

Makes 20

Ingredients:

Green gram – 1 cup, roasted flour
Red rice flour – 2 tbsp, roasted
Sugar – ½ cup
Cardamom – 6, crushed
White raw rice flour or wheat flour – ½ cup
Salt, to taste
Cumin powder, pepper powder, toasted coconut flakes – optional

Method:

Combine the roasted green gram flour and the roasted red rice flour and keep aside.
Melt ½ cup sugar in ¼ cup of water in a saucepan over low heat.
When the syrup starts bubbling in a couple of mins, add the crushed cardamoms. The optional cumin, pepper and toasted coconut flakes can be added now, if required. I prefer not to have the cumin or pepper added.
Quickly add in the roasted green gram and red rice flour mix into the sauce pan, continuously stirring for a few mins, until the mixture is well-combined and easy to form into balls.
Remove from stove and make about 20 balls of the spiced mixture.
Make the dipping batter by combining the white raw rice flour (the preferred flour) or wheat flour with a little salt and water. Coat the balls in the batter.
Heat the oil for deep-frying. Fry the balls until golden-brown on all sides. Transfer the ‘payitram paniyaram’ to a tray lined with grease absorbing paper.
Serve when cooled. If coconut flakes are not added, the ‘paniyaram’ can be stored for many days.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Spicy Pumpkin Tart

Today’s recipe is a pumpkin-centric fusion recipe of my mother.

Spicy Pumpkin Tart

Time taken: 1 ¼ hours

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Wheat flour – 1 cup
Vegetable margarine – ¼ cup + 2 tbsp (sauce/ cream)
Pumpkin – 1 cup, boiled and mashed
Carrot – ½ , boiled
Beans – 4, chopped
Guava – ½ large or 1 medium-sized, chopped
Leeks – ¼, chopped
Capsicum or malu miris – 1, chopped
Green chillies – 2, chopped
Onion – 1, chopped
Ginger – 1 tsp, chopped
Garlic – 1 tsp, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Vegetable stock – ½ tsp (optional)
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp (optional)
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Tomatoes – chopped, for topping
Onion – chopped, for topping (optional)
Rosemary or mixed spice – 1 tsp
Water, as required

Method:

Mix the flour, margarine, salt and a little water to make a dough. Knead to make it smooth and let the dough rest while making the tart filling.
Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the ginger and garlic first for a couple of mins.
Then, add the chopped onion followed by the chopped vegetables. Stir fry for a few mins.
Finally, add the boiled pumpkin and carrot as well as the guava. Mix well and continue cooking for about 5 mins.
Season with salt and pepper. Remove pan from stove.
Heat 2 tbsp margarine in a saucepan over low heat.
Add 2 tbsp flour and add ½ cup of water to the saucepan. Stir, for about 10 mins, until it thickens to a cream. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and optional ½ tsp vegetable stock and 1 tsp crushed chillies.
Transfer the vegetable mixture from the pan to the saucepan. Stir.
Add ½ tsp baking soda to the saucepan. Mix well before removing sauce pan from stove.
Roll out the dough and line the pie tray with the dough.
Fill the tart base with the vegetable filling.
Top with chopped tomatoes and optional chopped onions. Sprinkle 1 tsp of rosemary or mixed spice.
Bake the tart at 220⁰C/428⁰F for 30 mins.
Slice and serve warm.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Dodol

To celebrate Eid, my mother made some ‘dodol’. This sweet has its roots in the Malay cuisine of Sri Lanka but has since become popular across the entire country.

The second best ‘dodol’ that I have tasted is the ‘dodol’ sold in a little family-run shop on a tiny road across the Peacock beach hotel in Hambantota district. The best was the exquisite dodol wrapped in woven reed that a relative had sent us. He unfortunately omitted to get the contact details of the entrepreneur he had randomly come across and purchased it from. So, I only have the remembrance of the taste by which I have compared all other ‘dodol’ since. I have also hoped that that entrepreneur would have been successful enough in his business and his products would be available at some popular outlet other than his previous door-to-door sales.

At my house, while everyone likes dodol, it is time-consuming to make. My mother doesn’t like to take much time over cooking so she created her instant ‘dodol’ version, which I would say is the third best in my dodol tasting experience.

So, today, I will share my mother’s recipe for her instant dodol as well as my grandmother’s recipe for regular dodol.

