Spicy Carrot Curry

I was a finicky eater growing up – and one of the vegetables that I couldn’t stand for many years was carrots, particularly steamed carrots, which happened to be my mother’s favourite. Until one day, surprisingly, I started liking them. I now particularly like the smell of fresh carrots.

Today’s recipe is that of my mother’s spicy carrot curry.

Spicy Carrot Curry

Time taken: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Carrots – 2, medium
Onion – ½
Ginger – a small piece
Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Green chilli – 1
Thin coconut milk – ¾ cup
Curry powder – 1 tsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Clean the carrots, peel and chop them.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan over low heat and fry the fenugreek seeds and chopped ginger, garlic and onion for a min.
Then, add the chopped carrots, curry leaves and chopped green chilli and continue frying for another 5 – 7 mins. Add a little oil if the carrots or onions start burning.
Add the coconut milk to the pan, together with the curry powder.
Cook for about 10 mins over medium heat. Add salt, to taste.
Garnish with coriander and serve 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

Ingredients:

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:

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

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Spicy Toor Dhal Gravy

Spicy Toor Dhal Gravy

Time taken: 35 mins

Serves 4 or 5

Ingredients:

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:

Soak the dhal for about 10 mins. Rinse and drain the dhal and transfer to a saucepan.
Add 1 ½ cups of water to the dhal and cook for about 10 to 15 mins, over medium heat.
Reduce to low heat and add the five spice powders (chilli, cumin, coriander, pepper, turmeric).
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.
Add salt, to taste and mix well.
Cook for another 10 mins. Adjust gravy consistency by adding more tamarind extract, if required.
Add crushed garlic just before removing from stove. Mix well.
Serve with rice or chappathi.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vaalai Poo Curry

Today’s recipe is the banana flower curry/ vaalai poo curry.

Vaalai Poo Curry/ Banana Flower Curry

Time taken: 30 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Vaalai poo/ banana flower – 1 cup, chopped
Tomato – 1 large, chopped
Capsicum – 1, chopped
Onion – ½ cup, chopped
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Coconut milk or non-fat milk – ½ cup
Curry powder – 1 tsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

Clean and chop up the banana flower and add a little salt to it. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds and chopped onion for a couple of mins.
Add the chopped vaalai poo and chopped capsisum. Cover and fry for about 10 mins on low heat.
Uncover the pan and add the chopped tomato, coconut milk and curry powder. Add some salt, to taste.
Cook for about 5 mins until the curry has a nice gravy, before removing pan from stove.
Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Brinjal and Green Peas Curry

The second recipe for today is a simple and delicious curry that my mother sometimes makes.

This weekend, I will be posting guest blogger posts on a couple of non-vegetarian specialties from the central and southern provinces of Sri Lanka.

Brinjal and Green Peas Curry

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Brinjal – 1
Chilli – 1
Onion – ½
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Green peas – ½ cup
Coconut milk or non-fat milk – 1 cup
Salt, to taste
Lime juice – 1 tsp + slice (for garnish)

Method:

Chop up the brinjal, onion and chilli into small pieces.
In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and cook on medium heat for about 15 to 20 mins until the curry comes together.
Remove from heat and mix a tsp of lime juice in the curry.
Garnish with a slice of lime and serve with some rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vendhaya Kulambu

Today’s recipe is Vendhaya Kulambu/ Fenugreek curry, a Jaffna curry that is regularly made at home.

Vendhaya Kulambu

Time taken: 30 mins

Serves 3 or 4

Ingredients:

Onion – 1 cup, chopped
Fenugreek seeds/ Vendhayam – 2 tbsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprig
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Tamarind juice extract – ½ cup
Curry powder – 1 ½ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Low fat oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

Soak the fenugreek seeds in water for about 10 mins. Drain and keep aside.
Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the soaked and drained fenugreek seeds for a couple of mins.
Add the curry leaves and chopped onion to the pan, along with another tbsp of oil.
Saute till the onion changes colour and the aroma of fried onions wafts about.
Add ½ cup of tamarind juice and ½ cup of coconut milk along with the curry powder and salt to the pan. Mix well.
Increase the heat and let the ‘kulambu’ cook for about 5 – 10 mins. Do not let it dry up.
Add the remaining ½ cup of coconut milk and let it simmer for another 5 mins before removing from stove.
Serve with pittu or rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Chicken curry

Today’s guest blogger is Eating milk and honey blogger Flowers for the moon/ Sandamali, who graciously accepted my invite to share one of her favourite recipes.

My name is Sandamali and I am a fellow blogger on WordPress with an interest in Food and Life. I would like to share with you my mother’s chicken curry recipe.

If you said you were stopping by our house for a meal, you can be sure this would be on the menu. Mum never specifically taught me how to make it, but I have watched her make it countless times and eventually came up with my own version. Usually it is accompanied by Ala Badun (Fried Potatoes), Dhal Curry and Batu Moju (Brinjal Pickle) and a salad and poppodums to be served with either Yellow Rice or Fried Rice.

