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.

(a) Fried rice

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves 4

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:

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.
Sprinkle a little salt on the chopped veggies and keep aside.
Heat the margarine in a pan on low heat.
Add the mixed 3C spice powder and sauté for 2 seconds before adding the chopped vegetables.
When the veggies become tender, add the kesari powder.
Add the cooked rice and mix well.
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.

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:

Deep fry the bean curd pieces.
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).
Then, add the chopped onion, curry leaves and rampe leaf and fry lightly.
Add the chopped tomato pieces, crushed chillies and salt and mix well.
Adding 1 ½ cups of water to the pan, cook the curry for around 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the bean curd pieces and simmer for another 5 minutes, before removing from heat.
Garnish with fresh curry leaves and serve hot with rice.

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

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

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

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.