Tag Archives: Colombo

Salad

As part of the Eid Special series,

(d) Salad

Preparation time: 5 – 10mins

Serves 4

Salad

Ingredients:

  • Orange – ½, peel removed
  • Apple – ½
  • Tomato -1 small
  • Onion – 1 small
  • Chillies – 2 or capsicum – 1
  • Salad leaves – 1
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Sugar – 1 tsp, can be adjusted to taste
  • Lime juice – 1tbsp (Optional: can use yoghurt instead of lime juice)

Method:

  1. Chop up the vegetables and fruits.
  2. Make the salad dressing by mixing salt, pepper, sugar and lime juice.
  3. Toss the salad with the dressing.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Potato curry

(c) Potato curry

Cooking time – 20 mins

Serves 4 – 5 persons

Potato curry

Ingredients:

  • Potatoes – 2 large
  • Onion -1 medium sized
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Rampe leaf/ pandan
  • Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
  • Water – 2 cups
  • Non-fat milk – ½ cup + ¼ cup (optional) – Can substitute with coconut milk, if vegan
  • Curry powder – 2 tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil (Canola or sunflower) – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Cut the potatoes into small chunks.
  2. Heat a little oil in a pan. Saute the fenugreek, onion, rampe and curry leaves for a few seconds.
  3. Add the potatoes to the pan, mix well and fry for about two minutes till there is a nice aroma of fried potatoes.
  4.  Add 2 cup of water and ½ cup of milk. Add the curry powder and salt to taste.
  5. Cook the curry for around 10 to 15 mins. When the liquid dries up, it can be removed from heat.
  6. If you like the curry in gravy, add the optional ¼ cup milk and cook a few minutes more before removing from heat.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Stuffed Chilli Fry

As part of the Eid Special series,

(b) Stuffed chilli fry

Cooking time:

Serves 4

Stuffed chilli fry

Ingredients

  • Capsicum/ Kari Milagai/ Malu Miris – 4
  • Ash plantains – 2
  • Chillies – 1 or 2
  • Onion – ¼
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • For batter:
  • Wheat flour – ¾ cup
  • Salt – ¼ tsp
  • Water – 1 cup
  • Bread crumbs – 100g or 1 cup
  • Low fat oil (canola or sunflower) – deep fry + 1 tbsp (for sauté)

Method:

  1. Steam the capsicums.
  2. Make a small hole at the top of each capsicum and remove the insides of the capsicum, which you can discard. Keep the hollow capsicum.
  3. Boil the ash plantains. Remove skin and keep the skin aside for a peel salad.
  4. Chop up or mash the boiled ash plantain (sans skin) and mix with the chopped onion and chillies and fennel seeds. Lightly sauté the ash plantain mixture, adding salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Fill the insides of the capsicum with the lightly sautéed ash plantain mix and keep aside.
  6. Make a batter by mixing the wheat flour, salt and water. The consistency of the batter should be similar to that of a pancake batter.
  7. Dip the stuffed capsicum in the batter and roll it in bread crumbs.
  8. Repeat the dipping in the batter and rolling in the bread crumbs for a double coating of the stuffed capsicum.
  9. Deep fry the stuffed capsicum.
  10. For those who prefer non-veg, substitute ash plantains with tinned fish (pilchard or salmon).

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

 

Fried rice

To celebrate Eid al-Fitr, my mother prepared a special lunch today: fried rice with potato curry, stuffed chilli fry, salad and wattalapam jelly pudding. So today, I will share my mother’s recipes for all five dishes, which comes under experimental and fusion cooking, in a series of posts.

