Mango chutney

Today, I thought of sharing two of my mother’s chutney recipes.

Mango chutney

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Mango – 1, unripe
Onion – ¼, chopped
Malu miris/ capsicum – 1, chopped
Mustard – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Vinegar – 1 tsp (optional – best to add, if you want to keep chutney for some days)
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Wash the mango, de-seed and chop up the mango with the skin into 1 inch slices.
Marinate the chopped up mango pieces with salt and turmeric. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the mustard and fennel seeds. As they start to splutter, add the chopped onion and malu miris.
After a few minutes of frying or once the onions become pinkish, add the marinated pieces of mango and mix well.
Cover and cook on low heat for 5 mins.
Remove cover and stir.
Add 1 tsp of crushed chillies to the pan. Mix well and cover and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove cover again and this time, add 1 tbsp of sugar and the optional 1 tsp vinegar.
Mix well and cover and cook for a few more minutes.
Remove from heat and mix well before transferring to the serving bowl.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Egg-less Date and Raisin Cake

Among the several delicious cakes that my mother bakes, a special treat is her egg-less date and raisin cake that she makes on special occasions.

Date and Raisin Cake

Time taken: 1 ½ hours + 3 hours (for marinating the dried fruits)

Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients:

Dates – 1½ cup (when chopped) or 300 g (before chopping)
Raisins – ½ cup (100 g)
Wheat flour – 2 cups
Semolina – ½ cup
Low fat vegetable oil margarine (e.g. Flora) – 1 ½ cup (250 g)
Brown sugar – 1 cup
Condensed milk – 1 cup (vegans can use almond cream or cashew nut cream or coconut cream as a substitute)
Vanilla essence – 2 tsp
Mixed 3C spice powder (Cardamon, Cloves and Cinnamon) – 1 ½ tsp
Sri Lankan Tea – 1/3 cup
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Baking soda – ¼ tsp + pinch (for marinating the dried fruits)

Method:

De-seed the dates and chop them. Place the chopped dates in a bowl, together with the raisins.
Add 1/3 cup of strong black tea, pinch of baking soda and the mixed 3C spice powder to the dates and raisins bowl. Cover and keep aside, for 2 – 3 hours, letting the dried fruits marinate in the tea and spice mix.
Whisk together the margarine and sugar, adding the condensed milk or vegan substitute. If whisking by hand, add the ingredients slowly while continuing to whisk. If using a blender, blend the three together for about 10 minutes.
Add the vanilla essence to the blend and mix.
Sift the flour, semolina together with the baking powder and soda.
Stir in the sifted flour and semolina gradually into the bowl of blended margarine, sugar and milk and mix.
Add the marinated dried fruits to the batter and fold.
Transfer the cake batter into a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 140⁰C/284⁰F for about 1 – 1 ¼ hours.
Remove from oven and let it cool, before slicing and serving with some hot Sri Lankan tea or coffee.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Brinjal salad

One of the brinjal recipes of my mother that I like is the brinjal salad. Her recipe is an adaptation of her grandmother’s recipe.

Brinjal salad

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Brinjal – 1
Chilli or capsicum – 1, chopped
Onion – ¼ , chopped
Pepper and salt, to taste
Freshly scraped coconut – 2 tbsp (Optional)
Lime juice, to taste

Method:

Wash the brinjal and then wrap the whole brinjal, in tin foil.
Boil a half-filled saucepan of water and then drop this tin-foil wrapped brinjal in the pan to cook for 10 minutes.
After the brinjal is cooked, remove from the pan and unwrap the foil. Peel the brinjal immediately as it will otherwise be difficult to remove if cooled.
Mash the cooked brinjal.
Add the chopped onion, chilli, optional scraped coconut and the salt and pepper seasoning. Mix well
Add some lime juice and serve with rice.

Note: My great-grandmother used to roast the brinjal, wrapped in a leaf, inserted among the firewood stove so I can imagine that the salad would have had a nice smoky, roasted flavour. So, translated into today’s world, roasting the brinjal wrapped in tin foil in an oven would be the equivalent.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vallarai salad and chutney

The first recipe for today is vallarai salad followed by vallarai chutney. Vallarai/ Gotukola (Centella Asiatica) is a herb used in Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese as well as African medicine. It is said to improve memory and some believe youthfulness.

