Category Archives: Lunch

Salad Colombo

Since there were a couple of different mangoes in the house, I felt like using some in a salad. I was also curious about trying out tea in a salad dressing so concocted this – Salad Colombo. Why Salad Colombo? Because I used locally produced ingredients from different parts of the country brought together in Colombo. So, why not Salad Colombo? 🙂

Salad Colombo

I am taking this crunchy, tangy, bitter-sweet salad over to Angie’s FF#122, co-hosted this week by Aruna@Aharam and Mollie@The Frugal Hausfrau and for the first time, the party at Throwback Thursday #44, hosted by Quinn@Dad What’s 4 Dinner, Mollie@The Frugal Hausfrau, Carlee@Cooking with Carlee, Meaghan@4 Sons ‘R’ Us and Alli@Tornadough Alli.

I have been listening to Coldplay the whole day so decided to feature a song I liked.

Hope you enjoy the salad and the featured song for this week.

Salad Colombo

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Lettuce leaves
  • Mango – ½ (large) or 1 (small)
  • Pomegranate – 2 tbsp

Pomegranate and lime infused Orange pekoe tea dressing:

  • Lime/ orange juice – 1 tbsp
  • Pomegranate juice – 1 tsp
  • Tea –  1 – 2 tsp
  • Salt and pepper, to taste (optional)

Method

  1. Clean and chop up the lettuce leaves and arrange on a plate or bowl.
  2. Add sliced mango and pomegranate to the plate.
  3. Prepare the salad dressing by preparing a strong black tea and transferring about 2 tsp to a little bowl.
  4. Add the freshly processed pomegranate juice to the tea. Let it sit for a few minutes before adding the lime juice. (I prefer lime to orange juice for the dressing)
  5. If you wish, add salt and pepper, to taste. I didn’t add any in my version preferring the tanginess of the lime to be enough but my mother preferred adding a pinch of salt and pepper.
  6. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve immediately.IMG_0234

 

Jackfruit Fritters

Earlier this week, I shared my mother’s recipe for jackfruit stir-fry. Today, I am sharing another one of her jackfruit recipes – jackfruit fritters. I am bringing a few over to Angie‘s Fiesta Friday #111, co-hosted by Naina and Julianna.
Jackfruit fritterGiven that I have been listening to mostly Sufi songs this week, I decided to share another Sufi song that I enjoyed listening to. This clip is also from MTV Coke Studio’s YouTube channel. The musicians are Ustad Raees Khan (sitar) and Abida Parveen.

Happy Fiesta Friday!

Jackfruit Fritters

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Jackfruit – ½ cup, finely chopped
  • Flour – ¼ cup
  • Onion – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Chilli – 1 or 2
  • Breadcrumbs – 3 tbsp
  • Curry powder – 1 tsp
  • Pepper and Salt, to taste
  • Oil

Method

  1. Fry the chopped onion and chilli in a pan.
  2. Add the finely chopped jackfruit pieces to the pan and stir-fry until cooked.
  3. Mix the flour, breadcrumbs, curry powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
  4. Add the fried jackfruit, onion and chilli mix to the flour mix.
  5. Prepare the fritter dough by adding little water to the mix.
  6. Divide the dough into 10 balls.
  7. Flatten each ball and deep fry, flipping over the fritters so that they are browned uniformly on both sides.
  8. Serve immediately with rice or on its own.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Jackfruit stir-fry

I have always liked jackfruit. There was even a tree at my grandmother’s house so we were treated to the fruit on our rare visits there during my childhood. The tree is no longer there now but when I come across jackfruit, it takes me back to my grandmother’s home. Due to the sugar-free eating that my parents follow at home, we no longer buy the ripe fruit. However, on rare occasions, my mother buys the unripe fruit to cook polos. Recently, she made a tasty stir-fry and some fritters so I am sharing the jackfruit stir-fry recipe today.
Jackfruit stir fryI’d like to share a song that I came across on the Coke studio youtube channel and which I enjoyed very much. This song is an adaptation of a poem by the 13th century mystic poet, Amir Khusrow, who is also regarded as the father of qawwali. Here, it is sung by two contemporary famous qawwali musicians – Abida Parveen and Rahet Fateh Ali Khan.

Have a lovely week and hope you enjoy the song and the recipe!

Jackfruit stir-fry

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Jackfruit – ½ cup, finely chopped
  • Onion – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Chilli – 1, red
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Fennel seeds –
  • Turmeric – pinch
  • Coconut – 2 or 3 tbsp, freshly scraped
  • Curry powder – 1 or 2 tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Oil

Method

  1. Boil the chopped jackfruit, with a pinch of turmeric and salt, for around 10 – 15 mins. Drain and keep aside.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and lightly fry the chopped onion, chilli, curry leaves and fennel seeds for a couple of minutes before adding the cooked jackfruit pieces. Stir fry for a few minutes.
  3. Add the freshly scraped/ grated coconut to the pan together with the curry powder. Mix well.
  4. Serve warm with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Pol Sambol

I was going through my pending recipe folder and came across something that a friend had sent two years back and which I had not got around to posting so decided to share it today.

