V I R U N D H U

Waterfall Salad with Watermelon

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Celery, Endive, Carrot, Apple, Vegetarian, Salads, Archives

Whenever I see a Watermelon or consume one, ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ comes to mind. Some of you might have read it as part of English non-detail in school. It’s an adventure story set in Africa. Synopsis

In one scene, the traveling group get stranded in a dessert without any food or water. And they discover melons which save them. And at that time I did not know about any other fruit belonging to the melon family except watermelon. So my friends and I thought about watermelons. And y’all must have done what we did too! Ask pointless questions. We decided to concentrate on the melons. And bombarded the teacher with questions like, ‘what kind of melons?’, ‘could they be watermelons?’. You get the picture.

Here’s the passage from ‘Kings Solomon’s Mines’ from Project Gutenberg. The book could be read here.

By eleven o’clock we were utterly exhausted, and, generally speaking,
in a very bad state indeed. The lava clinker, over which we must drag
ourselves, though smooth compared with some clinker I have heard of,
such as that on the Island of Ascension, for instance, was yet rough
enough to make our feet very sore, and this, together with our other
miseries, had pretty well finished us. A few hundred yards above us
were some large lumps of lava, and towards these we steered with the
intention of lying down beneath their shade. We reached them, and to
our surprise, so far as we had a capacity for surprise left in us, on
a little plateau or ridge close by we saw that the clinker was covered
with a dense green growth. Evidently soil formed of decomposed lava
had rested there, and in due course had become the receptacle of seeds
deposited by birds. But we did not take much further interest in the
green growth, for one cannot live on grass like Nebuchadnezzar. That
requires a special dispensation of Providence and peculiar digestive
organs.

So we sat down under the rocks and groaned, and for one I wished
heartily that we had never started on this fool’s errand. As we were
sitting there I saw Umbopa get up and hobble towards the patch of
green, and a few minutes afterwards, to my great astonishment, I
perceived that usually very dignified individual dancing and shouting
like a maniac, and waving something green. Off we all scrambled
towards him as fast as our wearied limbs would carry us, hoping that
he had found water.

“What is it, Umbopa, son of a fool?” I shouted in Zulu.

“It is food and water, Macumazahn,” and again he waved the green
thing.

Then I saw what he had found. It was a melon. We had hit upon a patch
of wild melons, thousands of them, and dead ripe.

“Melons!” I yelled to Good, who was next me; and in another minute his
false teeth were fixed in one of them.

I think we ate about six each before we had done, and poor fruit as
they were, I doubt if I ever thought anything nicer.

Note: I read the book in high school. And one of the things that stuck to me was this wild melons - which in my mind were watermelons.

What I felt now reading couple of pages was the colonial mentality. Reminded me about Chinua Achebe’s comments in his ‘Home and Exile’. ‘Home and Exile’ contains modified versions of his three lectures. In the Second piece, ‘The Empire Fights Back’, Chinua Achebe talks about African literature written by outsiders and talks about the emerging authentic African literature written by Africans. The final piece rips V.S.Naipaul to pieces. Considering the length of the piece and because it was originally a lecture, Chinua Achebe just touches the surface. All the three pieces could be developed into individual books themselves. Anyways, I was reminded about this book, when I browsed King Solomon’s Mines. Do read if you get a chance.

Now with that out of the way and out of my system, lets get back to this summer salad.

I first saw this salad in ‘Super Salads: Healing salads for mind, body, and soul” by Michael van Straten. I did not have all the ingredients listed like celery seeds, raspberry vinegar and walnut oil. And I was not too keen on going around town looking for these scarcely used ingredients. So substituted with available ingredients and added some more.

Here’s Michael van Straten’s introduction to the salad. This might be of interest.

As you’ll guess from its name, this is another strongly diuretic recipe. It’s great for all women who suffer uncomfortable fluid retention and swelling of ankles, fingers, and breasts around period time. This is also a valuable dish for anyone suffering with arthritis, as the celery and celery seed specifically increase the elimination of uric acid, the chemical that aggravates inflamed joints. Apples are another traditional remedy for joint diseases, and watermelon is a traditional cooling fruit that also has mild eliminative benefits.

Recipe:

2 sweet dessert apples - I used granny smith and red delicious.
1 table spoon apple vinegar
A chunk of watermelon
1 head of endive
2 sticks of celery with leaves
5 baby carrots
1 green bell pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil (Use Walnut oil if you have it)

Wash all the vegetables nicely.