Bunch of Vallarai/ Gotukola

(a) Vallarai salad

Time taken: 10 mins

Serves 3 or 4

Ingredients

Vallarai bunch – 2 cups, when finely chopped
Tomato – 1 medium or grated coconut – 1 tbsp
Chilli – 1
Onion – ½
Pepper and Salt, to taste
Lime juice – 1 tbsp, adjust as preferred

Method:

Wash the bunch of vallarai leaves thoroughly and then finely chop them up and put them in a large salad mixing bowl.
Chop up the tomato, chilli and onion and add to the bowl. For those who don’t like tomatoes, substitute with freshly scraped coconut.
Sprinkle some pepper and salt, to taste and add the lime juice.
Toss well and serve immediately.

(b) Vallarai chutney

Time taken: 5 mins

Serves 3

Ingredients:

Vallarai – 2 cups, finely chopped
Freshly scraped coconut – ½ cup
Onion – ½ chopped
Green chillies – 2
Lime juice, to taste

Method:

Blend the 2 cups of finely chopped vallarai with ½ cup of freshly scraped coconut, ½ onion and 2 chillies.
Squeeze some fresh lime juice over the chutney and mix before serving immediately.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Passion fruit and banana cake

Last week, when my mother bought some passion fruit, I had mentioned that I had seen a delicious looking orange and passion fruit syrup cake recently on Poppy’s Patisserie. The very next day, my mother had baked a tangy, crunchy passion fruit and banana cake. The crunchiness is from the baked passion fruit seeds inside the cake.

I would like to share my mother’s recipe for this delicious dessert cake today.

Passion fruit and banana cake

Time taken: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Passion fruit – 4 large or 5 medium fruits + 1 (for topping)
Banana – 1 (local varieties: kolikoottu or anamalu)
Wheat flour – 1 cup
Semolina – ½ cup
Oats – 3 tbsp
Sugar – ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (for topping)
Low fat vegetable margarine – ½ cup
Water – ¼ cup
Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Rose essence – a drop

Method:

Sift the wheat flour and semolina together with the baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside the dry mix.
In a large bowl, whisk the margarine and sugar by hand, using a large spoon.
Mix the passion fruit pulp, including the seeds, and the oats with the water in another bowl to make a wet mix.
Stir in the wet mix into the bowl containing the whisked margarine and sugar and continue to whisk.
Add in the finely chopped banana and the drop of rose essence into the bowl and mix.
Stir in the dry mix into the large bowl of the wet ingredients gradually.
Pour the cake batter into the baking tray.
Pre-heat the oven and bake at 140⁰C/ 284⁰F for 45 mins.
Beat the pulp of 1 passion fruit together with the 2 tbsp of white sugar and pour over the baked cake, while still hot from the oven.
Serve warm for dessert.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Soyameat Curry and Fried Soyameat

In the late 70s and early 80s, a lot of research was done in Sri Lanka on processed soyabeans as a means to alleviate protein deficiency amongst children and pregnant and lactating mothers. Soyameat was soon introduced in the market and promoted by the health ministry and the new and affordable food product became a hit in Sri Lankan households.

Today, I will share two ways my mother makes soyameat at home.

(a) Soyameat curry

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4 or 5

Ingredients:

Soyameat – 1 packet
Onion – ½, chopped
Ginger – ½ “ piece, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves, chopped
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Rampe leaf/ pandan – 1” piece
Coconut milk (for vegans) or non-fat milk – ½ cup
Curry powder – ½ tbsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil (sunflower or canola) – 1 tbsp

Method:

In a bowl, Add 1 cup of boiling water and add the soyameat chunks. Add some salt and let the soya chunks soak for around 5 minutes. Drain out the water and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and curry leaves and rampe with the fenugreek seeds for a minute or two.
Then, add the soaked and drained soyameat chunks and mix well.
Add the curry powder (you can alternatively use the curry powder mix that comes with the packet) and the coconut or non-fat milk.
Let the curry cook for about 10 mins. Adjust salt, if required.
Remove from heat.
Serve with roti or rice.

