Tag Archives: Fusion

Fried bean curd

This is the most common way my mother makes bean curd at home.

Fried bean curd

Cooking time: 15 – 20 minutes

Serves 4

Fried bean curd

Ingredients:

  • Bean curd – 150 g
  • Onion – 1
  • Ginger – 1 inch
  • Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves
  • Capsicum – 1 or green chillies – 3
  • Soya sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp
  • Low fat oil (sunflower or canola) – 2 tsp

Method:

  1. Cut the bean curd into 1 inch pieces and deep fry the pieces until browned.
  2. Chop onion, ginger, garlic and chillies.
  3. Heat the oil in the pan and sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chillies.
  4. Add the soya sauce and tomato sauce and sauté for 1 minute.
  5. Add the fried bean curd pieces and fry for another 3 to 5 minutes.
  6. Serve hot with rice or soup noodles.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Dal curry

This is my mother’s recipe for cooking Mysore dal, a curry that is a regular at home.

Mysore dal curry

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Mysore dal curry

Ingredients

  • Mysore dal – 1 cup
  • Green chilli – 1
  • Onion – ¼
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Rampe leaf/ pandan
  • Non-fat milk (for lacto vegetarians and better for those having cholesterol issues) or Coconut milk (for vegans) – ½ cup
  • Turmeric – ¼ tsp
  • Crushed chilli – 1 tsp
  • Garlic – 1, crushed
  • Pepper – ½ tsp
  • Salt, to taste

Method:

  1. Wash and clean the dal.
  2. Cook the cleaned dal in 1 ½ cups of water, together with the chopped green chilli, onion, curry leaves and rampe.
  3. Once the dal is cooked and the water dries up, add ½ cup of non-fat milk or coconut milk along with the crushed garlic, chilli flakes, turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt to taste.
  4. Let the dal cook for another few minutes till the ingredients combine.
  5. Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Okra stir-fry

This is one of my mother’s favourite recipes as she really likes okra.

Okra stir-fry

Time taken: 10 – 15 mins

Serves 4

Okra

Ingredients:

  • Okra – 200g, whole
  • Onion – 1, small and chopped
  • Red chilli – 1, chopped
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Pepper powder – ¼ tsp
  • Salt – ¼ tsp
  • Oil

Method:

  1. Boil some water. When the water comes to a boil, drop the okra prior to chopping, in the boiling water and take them out after a minute and immerse them in a bowl of ice-cold water. This reduces the sliminess of the okra and retains the colour.
  2. Chop the blanched okra into ½ or 1 inch pieces.
  3. Marinate the okra pieces by adding some turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix and keep aside.
  4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Fry the chopped onion, red chilli, curry leaves with the fennel seeds for a few minutes.
  5. Add the marinated pieces of okra and combine well. Cover the pan and allow the okra to cook for about 5 mins.
  6. Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Source: Raji Thillainathan.

Jaggery and coconut cake

My mother makes scrumptious cakes. Some of my favourites are the basic butter cake and the chocolate cake. However, on this site, I will share a cake recipe or two of my mother’s that is both vegan and made with typically Sri Lankan ingredients.

Today’s recipe is that of my mother’s jaggery and coconut cake. The key ingredient here is the jaggery.

Jaggery and Coconut cake

Time taken: 1 hour

Makes 12 – 16 pieces if baked in a 6”x6” baking pan

Jaggery and coconut cake

Ingredients:

  • Grated jaggery (palm or kithul) – 1 cup
  • Water – 1 cup
  • Low fat sunflower oil margarine (Flora, for e.g.) – ¾ cup (150g)
  • Wheat flour – 1 cup
  • Semolina – ¼ cup
  • Roasted coconut – ¼ cup
  • Coconut powder – 1 cup (100g)
  • Cardamom – 4
  • Vanilla essence – few drops
  • Baking powder – 1 tsp
  • Baking soda – ¼ tsp
  • Cashew nuts – ½ cup, chopped or a little for sprinkling (optional)

Method:

  1. Mix the wheat flour, semolina, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.
  2. Put the jaggery, margarine, water in a blender. Add the vanilla essence and crushed cardamom seeds. Blend for about a minute or two.
  3. Then, add the coconut powder and roasted coconut to the mix in the blender and blend for another minute or two.
  4. Pour the batter into a mixing bowl.
  5. Stir in the flour mix gradually into the batter and mix well.
  6. Add the chopped cashew nuts and mix.
  7. Pour the batter into the baking pan and sprinkle some chopped cashew nuts on top.
  8. Bake in a preheated oven at 140⁰C/ 284⁰F for around 40 – 45 minutes.
  9. Serve with some Sri Lankan tea or fresh fruit juice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Triple layer veggie sandwich

Sandwiches are another globally popular and much consumed food. Everyone is sure to have their own recipe for what they like in their sandwich.

The second recipe I wish to share today is a sandwich that is commonly served at kids birthday parties, tea parties and even cocktail events in Sri Lanka. While there might be slightly different ways on how this party snack is made in the country, I am sharing here the way my mother makes them.

Triple layer veggie sandwich

Cooking time: 15 – 20 mins

Makes 2 or 4 sandwiches

Triple layer sandwich

Ingredients:

  • Sandwich bread – 4 pieces
  • Carrot – ¼
  • Beetroot – ¼
  • Mint or green peas  – 2 tsp (mint is the more popular choice, though green peas is used in the photo here)
  • Green chilli – ½, finely chopped
  • Onion – ½, finely chopped
  • Low fat sunflower oil margarine – 1 ½ tsp (my mother uses flora margarine)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

  1. Boil or steam carrot and beetroot slices.
  2. Grate separately and add 1 tsp finely chopped onion, ½ tsp margarine and salt and pepper to taste to the two vegetables. Keep aside.
  3. Crush or coarsely grind the boiled green peas or mint with the green chilli and 1 tsp finely chopped onion. Add ½ tsp margarine with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
  4. Make the sandwich by layering each slice of sandwich bread with one of the vegetables mixtures, starting with the carrot mixture on the first layer, the beetroot mixture on the second and the mint or green peas mixture on the third.
  5. Cut off the edges and cut the sandwich into two or four triple layer, colourful sandwiches.
  6. Serve with hot Sri Lankan tea or fresh fruit juice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Stuffed Veggie Cutlet

The recipe I would like to share today is my mother’s stuffed vegetable cutlet recipe.

Stuffed Veggie Cutlet

Cooking time: 45 mins

Makes 5 – 6

Stuffed Veggie Cutlet

Ingredients:

  • Potatoes – 2, medium-sized
  • Carrot – 1, small
  • Green peas – 3 tbsp
  • Green chilli – 1
  • Onion – ½, medium-sized
  • Pepper  – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Ginger – tiny piece
  • Garlic – 1 clove
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil – 1 tsp (for sauté) + for deep-frying (can be reused)
  • Wheat flour – ½ cup
  • Bread crumbs – 7 or 8 tsp

Method:

  1. Dry grind the pepper and fennel together and keep aside.
  2. Boil the potatoes and carrots separately.
  3. Peel the skin of the potatoes and mash them, adding some salt and the ground pepper and fennel mix. When they have been sufficiently mashed and mixed with the spices, make balls of mashed potato and keep aside.
  4. Mash the carrots separately and keep aside.
  5. Boil the green peas lightly, if not pre-cooked, and coarsely grind them a little so that they are half mashed.
  6. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and onion and sauté lightly.
  7. When the aroma begins to waft about, add the mashed carrot and coarsely ground green peas. Add salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes till they come together. Remove from heat.
  8. Make a batter by mixing the wheat flour with salt and adding water little by little, till reaches a pancake batter consistency.
  9. Take a potato ball and flatten it on your palm. Scoop up 1 – 1 ½ tsp of the carrot and peas mixture. Make the cutlets by covering the mixture with the edges of the potato patty like a dumpling.
  10. Dip the cutlets in the batter and roll it in the bread crumbs. Keep aside.
  11. Heat the oil for deep-frying. The oil should be enough to cover the potato balls.
  12. When the oil is ready, drop the batter coated stuffed potato balls in the pan and fry till they are browned on all sides.
  13. Serve the stuffed vegetable cutlets with tea.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Banana fritters

There are several varieties of bananas in Sri Lanka. One of the most common and popular banana are the small ones known as Kathali/ Ambul. This is the variety that is best for the two banana recipes that I will share today.