Dice apples and mix vinegar to prevent discoloring and set aside.

Slice endive head into rounds.

Coarsely chop celery including leaves.

Cut watermelon into cubes

Add everything to the apples and mix gently.

Pour in the olive oil and mix again.

A wonderful colorful salad good for a hot summer day.

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Baby Lima Beans Pulao

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Rice, Vegetarian, Indian, Archives

Spring is here! The leaves are that lovely pale green color. And the Farmer’s markets are attracting more people. One of the reason for the crowd are baby Lima beans.

I saw some and was at a quandry and finally settled for some pulao. It’s been ages since I prepared a pulao and wanted to experiment with baby Lima beans.

Boy! Did that turn out right!!

Recipe:

1 cup washed Jasmine Rice (Brown/white Basmati rice could also be used. I rarely used polished rice and dont see the need to stock up on two kinds of polished rice.)

1/4 cup baby Lima beans (shelled)
1 small red onion - slinced thin
1-2 green chillies - slit into two
1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of turmeric
salt
1 tablespoon oil
1.5 cups hot water

Paste:
1/4 inch ginger
3 garlic pods

In a food-processor blend ginger and garlic. Better yet, use the mortor and pestle and do your tiny bit for the environment.

In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil. Add onions and fry until it translucent. At that point add the ginger-garlic paste. Stir once or twice and add the green chillies and cumin. Cook for another couple of minutes. And add the turmeric and salt. To this mixture add the washed rice and stir it around. Get the rice coated on this spice mixture. Now is the time to add those baby Lima beans. Give it a twirl. Add 1.5 cups hot water.

Cover the lid and let the rice cook. It would take around 10 minutes for the rice to get cooked on medium heat. Sprinkle some water if necessary.

Serve with some Salad.

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Agathi Keerai Sodhi

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Keerai (greens), Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Jihva For Ingredients(JFI), Archives

Agathi keerai or Agathi leaves are a variety of greens quite popular with the Sri Lankans and hence gets imported to Montreal and Toronto in Canada and other cities in Europe.

Agathi keerai is supposed to have cooling properties and we never bought it during the rainy season in Sri Lankan and India.

It’s called Hummingbird Tree Leaves or West Indian pea tree. Botanical Name: Sesbania grandiflora

It seems there are two kinds of West Indian Pea tree - one with red flowers and the other with white flowers. It’s the white flower West Indian Pea Tree that’s suitable for cooking. The flower is used in Vietnamese cuisine and I’ve seen them in the Vietnamese stores nearby. Will try to learn more about them. The tender leaves are also part of the cuisine in Vietnam and Indonesia. Next time you visit the Vietnamese grocery stores, be sure to check out all the greens they carry.

According to http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sites/TreeDBS/aft/speciesPrinterFriendly.asp?Id=1519

Crushed leaves are applied to sprains and bruises of all kinds. A tea made from the leaves is believed to have antibiotic, anthelmintic, antitumour and contraceptive properties. The bark is considered as a tonic and an antipyretic, a remedy for gastric troubles, colic with diarrhoea and dysentery. A bark decoction is taken orally to treat fever and diabetes. Juice of flowers put in the eyes is said to relieve dimness of vision. The leaves also have medicinal value and are reported to cure night blindness in cattle. In India, all plant parts are reputed to cure night blindness. The root is a well-known medicine for malaria.

Leaves and flowers are used as poultices. The principal medicinal effects are due to the tree?s astringency, hence it is used against inflammation, venom and other poisons, bacterial infections and tumors. Root juices are used for poultices and the leaves are applied for rheumatism, swellings, bruises and itching. For systemic disorders, decoctions are taken internally. Root resin, mixed with honey, is taken orally for phlegm and root juices are taken as an expectorant. Sinus congestion is reduced by taking a flower decoction.

Visit the site to learn more about this wonderful tree.