Mass Silva, a friend from my undergrad years, sent me a photo-story of one of his favourite recipes that he enjoys making with his family. So, hope you enjoy his photo-story on making pol sambol in Germany.

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While Mass did not send me the measurements of the ingredients he used in making his pol sambol recipe, for those who are interested, please check my mother’s recipe for making pol sambol which I have shared earlier.

To wrap up this post, I’d like to share a cute song that I came across recently – Wassa Wahinawa.

Have a good week!

Breadfruit Fries

As I mentioned in my earlier breadfruit post, my mother tried out a couple of breadfruit dishes recently. I enjoyed the breadfruit curry but I enjoyed more the breadfruit fries she made. So, this weekend, I’d like to share my mother’s recipe for breadfruit fries and bring it to Angie‘s Fiesta Friday #101, co-hosted by Jhuls and Mr.Fitz.
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I was listening to some Sri Lankan music this week and the song I am sharing today is from the recently released movie Ho Gaana Pokuna (translation: The Singing Pond), directed by Indika Ferdinando and lyrics by Kusumsiri Liyanaarachchi. The film won the Teacher’s Choice Prize in the Chicago international children’s film festival.

Have a lovely weekend!

Breadfruit Fries

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Breadfruit – 1 cup, chopped
  • Onion – 1, chopped
  • Curry powder – 1 tsp
  • Ginger, garlic, to taste
  • Curry leaves
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Mix the chopped breadfruit with salt and pepper.
  2. Deep fry the pieces and keep aside.
  3. Chop 1 onion and lightly fry the onion with chopped ginger, garlic and curry leaves in a pan. Add curry powder and salt to taste.
  4. Stir in the deep-fried breadfruit pieces and mix well.
  5. Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Breadfruit Curry

I hope 2016 has started out well for all of you.. Wishing you a peaceful year!

My recipe for today is a curry that my mother rarely cooks at home. However, it is quite popular in the south and west of Sri Lanka. Breadfruit is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka from south-east Asia by the Dutch. Since a friend of my mother’s brought her a breadfruit from their garden, my mother has made a few breadfruit dishes which I have enjoyed.
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So, for today, I am sharing my mother’s recipe for breadfruit curry.
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Breadfruit Curry

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients:

  • Breadfruit – 1 cup, chopped
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
  • Onion – 2 tsp, chopped
  • Curry leaves
  • Coconut milk – 1 cup
  • Curry powder – 1 tsp
  • Salt, to taste

Method

  1. Boil the chopped and cleaned breadfruit pieces for around 10 mins. Drain and keep aside.
  2. Lightly fry the fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, chopped onion and curry leaves in 1 tsp oil in a pan.
  3. Add the boiled breadfruit pieces to the pan and stir for about 2-3 mins.
  4. Add the milk, curry powder and salt. Mix well before covering the pan.
  5. Cook for around 10 mins over medium heat.
  6. Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

 

Samaposha Curry

My mother prefers breakfast food so even when she cooks delicious meals for the rest of the family, she often has cereals for her main meals. Her favourite cereal changes from time to time and for some time last year, it was samaposha. It is a local cereal brand that is pre-cooked and made from corn, soya, green gram and rice. Samaposha is often eaten as breakfast food or sometimes as a mid-day or evening snack when they are made into little samaposha balls by adding a little water and optional grated coconut and sugar.

During my mother’s samaposha phase, she tried out a couple of dishes using samaposha as the key ingredient. The dish I am sharing today, Samaposha curry, is one such experimental dish and it turned out tasty. I had the recipe in my draft folder for so long that I almost forgot about it until today.
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Samaposha Curry

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Samaposha – ½ cup
  • Rice flour or wheat flour – 1 tbsp
  • Curry powder – 1 tsp
  • Chopped onion – 1
  • Salt, to taste
  • Coconut milk – ½ cup
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp
  • Curry leaves
  • Oil

Method:

  1. Mix the samaposha, rice or wheat flour, curry powder, some of the chopped onion and salt to taste in a large bowl. Add a little water to make them into balls. Fry them.
  2. Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan and lightly fry the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
  3. Add the fried samaposha balls to the pan and mix before adding the coconut milk and cinnamon powder.
  4. Cover and simmer over low heat for 5 – 10 mins.
  5. Remove from heat and serve warm with roti or rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan

Green Beans Curry

I have not been as active on this blog during the past year in comparison to my first year. That was bound to happen at some point. It follows that after a year of much activity on this blog, I was relatively quieter in the last twelve months especially as I was away from home. It did not mean I stopped cooking. On the contrary, I did a lot of cooking much more than I do when I am at home but they were less focused on Sri Lankan recipes and when I did cook something Sri Lankan, I would choose one of my mother’s recipes already posted on this blog. I have been doing a lot of baking and I am delighted that I am now able to make delicious scones and pretty decent rye bread.