(a) Dodol (regular) – grandmother’s recipe

Time taken: 2 hours

Makes 20 pieces

Ingredients:

Coconut – 2 cup, freshly scraped
Roasted rice flour – 2 cup
Jaggery – 2 cup, grated
Crushed cardamom – 1 tbsp
Cashewnuts – ¼ cup, chopped

Method:

Blend freshly scraped coconut with 10 cups of water and make coconut milk.
Mix all ingredients in a large pot and keep stirring continuously over a medium heat for around 1 hour. Do not allow mixture to burn.
Once it starts thickening and the oil starts separating. Separate the dodol from the oil and transfer to a tray and allow to cool for at least ½ hour. The separated coconut oil can be reused for cooking.
Store in an air-tight container and slice and serve, when required. The regular ‘dodol’ can be stored for at least 2 weeks.

(b) Instant dodol – my mother’s recipe:

Time taken: 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Coconut – ½ cup, freshly scraped
Roasted rice flour – ¼ cup
Jaggery – ¼ cup, grated
Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp, chopped
Cardamom – 3 or 4, crushed
Vegetable oil margarine – 1 tbsp

Method:

Blend ½ cup of freshly scraped coconut with 1 cup of water to make coconut milk.
Mix all ingredients in a pan and stir continuously over medium heat for about 10 mins.
As the mixture thickens, add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil margarine and mix well. In the instant version, the stirring does not go on till the oil separates, hence the margarine is added before removing from stove.
Transfer to a plate and allow the instant ‘dodol’ to cool for at least 15 mins before slicing and serving. The instant ‘dodol’ has to be served within 12 hours or so and cannot be kept for more time.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Sundal

Today is the last day of the Navarathri, the third day of the Saraswathie poosai. Dedicated to Goddess Saraswathie, the goddess of learning, wisdom and the creative arts, it is a special day.

This day is when a special ‘poosai’ is held in my home. Besides the ‘poosai’ itself and the food, we also used to keep a symbol of an area of learning that we wished to strengthen during the coming year on the ‘poosai’ table. I remember as a child that I used to be excited about this aspect of the ‘poosai’ and particularly selecting the area of education I wished to strengthen. I always used to be the one bringing several school books plus my creative writing notepads to the table. It used to be my hope that my school grades for that year would improve astronomically along with writing and turning out globally acclaimed fictional masterpieces, by having been blessed during the ‘poosai.’ I have retained a fondness for this ritual.

After the ‘poosai’ and after the musically inclined in the family had sung a few devotional songs and played a couple of pieces on their flute or violin, we would quietly read our respective chosen book for the hour. As a kid, I used to be quite impatient towards the end of the book reading hour anticipating the ‘prasadam’ that would finally be served.

For today’s Navarathri recipe, I would like to share my mother’s recipe for sundal, the quintessential ‘poosai’ food that is always made in Hindu homes and temples during festival or special ‘poosai’ days.

Sundal

Time taken: 35 mins + 6 hours (for soaking)

Serves 4 or 5

Ingredients

Chickpeas – 1 cup
Onion – 1 tbsp, chopped
Dried red chillies – 2
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Coconut chips – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method

Soak the chickpeas for 6 hours.
Boil the soaked chickpeas for ½ hour. Add salt a minute or two before removing from stove and stir.
Drain the chickpeas after removing from stove.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry all ingredients, except the boiled and drained chickpeas, for 5 mins.
Add the chickpeas to the pan. Mix well before removing from stove.
Serve hot.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Laddu

While the semolina laddu is more commonly made in homes in Sri Lanka, particularly in the north, I prefer the chickpeas flour laddu. I generally refer to that laddu as the ‘Thirupathi laddu’ as the best chickpeas flour laddu I have tasted to-date is the ‘prasadam’ from Andhra Pradesh’s famed Thirupathi temple.

We rarely make it at home as it is not easy to come by high quality chickpeas flour in most stores. As an amateur cook who only started taking an interest in cooking six months ago, it was not surprising that I burnt my laddu during my first attempt. I learnt that one has to be really quick during the roasting and mixing other ingredients part.

So, for today’s Navarathri festival recipe, I would like to share my mother’s recipe for the chickpea laddu. The accompanying photo is temporarily that of the photo I took of the Vajira Pillaiyar koyil ‘laddu’ and will be replaced when I take a photo of the laddu my mother makes later this week.