From http://www.medindia.net/alternativemedicine/ayurvedaanddiet/Herbal-Plants/Hummingbird-Tree-Leaves.asp

It balances pitta and kapha

It is bitter in taste

This has to be taken occasionally

This is not advised during medication, since it will reduce the power of medicine

It is an antidote for poisons

It is cooling

It is good for fever

It is a laxative

It helps in digestion

It is a tonic

It cures insanity

It is a very satvic food

Sodhi is the most common dish in Sri Lanka. It does not have a recipe per-se, ie it could be prepared countless ways. But for all that, it’s such a delicate dish. If one’s careless the end result might not be so pleasing. It’s prepared with the ubequitous ingredient of Sri Lankan cuisine. I’m talking about coconuts here. I’ll talk in detail about sodhi another day. All the marathon posting today has tired me out. I’m not complaining, but there’s so much to talk about sodhi.

So, lets go straight to the recipe, shall we?

Recipe:

1 bunch Agathi keerai
1 medium red onion (3-4 shallots) - finely chopped
2-3 green chillies - slit into 2
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 - 3/4 cup coconut milk (2-3 teaspoons of coconut milk powder)
turmeric powder
4 cups water
salt

Wash and drain the Agathi keerai sprigs. Seperate the leaves and keep them aside.

Fill the pan with water. Add onion, green chillies, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, salt and turmeric powder and heat. Let the water boil and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Just enough time for the onions and chillies and herbs and spices to get cooked. Add coconut milk or coconut milk powder and stir nicely breaking up any lumps. Let it cook for a minute and add the Agathi leaves and switch off the heat. It’s highly imperative that the Agathi leaves dont get cooked through.

I’ve always favoured the vegetarian variation of this Agathi Sodhi. And that’s what you are going to get too!

But for those non-vegetarians out there. The most favoured version of Agathi Sodhi is with fish head or small fish. Another day perhaps.

Serve with warm Rosematta rice. Any other rice just does not speak to me at all. Especially when Agathi Sodhi’s in attendence.

Note: When April finally rolled in with a snow fall or two to trumpet it’s arrival, Indira announced the theme for JFI. And, that’s all it took me to drive out the winter doldrums. And I excitedly made a list of greens we use in our diet. And seperated out the greens available in the Indian subcontinent and suitable for the tradiditional cooking. Due to some unexpected happenings, I was not able to blog them as I wished. So, today has been a marathon of sorts with about 4 dishes. I sneaked in one yesterday night! phew. Otherwise, it would have been five too many!

And this JFI has also made me think about Indian Glossary. I’ve made an impulsive post about it here.

I would like to thank JFI and it’s creator and mentor Indira for thinking up this wonderful event. This event makes us look into our traditional cuisine and lets us learn more about ourselves. And more excitingly we get to learn about how the same ingredient in used in other cuisines. And that way I’ve learnt so much from the JFI events, this past one year. Happy Birthday JFI. You rock!!!

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Kova Ilai Varai

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Keerai (greens), Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Jihva For Ingredients(JFI), Archives

Here in Montreal we get a variety of greens in Sri Lankan and Middle Eastern stores, that my relatives call ‘Kova Ilai’. Kova here means Cabbage and Ilai is leaves in Tamil. So if you translate, it’s ‘Cabbage leaves’ for you. The taste is quite similar to cabbage. And being a cabbage lover, I have no difficulty in incorporating this green to my diet.

Looking at all the foodies from Kerala, I think what is Varai to Sri Lankan Tamils is Thoran to the Malayalees. And almost all the greens could be made into a varai. The same’s true for green beans, cabbage and an assortment of vegetables - couldnt seem to remember their names.

So, here’s Kova Ilai Varai for you folks out there.

A close-up

Recipe:

1 bunch kova ilai
1 medium sized red onion - finely sliced
2 green chillies - finely sliced
1 teaspoon Sri Lankan Curry Powder
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1-2 teaspoon scraped coconut

Clean the green very carefully and drain well. Break away the stem and store them seperately. Chop up the green leaves coarsely. You can use the 2/3 part of the stem. Chop them up finely and keep.

In a skillet, heat oil and saute the onions. Add green chillies when the onions are half cooked. Add fennel seeds and curry leaves. Add the Sri Lankan Curry Powder and mix quickly and immiediatly add the finely chopped stem part of Kova ilai. Cover the lid and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped greens and mix nicely and let it cook. There’s no need to add any water. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add the scraped coconut and mix nicely.

Serve warm with rice.

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Vallarai Sambal

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Keerai (greens), Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Jihva For Ingredients(JFI), Archives

Vallarai is another green that’s popular in Sri Lankan cuisine. Vallarai is called ‘Pennuwort’ in English. Gotu kola in Sinhalese and it’s botanical name’s Centella asiatica.