Kathali bananas

I think almost everyone, around the world, has their own recipe for banana fritters as it is a fruit that is easily made into a delectable dish.

Today’s recipes for banana fritters come from my great-grandmother and mother. While my great-grandmother’s banana fritter recipe is the traditional way that they are made in the north, my mother’s banana fritter recipe has been influenced by our time in Jakarta when we were kids. We were all very fond of ‘pisang goreng’ so my mother’s banana fritters are her version of a mix of the two styles.

(a) Vaalapala Paniyaaram (Banana fritters in my family, four generations ago)

Cooking time: 30 mins

Makes about 25

Banana fritters

Ingredients

  • Ripe bananas – 4
  • All purpose flour – 1 ½ cups
  • Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp (my great-grandmother’s original recipe uses a pinch of baking soda but my mother prefers using baking powder instead of soda)
  • Brown sugar – ½ cup, or less
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil, for deep-frying (can be reused)

Method

  1. Mash the bananas.
  2. In a bowl, mix the flour with sugar, salt and baking powder.
  3. Add the dry ingredients mix to the mashed bananas slowly to form a thick fruity batter.
  4. Heat the oil in a pan.
  5. Form small balls (or oblong shapes) out of the batter and drop them in batches into the heated oil.
  6. Turn the banana balls so that they are browned on all sides.
  7. Remove from pan and put them on a grease absorbing paper to get rid of excess oil.
  8. Serve hot with tea.

 (b) Fried bananas (my mother’s recipe)

Cooking time: 20 mins

Makes 4

Fried bananas

Ingredients:

  • Ripe bananas – 4
  • All purpose flour – ½ cup
  • Chickpeas flour – 2 tbsp
  • Vanilla extract – few drops
  • Yellow food colouring – few drops (optional)
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil, for deep-frying (can be reused)
  • Melted cooking chocolate or chocolate sauce – 4 tsp
  • Brown sugar, a little to sprinkle

Method:

  1. Mix both flours and salt in a bowl.
  2. Add water little by little, making a batter of consistency like that of pancake batter.
  3. Add the vanilla extract and optional food colouring and mix well.
  4. Remove the banana skins and dip the fruits into the batter, coating it well.
  5. Deep fry the bananas coated in the batter one by one. Let them cool on a plate on a grease absorbing paper.
  6. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the fried bananas and sprinkle with a little brown sugar.
  7. Serve with tea.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Fish cutlets

Today’s guest blogger is Krishanti Weerakoon, a staff of UN and wife of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada.

FISH CUTLETS

This is a fool-proof  Sri Lankan recipe and on all of our postings overseas, this was an absolute favourite.  A versatile and excellent snack for coffee mornings, afternoon teas, lunches , cocktail parties,with pre dinner drinks or even  with dinner!! Make sure you have enough to go around as these small morsels have an explosion on your taste buds with the spices and aromatics and they are very popular. Reduce the intensity of the chillies depending on your guests’  tolerance for spice!!

Ingredients:
1 tin tuna ( 450 gram)
2 small green chillies cut finely
1 small onion diced
1/2  tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chillie powder

I large potato peeled and boiled and mashed
I clove garlic crushed
1 tsp chopped ginger
I tsp each ground coriander and cummin

I tsp lime juice
I lb bread crumbs ( 450 gms)
2 eggs

3 tbsp flour
salt

1 pint oil for deep frying.

Method:
Mix all the ingredients except one egg and flour , breadcrumbs and oil in a bowl. Make small balls about the size of a  walnut.

Break the other egg into a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Then  put the flour and breadcrumbs into two seperate bowls. Follow this order; first roll the cutlet in flour, then egg and lastly breadcrumbs. Treat it like an assembly line!! Use up all the fish mixture this way!

Heat oil to smoking point in a wok or fryer. Fry the cutlets until golden brown . Do not add too many at a time as it will lower the temperature of the oil and will not fry evenly. Ensure that oil stays hot when frying to ensure crispy cutlets. Serve with a nice dip either sweet chilli sauce or tomato/barbecue sauce.

Recipe source: Krishanti Weerakoon.

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.

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.