Eid lunch special

(a) Fried rice

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves 4

Fried rice

Ingredients:

  • Basmathi rice – 2 cups
  • Carrot – ¼ cup, chopped
  • Green peas – ¼ cup
  • Leeks – ¼ cup, chopped
  • Onion – ¼ cup, chopped
  • Mixed 3C spice powder – Clove, cinnamon, cardamom powder – 2 tsp
  • Kesari powder – ½ tsp (Can use biryani powder or saffron or turmeric powder)
  • Low fat margarine – 50g or 3 tbsp
  • Cinnamon – 1 ~ 2’’ stick
  • Rampe leaf/ pandan
  • Salt, to taste

Method:

  1. Put the rice in a rice cooker and add water to about an inch above the rice surface. Add a cinnamon stick, rampe leaf and a little salt and cook the rice.
  2. Sprinkle a little salt on the chopped veggies and keep aside.
  3. Heat the margarine in a pan on low heat.
  4. Add the mixed 3C spice powder and sauté for 2 seconds before adding the chopped vegetables.
  5. When the veggies become tender, add the kesari powder.
  6. Add the cooked rice and mix well.
  7. Serve hot.

Recipe Source: Raji Thillainathan.

Spicy bean curd curry

My mother is quite fond of tofu ever since she first came across it while living in Jakarta in the 80s. A regular dish at our home for many years, my mother enjoys cooking it in different styles. This bean curd curry is my mother’s creation and what I call fusion cooking.

Spicy bean curd curry

Cooking time: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • Bean curd – 150g, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • Tomatoes – 2, chopped
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder – ½ tsp
  • Coriander powder – ½ tsp
  • Cinnamon, cardamom, clove powder mix – ½ tsp
  • Onion, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 2 sprig
  • Rampe leaf/ pandan
  • Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
  • Salt, to taste
  • Oil – 1 tbsp + deep fry
  • Water – 1 ½ cups

Method:

  1. Deep fry the bean curd pieces.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the fenugreek and fennel seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the spice powder mix (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, clove).
  3. Then, add the chopped onion, curry leaves and rampe leaf and fry lightly.
  4. Add the chopped tomato pieces, crushed chillies and salt and mix well.
  5. Adding 1 ½ cups of water to the pan, cook the curry for around 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Add the bean curd pieces and simmer for another 5 minutes, before removing from heat.
  7. Garnish with fresh curry leaves and serve hot with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Drumstick curry

This is my mother’s recipe and this is the way she makes drumstick curry often at home. It is delicious.

Drumsticks

Cooking time: 25 – 30 mins

Serves 4 – 5 persons

Drumstick curry

Ingredients

  • Drumsticks – 2
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tbsp
  • Onion – ½
  • Curry leaves – 2 sprig
  • Curry powder – 1 tbsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Tamarind extract – ½ cup
  • Non-fat milk or coconut milk (for vegans) – 1 cup
  • Water – ½ cup

Method

  1. Cut the drumsticks into 2 inch pieces and clean by scraping lightly the skin.
  2. Deep fry drumstick pieces, till they are lightly browned.
  3. In a pan, heat a little oil and sauté the fenugreek seeds, onions and curry leaves.
  4. Add the fried drumstick pieces and mix well.
  5. Add the tamarind extract, non-fat milk or coconut milk and water, along with the curry powder and salt, to the pan.
  6. Cover and cook on medium heat for around 15 mins.
  7. Taste for salt and then increase heat and cook further for about 5 mins.
  8. Remove from heat and serve with hot rice or stringhoppers.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Mashed pumpkin salad

This is a simple and quick to prepare recipe of my mother’s, which is a huge hit with visitors. My mother generally likes experimenting. She can also replicate something she has once tasted. As this dish is something that falls under the two, I have labelled it under ‘Colombo’ (the city where different Sri Lankan cuisines meet) – which is also the city my mother has lived nearly three decades so far and where she feels most at home.

Mashed Pumpkin Salad

Time taken – 20 minutes

Serves – 4

Mashed pumpkin salad

Ingredients

  • Pumpkin – 250g
  • Coconut milk – 2 or 3 tbsp
  • Green chillies – 2
  • Onion – 1 medium sized, chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Lime juice

Method

  1. Chop the pumpkin into chunks, does not need to be small, and leaving the skin on. Remove seeds and clean the chunks.
  2. Boil the pumpkin until it is tender and cooked, for around 15 minutes. Remove skin and mash the pumpkin.
  3. Add the coconut milk, green chillies, onion to the mashed pumpkin and mix well.
  4. Season with salt and pepper, according to your taste, as well as some lime juice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.