(b) Fried soyameat

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 4 or 5

Ingredients:

Soyameat – packet
Onion – ¼ , chopped
Ginger – ½ “ piece, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves, chopped
Curry powder – 1 ½ tsp
Salt, to taste
Oil – 1 tsp (for marinating) + for deep-frying.

Method:

In a bowl, Add 1 cup of boiling water and add the soyameat chunks. Add some salt and let the soya chunks soak for around 10 minutes. Drain some of the water (not needed to have it dry) and keep aside.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and curry leaves for a minute.
Add the lightly drained soyameat chunks and mix well for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside, allowing it to marinate.
When cooled, squeeze out the liquid (excess water or oil) from the marinated soyameat mixture and deep-fry in a pan.
Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Veggie roti

Roti has always been a favourite of mine. What is even better is that it is amongst the few food that seems to have been and continue to be comfort food across different generations in my family.

Today, I will share the recipe for my mother’s veggie roti.

Veggie roti

Time taken: 35 mins

Makes 4

Ingredients

Wheat flour – 1 cup
Scraped coconut – ¼ cup
Chillies – 2
Onion – ½
Beans – 4
Carrot – ½
Water, as required
Low fat oil (sunflower or canola), as required

Method:

Finely chop the carrot, beans, onion and chillies.
In a bowl, add the wheat flour, freshly scraped coconut and mix in the finely chopped vegetables.
Add some salt, to taste.
Stir in some water slowly and make the mixture into a ball of dough that should not stick to your fingers.
Pour in a little oil and divide the dough into 4 balls and keep aside for 10 – 15 mins.
Roll out each of the four balls and cook them on a flat pan or griddle on low heat. Flip the roti to the other side after a few minutes so that both sides are cooked and slightly browned.
Serve with soyameat curry or sambal.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Fried bean curd

This is the most common way my mother makes bean curd at home.

Fried bean curd

Cooking time: 15 – 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Bean curd – 150 g
Onion – 1
Ginger – 1 inch
Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves
Capsicum – 1 or green chillies – 3
Soya sauce – 1 tbsp
Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp
Low fat oil (sunflower or canola) – 2 tsp

Method:

Cut the bean curd into 1 inch pieces and deep fry the pieces until browned.
Chop onion, ginger, garlic and chillies.
Heat the oil in the pan and sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chillies.
Add the soya sauce and tomato sauce and sauté for 1 minute.
Add the fried bean curd pieces and fry for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Serve hot with rice or soup noodles.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Dal curry

This is my mother’s recipe for cooking Mysore dal, a curry that is a regular at home.

Mysore dal curry

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients

Mysore dal – 1 cup
Green chilli – 1
Onion – ¼
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Rampe leaf/ pandan
Non-fat milk (for lacto vegetarians and better for those having cholesterol issues) or Coconut milk (for vegans) – ½ cup
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Crushed chilli – 1 tsp
Garlic – 1, crushed
Pepper – ½ tsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

Wash and clean the dal.
Cook the cleaned dal in 1 ½ cups of water, together with the chopped green chilli, onion, curry leaves and rampe.
Once the dal is cooked and the water dries up, add ½ cup of non-fat milk or coconut milk along with the crushed garlic, chilli flakes, turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt to taste.
Let the dal cook for another few minutes till the ingredients combine.
Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Okra stir-fry

This is one of my mother’s favourite recipes as she really likes okra.

Okra stir-fry

Time taken: 10 – 15 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Okra – 200g, whole
Onion – 1, small and chopped
Red chilli – 1, chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Pepper powder – ¼ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Oil

Method:

Boil some water. When the water comes to a boil, drop the okra prior to chopping, in the boiling water and take them out after a minute and immerse them in a bowl of ice-cold water. This reduces the sliminess of the okra and retains the colour.
Chop the blanched okra into ½ or 1 inch pieces.
Marinate the okra pieces by adding some turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Fry the chopped onion, red chilli, curry leaves with the fennel seeds for a few minutes.
Add the marinated pieces of okra and combine well. Cover the pan and allow the okra to cook for about 5 mins.
Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Source: Raji Thillainathan.