Gulab Jamun

My favourite accompanying dessert for a puri and kadalai curry meal is gulab jamun. While I think this sweet originated from Punjab, it is very popular around Asia. Having a sweet tooth, I simply love this dessert though we hardly make it in our house anymore. Today, I will share my mother’s version of gulab jamun.

Gulab Jamun

Time taken: 30 mins

Makes 12 or 15 gulab jamun

Ingredients:

Milk powder – 6 tbsp
Wheat flour – 2 tbsp
Baking powder – ¾ tsp
Oil, for deep-frying
Water – ¾ cup
Sugar – ¼ cup
Kesari powder – pinch
Rose essence – few drops

Method:

Mix the milk powder, wheat flour, baking powder and stir in a little water to knead the dough.
Make small balls from the dough and place them on a plate. Let them rest for about 5 mins.
Heat some oil in a pan on low heat.
Once the oil is ready for deep-frying, drop a few of the balls at a time and deep-fry them. Ensure that they turn golden brown on all sides by turning them around.
Remove from pan and place them on a plate with grease absorbing paper.
In a sauce pan, boil ¾ cup of water with ¼ cup of sugar, a pinch of kesari powder and a few drops of rose essence.
Once the syrup comes together, remove sauce pan from stove and transfer syrup to a bowl.
Transfer the gulab jamun from the plate to the syrup bowl.
Cover the bowl and let the gulab jamun absorb the syrup for some time.
Serve warm

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Puri and Kadalai Curry

Today’s recipes are my childhood favourites and I guess, they still continue to be one of my favourites. Originating from North India, the dishes have become very much part of the cuisine of the sub-continent. In this post, I will focus on the main meal and in my next, the accompanying dessert.

(a) Puri

Time taken: 40 – 45 mins

Makes 6

Ingredients

Wheat flour – 1 cup
Salt – ½ tsp
Low fat oil – 2 tbsp + for deep-frying
Water, as required

Method

Add ½ tsp salt and 2 tbsp oil to the wheat flour. Slowly stir in a little water and knead the flour mix into a ball of dough.
Divide the dough into 6 smaller balls. Let it rest for about 15 to 20 mins.
Heat some oil in a pan on low to medium heat.
Roll out one of the small balls of dough.
Keep a little container with water by your side and brush one side of the rolled out dough with water.
Drop the rolled out dough into the hot oil, with the water side down. This helps the puri to puff up more. Yes, there will be a lot of crackling noise as water and oil react at first.
Once the puri has risen to the surface, flip it to the other side so that the other side can be cooked and can also become puffy. It takes about 2 mins approximately to brown each side.
Remove the puri from the pan and place on a dish covered with a grease absorbing paper.
Serve with kadalai curry.

(b) Kadalai (chickpea) curry

Time taken: 40 mins + overnight soaking

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Kadalai/ Chickpea – ½ cup
Onion – ½ , chopped
Mixed 3C (Cinnamon, cardamom and cloves) powder – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Rampe/ pandan leaf – small piece
Coconut milk or non-fat milk – 1 cup
Curry powder – 1 tbsp, or as required
Low fat oil, as required

Method:

Soak the kadalai in water for a minimum of 3 hours and better, if soaked overnight.
Rinse the soaked kadalai and boil it for 15 minutes in some fresh water.
Drain and keep aside the kadalai.
In a pan, heat a little oil and fry the chopped onion, fenugreek, mixed 3C powder, curry leaves and rampe for two minutes.
Add the boiled kadalai to the pan and mix well.
Stir in the coconut milk or non-fat milk and 1 tbsp curry powder. Let the kadalai curry simmer on low heat for 10 to 15 mins.
If the curry dries up, add a little more milk and let it simmer a little more. The curry should have a rich consistency and not be watery when you remove from the heat.
Serve hot with the puri.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Butter cake

The last egg based recipe for today is my mother’s recipe for her delicious butter cake. My mother has used vegetable oil margarine instead of butter for a while now. Ingredients can be scaled down according to requirement. This was a large cake and I only managed to get a photo of the last two pieces before they too vanished.

Butter/ Margarine cake

Time taken: 40 – 45 mins

Makes around 24 pieces

Ingredients:

Butter or vegetable oil margarine – 1 cup
Eggs – 4
Sugar – 1 cup
Wheat flour – 1 ½ cups
Baking powder – 2 tsp

For the butter cream:

Butter or vegetable oil margarine – ¼ cup
Icing sugar – ¾ cup
Lime juice – 1 tsp
Vanilla – ½ tsp

Method:

Sift the wheat flour and baking powder. Keep aside.
Whisk the sugar and margarine together in a bowl. Keep aside.
Whisk lightly the eggs. Add the whisked eggs to the sugar and margarine bowl and continue to whisk.
Gradually add the sifted wheat flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients bowl and stir them together.
Pour the batter into a greased baking tray.
Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 140⁰C/284⁰F.
Let the cake cool while you make the butter cream.
Whisk together the butter cream ingredients – butter/ margarine, icing sugar, lime juice and vanilla – and then spread the cream evenly over the cake.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Veggie omelette

This is my mother’s version of a veggie omelette. It is spicy, crunchy and very filling.

Veggie omelette

Time taken: 8 – 10 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Egg – 1
Green peas – 2 tbsp
Chopped carrot – 2 tbsp
Chopped beans – 2 tbsp
Chopped potatoes – 2 tbsp
Chopped onion – 2 tbsp
Green chillies – 2, chopped
Salt – ½ tsp
Pepper – ½ tsp
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Whisk the egg in a small bowl and add the chopped veggies and seasoning.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and pour the egg and vegetable mixture onto the pan.
Fry the omelette for a couple of minutes each side.
Serve hot.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ambarella chutney

Update (02/07/2014): As I wished to send in a dish to the first virtual vegan linky party initiated by Annie, Poppy and Angela, I decided to send in an old recipe that I had shared on my blog in its early days. So, I am sharing this chutney under the side dish category for the potluck.

The chutney recipe for today is ambarella (spondias dulcis) chutney. Ambarella is said to be good for people with diabetes.

Ambarella chutney

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Ambarella – 3
Cinnamon – 1” piece
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

Peel the three ambarellas. Chop up the ambarella into 5 or 6 pieces each and put them in a pan. The middle portion is difficult to remove or chop up so it can be left as it is and included in the pan.
Add 1 cup of water or just enough to cover the ambarella pieces.
Add a piece of cinnamon and some salt, to taste, to the pan. Cover and cook for about 10 mins.
If the water has completely dried up, add ½ cup of water.
Add 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp crushed chillies to the pan.
Increase heat and cook for some minutes till the chutney comes together and it is no longer watery but rather a thick sauce-like consistency.
Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

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.

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.