Chicken curry

Preparation and cooking time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

500g of skinned mixed chicken pieces
2 tablespoons Oil
1 tablespoon Vinegar
1/2 cup canned coconut cream
2/3 cup water
3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped finely
1 small onion diced finely
1 inch piece fresh ginger crushed slightly
1 large tomato diced
2 inch piece Rampe (Pandan Leaf)
3 green chillies chopped finely
2 stalks of curry leaves
2 teaspoons chillie powder
1 and 1/2 tablespoons roasted curry powder (From a Sri Lankan ingredient shop or homemade with coriander seeds, cumin and fennel as the main ingredients)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
3 cloves
3 cardamoms
2 inch piece cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon dill seeds
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

Method:

Step 1

Peel and chop all the fresh ingredients…

Step 2

Heat oil in medium sized pan and fry all the fresh ingredients except for tomato and green chillie for 2 minutes on medium heat

Step 3

Add the chicken pieces and fry for 5 minutes

Step 4

Add all the dry spices and mix well and fry for a further 3 minutes until the chicken is well coated

Add all the dry spices and mix well until the chicken is well coated. Hold back 1/2 teaspoon for salt to taste and add later if required.

Step 5

Fry gently for 3 minutes and add vinegar

Step 6

Add coconut milk and water and mix well

Step 7

Bring to a boil

Step 8

Add tomato and green chillie and simmer on medium heat for half an hour or until chicken is cooked.

Step 9

Taste and add more salt if required.

Step 10

Serve hot with rice or roti

Enjoy

Recipe source: Sandamali/ Flowers for the moon from Eating milk and honey blog.

Pavatkai Kulambu

Today’s recipe is my mother’s delicious ‘pavatkai’ (bitter gourd) recipe. My grandmother used to first soak the chopped bitter gourd in fresh coconut water before cooking it to remove its bitterness. My mother prefers retaining a certain amount of the bitterness so she doesn’t use coconut water. Pavatkai Kulambu Time taken: 30 – 40 mins Serves 4 Ingredients:

Bitter gourd/ pavatkai – 1 cup, chopped
Tamarind extract – 1 cup, thin consistency
Onion – ½ chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Coconut milk or non-fat milk – ¼ cup
Curry powder – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

Cook the chopped bitter gourd in water, in a pan, for about 5 to 10 mins on medium heat.
Add the tamarind extract, curry powder, curry leaves, chopped onion and salt to taste to the pan.
Let the ingredients combine and simmer on low heat for about 15 to 20 mins. If the bitter gourd is not tender enough as the liquid starts drying up, add ½ cup of water.
Add ¼ cup of coconut milk or non-fat milk and a tsp of sugar. Mix well and let the curry simmer for another 5 to 10 mins on low heat.
Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Omelette and Omelette Curry

This omelette and omelette curry are recipes of my grandmother’s, as remembered by my mother.

(a) Omelette

Time taken: 6 – 7 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Eggs – 2
Onion – ¼
Green chilli – 1
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sesame oil (gingelly oil) – 1 tbsp

Method:

Finely chop the onion and chillies.
Whisk the two eggs. Add the salt and pepper and the chopped onion and chillies and whisk them together.
Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a pan on low heat. Pour the egg mix in the pan and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Flip to the other side and cook for another 2 -3 minutes so that both sides are well-cooked and browned.
Remove from heat and serve as is or use in omelette curry.

(b) Omelette curry

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Omelette
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Onion – ½ , chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
Coconut milk – ½ cup
Curry powder – 2 tsp
Sesame oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Cut the omelette into pieces and keep aside.
Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and sauté the fenugreek seeds, chopped onion and curry leaves.
Add the tamarind juice and cook for a few mins.
Then add the coconut milk and curry powder and salt, to taste.
Cook for about 6- 7 minutes till the curry comes together and gravy thickens and then add the omelette pieces. Cook for a minute or two before removing from heat.
Serve with rice or pittu.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ash plantain curry

The second recipe that I would like to share today is one of my mother’s ash plantain recipes.

Ash plantain curry

Time taken: 35 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Ash plantain – 1
Tomato – 1
Onion – ½
Green chilli or capsicum – 1
Ginger – 1”
Garlic cloves – 2
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp, or as per taste
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tsp

Method:

First, cook the ash plantain, with skin, in water for 15 minutes. Leaving the skin on during boiling will prevent the plantain from turning from white to ash.
Once cooked, remove the plantain from the water and peel. Chop up the plaintain into small pieces and sprinkle some salt over them and keep aside.
Chop up the tomato, onion and green chilli.
Heat a tsp oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli with the fenugreek seeds.
Add the chopped tomato pieces to the pan and continue to sauté for a few more minutes before adding the salted, chopped up pieces of ash plantain.
Add ½ cup of water to the pan and adjust salt. Add 1 tsp crushed chillies and ¼ tsp turmeric powder.
Cook the curry till it comes together and the liquid nearly dries up.
Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.