Vallarai is supposed to help increase memory. In the late 90’s there was a television commercial with Chess player Vishvanathan Anand. Can anybody remember it? (pun intended).

From an article in The Hindu - http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/08/04/stories/2002080400450700.htm

ACCORDING to Charaka, foremost exponent of Ayurveda, Centella asiatica belongs to the group of herbs that help maintain youthful vigour and strength. Called Vallarai in Tamil, it improves the mind’s receptive capacity. It is capable of improving a person’s memory power, physical strength, voice, complexion and digestive power. The herb can be made into different chutneys and eaten by diabetics and those who suffer from anaemia. Extracts of the plant are being used in the commercial production of face creams and anti-wrinkle creams.

Vallarai should not be confused with Brahmi (Bacopa monieri). Vallarai has been studied extensively and most of the properties have been borne out by research.

Just to show it’s shape

Vallarai is available in Montreal in the Sri Lankan stores. It’s imported from Sri Lanka.

Recipe:

1 bunch Vallarai
1-2 shallots or 1 very small red onion - coarsely chopped
3-4 dried red chillies
3 teaspoon scraped coconut
1-2 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
salt
oil to toast red chillies

Wash the Vallarai several times in water. Swish them around to dislodge any dirt clinging onto the greens. Drain well and snap the edges of the stem..

Coat the skillet with some oil and toast the red chillies. Remove and let them cool. In a food-processor or blender crush the red chillies first. Add the coarsely chopped onion, Vallarai, coconut, curry leaves and blend well. Add very little water - just enough to wet the ingredients. Save in a bowl, add salt to taste and sqeeze some lemon juice. Lemon juice is used mostly to maintain the color. And to balance out the flavours. Vallarai tastes little bit bitter with a pepery taste. Coconut is sweet. Red chillies supply the heat and lemon juices round’em out.

Serve with warm rice.

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Whole Wheat Dosai (w) Murungai Leaves

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under whole wheat flour, Keerai (greens), Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Jihva For Ingredients(JFI), Archives

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And for most of us, making elaborate indian dishes is practically impossible during the week-days. Hence, the week-end breakfasts are very relaxing and take prominence. Especially if we have Dosai (or Thosai as we say in Tamil). This dosai is prepared the Sri Lankan way and counts Murungai leaves as one of the ingredients.

I decided to make this dosai when Indira of Mahanandi announced JFI-WBB: Green Leafy Vegetables.

Courtesy: Chelli

The Moringa tree grows mainly in semi-arid tropical and subtropical areas. While it grows best in dry sandy soil, it tolerates poor soil, including coastal areas. It is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree that apparently is native only to the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Today it is widely cultivated in Africa, Central and South America, Sri Lanka, India, Mexico, Malaysia and the Philippines. Considered one of the world�s most useful trees, as almost every part of the Moringa tree can be used for food, or has some other beneficial property. In the tropics it is used as foliage for livestock. The tree has its origin from the South Indian State of Tamilnadu.

The immature green pods, called �drumsticks� are probably the most valued and widely used part of the tree. They are commonly consumed in India, and are generally prepared in a similar fashion to green beans and have a slight asparagus taste. The seeds are sometimes removed from more mature pods and eaten like peas or roasted like nuts. The flowers are edible when cooked, and are said to taste like mushrooms. The roots are shredded and used as a condiment in the same way as horseradish, however it contains the alkaloid spirochin, a potentially fatal nerve paralyzing agent, so such practices should be strongly discouraged.

The leaves are highly nutritious, being a significant source of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, protein, iron and potassium. The leaves are cooked and used like spinach. In addition to being used fresh as a substitute for spinach, its leaves are commonly dried and crushed into a powder, and used in soups and sauces. Murungakai Tamil as its locally known in Tamil Nadu is used in Siddha medicine. Its leaves are full of medicinal properties. The tree is a good source for calcium and phosphorus.

Interest is growing in the use of moringa in addressing malnutrition in developing areas of the world. Also Because of its high vitamin and mineral content, in Africa it has become popular as a locally produced nutritional supplement for individuals infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. It can be grown cheaply and easily, so several governments in Africa have promoted Moringa oleifera as locally produced food beneficial to HIV-positive individuals.