Having returned home last month, I look forward to resuming posting on this blog.

Today’s recipe is a simple green beans curry which I really like.

green beans curry

Green Beans Curry

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Green beans  – 1 cup, chopped into 1” pieces
  • Onion – ½, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry powder – 1 tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Water – 1 cup
  • Coconut milk – ¼ cup

Method:

  1. Fry the chopped green beans, onion, curry leaves and fennel seeds lightly in a little oil for about 2 mins.
  2. Add the water, chilli powder and salt to taste.
  3. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 15 – 20 mins, until cooked.
  4. Add coconut milk and a little chilli powder, if the spice level is not sufficient.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan

Winged Bean and Dhal Curry

For this month, I am sharing a simple and delicious curry together with some 70s – 90s music from Sweden. DSC01073The following music clips takes me back to the early 90s when I listened quite a lot to these three Swedish music groups. How could I not start the music feature on music from Sweden without a song from ABBA? Actually, I was never a fan of their music but I listened to a lot of their music back then because some of my friends were huge fans and kept playing them a lot that some of the songs kind of seeped into my song lists. This very popular song is one such. There was a time in the early 90s when MTV played a huge part in introducing me to a lot of popular music. The next two song clips are from that time. The second song is ‘Don’t turn around’ by Ace of Base. The final song for this month is Roxette’s ‘It must have been love’.
Hope you enjoy trying out the curry and that you enjoyed going on a nostalgic trip back to the 90s!
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Winged Bean and Dhal Curry

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

  • Winged beans – ¼ cup
  • Mysore dhal – ½ cup
  • Green chillies – 2
  • Onion – ½
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – a sprig
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Pepper – ½ or 1 tsp
  • Crushed chillies – ¼ tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
  • Coconut or non-fat milk – 2 or 3 tbsp (optional)

Method

  1. Wash and chop the winged beans, green chillies and onion.
  2. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the fennel seeds. Add the chopped onion, chillies and curry leaves and continue frying for 2 – 3 mins.
  3. Add the chopped winged beans to the pan and stir.
  4. Wash the dhal and add the dhal to the pan together with a cup of water and ½ tsp turmeric powder. Cook for 15 mins
  5. Add the pepper, salt and crushed chillies towards the end of the cooking. Stir well
  6. While the curry is good as it is, if you like to add milk, you can add 2-3 tbsp coconut or non-fat milk and cook for a few mins more.
  7. Remove from heat and serve warm with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Odiyal Kool

Today is my mother’s birthday and I felt like re-sharing one of my mother’s favourite recipes. Odiyal Kool is a traditional dish from north Sri Lanka and can be made as a vegetarian or non-vegetarian version. Today’s recipe is a vegetarian dish. OK1 For today’s music feature, I wish to share some song clips from youTube from the official vevo site of one of my favourite singers – Andrea Bocelli. The first is a music video of the song ‘Canto Della Terra’. The second song ‘Con Te Partiro’ is from a 2011 concert. I liked more an earlier version, where he sings with Sarah Brightman, but could not find it on the official site. The last clip is the music video of the song with Laura Pausini ‘Dare to Live’. Hope you enjoy the music and the recipe! Ok2

Odiyal Kool

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: average
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Ingredients

  • Odiyal Flour – 1 cup
  • Chopped mixed vegetables (brinjal/ katharikkai, jackfruit seeds/ palakottai, yardlong beans/ paithangai, small green leaves/ pasali keerai or murungai ilai, manioc, ash plantain) – 100g each
  • Boiled rice – ½ cup
  • Dried red chillies – 5- 10, according to your taste
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
  • Pepper powder – 1tbsp
  • Tamarind extract – ½ cup
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Salt to taste
  • Water – 1 1/2 litres

Method:

  1. Dry grind the cumin seeds, red chillies and pepper and keep aside.
  2. Boil the vegetables in a pot with half litre water.
  3. Add another litre of water, along with the tamarind extract.
  4. As the water comes to a boil, slowly stir in the odiyal flour, avoiding lumps.
  5. Add the boiled rice to the pot.
  6. Add the ground spice mixture and the turmeric powder to the pot and salt to taste. Let it come to a boil.
  7. You can add a little water to adjust the consistency to your liking, e.g. if the water has dried up or you prefer a watery Kool.
  8. Serve hot in medium-sized bowls.

Recipe Source: Raji Thillainathan.