Category Archives: Western province

Comprises of three districts: Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara

Cabbage fry

Cabbage fry

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 3 or 4

Cabbage fryIngredients:

  • Cabbage – 1 cup
  • Scraped coconut – 2 tbsp
  • Onion – ½
  • Red chilli – 1
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Turmeric – ½ tsp
  • Crushed chilli – ½ tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Sesame oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Finely chop the cabbage.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in a pan and lightly sauté the fennel seeds, chopped onion, red chilli and curry leaves for 1 to 2 mins.
  3. Add some salt to the pan.
  4. Mix in the chopped cabbage. Add another tsp oil if required and cook for about 10 to 15 mins.
  5. Towards the end, add the freshly scraped coconut, the turmeric and crushed chilli. Mix well before removing from stove.
  6. Serve warm 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

Vegan eggs

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:

  1. Mix the flour with salt and pepper and hot water to make a dough. Divide the dough into 4 balls. Keep aside.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp margarine in a pan and lightly fry the chopped walnuts, onion, chilli and grated carrot for about 2 mins.
  3. Add ½ cup of water to the pan as well as salt, pepper and a pinch of kesari powder.
  4. 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.
  5. Roll out the rice flour dough balls into an oval disk.
  6. Place the semolina mixture balls at the center and close the edges, shaping it like an egg with the semolina mixture at its center.
  7. Steam the vegan eggs for about 5 – 10 mins.
  8. 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

222576_165380886933749_1051752180_nToday 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 Beetroot SauceAsh Plantain and Carrot with Beetroot Sauce

Time taken: 35 – 40 mins

Serves 2

Beetroot sauce close upIngredients:

  • 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:

  1. Wash the three vegetables, without peeling them.
  2. Boil the ash plantain and beetroot for about 15 mins.
  3. After boiling, peel the ash plantain and beetroot separately.
  4. 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.
  5. Slice the boiled and peeled ash plantain and layer the slices around the carrot in the serving dish. Sprinkle with salt.
  6. Peel the beetroot and chop it up.
  7. Heat a tsp oil and fry the chopped ginger, garlic, chilli and onion lightly.
  8. Transfer the lightly fried ingredients to the blender together with the chopped beetroot and salt, to taste, and blend to a puree/ sauce.
  9. Stir in a tbsp of sesame oil after blending.
  10. Pour the sauce over the dish with the ash plantain and carrot slices.
  11. 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.

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Peace.Love.Quinoa: Apple Parsnip Mash

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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

Chickpea cutletIngredients:

  • 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:

  1. Cook the chickpeas (if not using canned) for at least 30 mins and then grind it.
  2. Take ½ cup of the ground chickpeas in a mixing bowl and add the chopped onions and chilli.
  3. Season with salt and pepper and toss the coriander leaves into the mix.
  4. Toss the chickpeas mixture together and then divide into 4 balls.
  5. Prepare a batter by mixing the wheat flour with a little water.
  6. Coat the 4 cutlet balls in the batter and then roll them in the bread crumbs.
  7. Deep-fry the cutlets in low-fat oil over medium heat.
  8. 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 squashButternut squash and green peas curry

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves 3

Pumpkin and green peas curryIngredients:

  • 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:

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

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

Beetroot and Garlic CurryIngredients:

  • 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:

  1. Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and fry the garlic and onion for a couple of mins.
  2. Add the chopped beetroot to the pan and mix well.
  3. Add the coconut milk or water and salt, to taste.
  4. Add the curry powder or chopped green chilli to the pan and cook for about 15 mins.
  5. When the liquid starts drying up, add the chopped tomato and cook for a further 5 mins.
  6. 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

Banana bunIngredients:

  • 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:

  1. In a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt to the flour.
  2. 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.
  3. Add the vegetable margarine and mashed banana to the mixing bowl as well and make the dough for the bun.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 cakeApple cake

Time taken: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Apple cake sliceIngredients:

  • 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:

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

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Spicy Toor Dhal Gravy

Spicy Toor Dhal Gravy

Time taken: 35 mins

Serves 4 or 5

Toor Dhal GravyIngredients:

  • Toor Dhal/ Thuvaram Paruppu – ½ cup
  • Chilli powder – ½ tsp
  • Cumin powder – ½ tsp
  • Coriander powder – ½ tsp
  • Pepper powder – ¼ tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Tamarind juice – ½ cup to 1 cup, as required
  • Salt, to taste
  • Garlic – 3 cloves, crushed

Method:

  1. Soak the dhal for about 10 mins. Rinse and drain the dhal and transfer to a saucepan.
  2. Add 1 ½ cups of water to the dhal and cook for about 10 to 15 mins, over medium heat.
  3. Reduce to low heat and add the five spice powders (chilli, cumin, coriander, pepper, turmeric).
  4. If the water has dried up, add 1 cup of tamarind extract. If there is some water still in the pan, reduce the amount of tamarind extract added accordingly.
  5. Add salt, to taste and mix well.
  6. Cook for another 10 mins. Adjust gravy consistency by adding more tamarind extract, if required.
  7. Add crushed garlic just before removing from stove. Mix well.
  8. Serve with rice or chappathi.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Banana and Apple Cake

Today’s recipe is that of another from my mother’s fruit cake series – banana and apple cake.

DSC00728Banana and Apple cake

Time taken: 1 hour

Serves 6 to 8

Banana and Apple cakeIngredients:

  • Apple – 1
  • Banana – 1
  • Vegetable margarine – ¾ cup + 1 or 2 tbsp (for icing, optional)
  • Sugar – ½ cup
  • Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp
  • Semolina – ½ cup
  • All-purpose flour – 1 cup
  • Baking powder – 1 tsp
  • Baking soda – ¾ tsp
  • Green food colouring – few drops
  • Vanilla essence – ½ tsp
  • Icing sugar – 4 or 5 tbsp, optional
  • Lime juice – 1 or 2 tsp, optional

Method:

  1. Chop up the apple. Cook the chopped apple for about 10 mins, in a saucepan over low heat, adding some cinnamon powder. Stir regularly.
  2. Transfer the cooked apple pieces from the saucepan to a blender. Add the chopped banana. Coarsely blend. Keep aside.
  3. Add the margarine and sugar to the saucepan containing some of the apple sauce after the apple pieces had been transferred to the blender. Add up to ½ cup of water. Heat the contents for a few mins.
  4. After cooling, transfer the melted margarine and sugar to a mixing bowl. Stir in the blended fruits. Add the green food colouring and vanilla essence.
  5. Sift the flour, semolina, baking powder and baking soda together. Gradually add in the flour mix to the mixing bowl until a smooth cake batter is obtained.
  6. Transfer to baking tray and bake for 30 mins at 170⁰C/338⁰F.
  7. If you would like icing on the cake, prepare the icing by mixing the icing sugar with a tbsp of margarine, lime juice and a few drops of green food colouring.
  8. Spread the icing evenly over the cake before slicing and serving.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.