Tag Archives: Colombo

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.

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

Pumpkin tartIngredients:

  • 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:

  1. 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.
  2. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the ginger and garlic first for a couple of mins.
  3. Then, add the chopped onion followed by the chopped vegetables. Stir fry for a few mins.
  4. Finally, add the boiled pumpkin and carrot as well as the guava. Mix well and continue cooking for about 5 mins.
  5. Season with salt and pepper. Remove pan from stove.
  6. Heat 2 tbsp margarine in a saucepan over low heat.
  7. 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.
  8. Transfer the vegetable mixture from the pan to the saucepan. Stir.
  9. Add ½ tsp baking soda to the saucepan. Mix well before removing sauce pan from stove.
  10. Roll out the dough and line the pie tray with the dough.
  11. Fill the tart base with the vegetable filling.
  12. Top with chopped tomatoes and optional chopped onions. Sprinkle 1 tsp of rosemary or mixed spice.
  13. Bake the tart at 220⁰C/428⁰F for 30 mins.
  14. Slice and serve warm.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Raisins and Walnut cookies

Since there were still some fresh walnuts left at home, my mother decided to bake some of her heart healthy cookies. So, here’s the recipe for her raisins and walnut cookies.

Raisins and Walnuts cookies

Time taken: 35 mins

Makes 22

Walnut cookiesIngredients:

  • Multi-purpose flour – 1 ¼ cups
  • Oats – ½ cup
  • Raisins – 1 tbsp
  • Walnuts – 1 tbsp, chopped
  • Vegetable margarine – ¾ cup
  • Sugar – 2 tbsp
  • Milk or Water – ¼ cup
  • Baking powder – 1 tsp
  • Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Method:

  1. Heat the margarine and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and melt the margarine.
  2. Add ¼ cup of milk or water to the sauce pan and stir well.
  3. Remove from stove and cool.
  4. Add 1 tsp baking powder to the flour and oats. Mix.
  5. Add the flour and oats mix, vanilla essence, raisins and chopped walnuts to the slightly cooled melted margarine sauce. Mix well to ensure that the mixture comes together as cookie dough. Add a little more flour, if the batter is still slightly watery.
  6. Divide the dough into 22 balls and flatten slightly before placing on baking tray.
  7. Bake at 220⁰C/428⁰F for 20 mins.
  8. Cool before serving.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Orange cake

For the past week or so, my mother has been baking a few varieties of fruit cakes using different fresh fruits.

Today, I will share my mother’s recipe for her scrumptious orange cake, which is one of my new favourites.

Orange cakeOrange cake

Time taken: 1 hour

Serves 8

Orange cake sliceIngredients:

  • Oranges – 2 + few slices (for topping syrup, optional)
  • Mandarin oranges – 2
  • Sugar – 2 tbsp (sauce) + ½ cup
  • Orange food colouring – few drops
  • Vegetable margarine – ¾ cup
  • Whole grain oats – ½ cup
  • All-purpose flour – 1 cup
  • Baking soda – ½ tsp
  • Baking powder – 1 tsp
  • Marmalade, for topping (optional)
  • Icing sugar – 2 tbsp (for topping syrup, optional)

Method:

  1. Wash the 2 oranges and then peel the oranges. Keep aside the two oranges to make orange juice.
  2. Take the orange peel, finely scraped or chopped and place them in a saucepan. Pour ¼ cup of water into the saucepan.
  3. Add 2 tbsp of sugar and a few drops of orange food colouring to the saucepan. Heat the orange rind sauce for about 5 mins until it thickens.
  4. Whisk the margarine and ½ cup of sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the orange rind sauce to the bowl.
  5. Add the whole grain oats to the bowl and stir.
  6. Make 1 cup of orange juice with the peeled oranges and the mandarin oranges. Stir in the orange juice into the bowl.
  7. Sift the flour together with the baking soda and baking powder. Gradually add the flour to the mixing bowl, ensuring that there are no lumps and the batter is smooth.
  8. Add a few drops of the orange food colouring to the bowl and mix well.
  9. Transfer the cake batter to the baking tray and bake the orange cake at 170⁰C/338⁰F for 35 – 45 mins.
  10. After the cake cools, either spread marmalade evenly on the top of the cake or else make an orange syrup to pour over the cake by heating pieces of oranges with 2 tbsp icing sugar over low heat.
  11. Serve warm.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.