Laddu

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Makes 8 – 10

Ingredients:

Chickpeas flour – 1 cup
Sugar – ½ cup
Low fat vegetable oil margarine or ghee – ½ cup
Cardamoms – 4, crushed
Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp
Raisins – 2 tbsp
Sugar candy – 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:

Roast the chickpeas flour over low heat, without allowing it to burn, for about 5 – 10 mins.
Add crushed cardamom to the pan. Mix and remove pan from stove.
Heat the sugar and margarine in another pan, over low heat, for around 5 mins.
Stir in the chickpeas flour.
Add the chopped cashew nut, raisins and the optional sugar candy quickly. Do not allow flour to burn.
Add 4 tbsp of hot water. Mix well and remove pan from stove.
Using hand, quickly divide mixture into 8 – 10 smaller balls.
Allow ‘laddu’ to cool and firm, before serving.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Aval

A Navarathri festival favourite from childhood is ‘aval’, a simple, quick to prepare delicious snack. So, for the first day of the Saraswathie poosai, I would like to share this simple recipe for ‘Aval’.

I have always thought of ‘aval’ as a sweet snack, generally prepared during ‘home poosai’ (prayer ceremony) as a ‘prasadam’ (blessed offering), but I came across the Indore Kanda Poha a few months back and was happily surprised it was a savoury, breakfast food. Here though, I am sharing the traditional way it is prepared in north Sri Lanka.

Aval

Time taken: 10 – 15 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients

Aval (flattened rice or puffed rice) – ½ cup
Coconut – ¼ cup, scraped
Sugar – 3 tbsp or Jaggery – 2 tbsp, chopped
Crushed cardamom – 1 tsp
Cashew nuts – 1 tsp, chopped
Raisins – 2 tsp

Method:

Rinse the ‘aval’ in a bowl of water and drain it.
Add ¼ cup of hot water to the cleaned ‘aval’ and let it soak for 5 mins. Drain.
Heat a pan on low heat and dry roast the coconut for about 2 mins.
Add the jaggery or sugar to the pan and continue cooking for another 2 – 3 mins.
Add the crushed cardamom to the pan and stir before adding the ‘aval’ to the pan. Mix well before removing from heat.
Garnish with chopped cashew nuts and raisins.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Kadalaiparuppu Vadai

Today’s Navarathri recipe for the third day of the Lakshmi ‘poosai’ is kadalaiparuppu vadai.

Vadai

Time taken: 15 mins + 3 hours (soaking time)

Makes 6

Ingredients:

Chickpea/ kadalaiparuppu – ½ cup, split
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
Onion – 1, medium, ground or grated
Curry leaves – sprig, finely chopped
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Low fat oil, for deep frying

Method:

Soak the de-skinned and split chickpea for about three hours. Drain.
Keep aside 3 tbsp and then coarsely grind the remaining chickpea.
Mix the coarsely ground chickpea and the 3 tbsp chickpea that had been kept aside.
Add the remaining ingredients to the chickpea mixture and mix well.
Divide the seasoned chickpea mixture into 6 balls.
Heat the oil in a round-bottomed frying pan or wok.
When the oil is ready, drop the chickpea balls into the sizzling oil.
Fry for about two minutes each side, ensuring that each ‘vadai’ is lightly browned on all sides.
Remove the ‘vadai’ from the pan and transfer to a plate lined with grease absorbing paper.
Serve hot.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Boondi

Today’s Navarathri recipe is Boondi, a fried chickpea flour sweet that is quite popular in Sri Lanka and available in Indian sweet shops. As I like it and I do not like the too sugary consistency of shop-bought boondi, my mother occasionally makes it at home. This is my mother’s recipe for boondi.

Boondi

Time taken: 25 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Chickpea flour – 2 tbsp
Wheat flour – 2 tbsp
Salt, to taste
Vanilla essence – few drops
Kesari powder – pinch
Sugar – 4 tbsp
Cardamom – 2 or 3, crushed
Rose essence – few drops
Cashewnuts – 2 or 3, chopped
Raisins – 1 tsp
Chickpea – 1 tsp, fried and split
Low fat vegetable oil, for deep frying

Method

Mix the chickpea flour, wheat flour, salt, few drops of vanilla essence, pinch of kesari powder with a little water in bowl to make a batter. The consistency of the batter should not be watery nor too thick but fluid enough to be scooped easily with a spoon.
Heat the oil in a pan.
When the oil is heated and ready for frying, scoop the batter with a spoon and push it through a slotted spoon over the pan so that the batter falls through in little pieces into the oil.
Ensure that the boondi pieces are golden brown all over before transferring them out of a pan onto a plate lined with grease absorbing paper. Repeat until all the batter is transformed to fried boondi.
Make the syrup for the boondi by stirring the sugar with ¼ cup of water in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the crushed cardamom, kesari powder.
When the syrup starts thickening slightly, add a few drops of rose essence and remove from heat.
Add the chopped cashewnuts, fried and split chickpeas and raisins to the syrup.
Transfer the fried boondi to the syrup. Let it soak for some time before serving.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.