It has been used successfully to combat malnutrition among infants and women of childbearing age. In Africa, nursing mothers have been shown to produce far more milk when Moringa leaves have been added to their diet, while severely malnourished children have made significant weight gains when the leaves have been added to their diets. It is commonly added to porridge increase its nutritional content.

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumstick_%28vegetable

I’d earlier talked about Murungai leaves in the post about Tinola. Murungai leaves are quite popular among the Filipinos aswell. They have a recipe quite similar to South Indian Sambhar. Only, the Filipino version would have chicken in it. What astonished me quite a bit was the word Filipino used for Murungai or Drum stick leaves. They called it ‘Molinga leaves’. And I was taken by my friend around Honolulu and was shown parks where Murungai was flourishing. The Filipinos living in Hawaii had planted them there!

So, how to make this Sri Lankan Dosai? We use steamed wheat flour and urad dhal. Some might use rice, but I wasnt aware of that until we moved to India. This dosai must have become popular because refined wheat-flour was supplied through the ration stores. I remember my dad talking about the famine, that struck Sri Lankan during the 40s. And that the refined wheat-flour used to be given to the people, for free or almost free. And this flour was brought from America(USA). Hence, the refine wheat-flour is stilled called ‘American Maa’. Maa is flour in Tamil.

One would soak uradh dhal or ulundhu in water for about 30 minutes. Mostly over-night. Before we bought a blender, I remember my aunt making ulundhu into a paste in an ammi. Only a handful of households had aatukkal. I dont think anybody had an aatukkal in Pungudutheevu. Life became very easy after the blender came into our lives.

Thursday evenings were spent by the side of ammi, sprinking some water as and when my aunts wants me to. Thursday evenings spent thus means Friday morning Doasai. Once the cows are milked, milk boiled and tea is prepared, the time would have come to prep the dosai. Shallots would already be chopped. And I would be asked to run and get a sprig of curry leaves and get a sprig of Murungai leaves from valavu (the area behind and by the side of the house, full of trees). The power is smell is such that it could transport you anywhere and time-travel is also possible!

Let me take you all on a journey with me with this recipe.

Recipe:

1 cup urad dhal - soaked and ground
1 cup steamed whole wheat flour (I use Indian atta flour)
1 medium red onion (shallots are the best though) - chopped finely
1-2 dried red chillies - chopped finely
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3-4 curry leaves
1 sprig of murungai leaves
1 pinch turmeric powder
salt
oil - to do thaalippu(tadka) and to cook dosai. Pref. Indian Sesame oil.

I use chappathi atta to make this dosai. Usually we use refined wheat flour. Either is fine. But please dont use the whole wheat flour from the supermarkets. The bran added to those wheat flour does create a problem. Overall the chappathi flour is much healthier. The only hazzle in this recipe is the steaming part.

In your steamer, spread a muslin cloth and add the wheat flour and steam for about 10-15 minutes. Incase you dont have muslin cloth, use those brown-paper bags. One of my friend’s mom uses them effectively. She steams flour for her family and others. So, those big bags are quite handy.

One the flour has cooled down sift it and keep aside.

Wash uradh dhal twice or more, until the water runs clear. Soak the dhal for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. In a food-processor or blender make the dhal into a fine paste. Add as much as water you need. You would need more water to mix with flour.

Add steamed wheat flour slowly and mix nicely. Add water if necessary. Dont forget to add salt. The consistency should be that of thick pancake batter. Cover and place in a warm place. If you are living the North America, until September/October you can keep it anywhere and be sure that the batter would ferment. Read Bee’s post here.

In a skillet heat oil and fry the finely chopped onions. Add dry red chillies once the onions are cooked halfway through. Add fennel seeds, curry leaves and murungai leaves. We call this thaaLikkirathu in Tamil. Thaalikkirathu is Tadka in Tamil.

Add this to the fermented batter along with turmeric powder and mix nicely. Now you are ready to make those lovely frangrant dosai.

This dosai would not need any side dishes, if you were me. Any chutney, podi or sambhar would be great. But you know what would be truly great with this dosai? One day old fish curry! yes. There’s nothing more tasty than this combo. Chicken curry would also be great with this curry for a nice dinner.

Note: I saw some Murungai Leaves last February. And bought them immiediatly. Cleaned and sauteed the leaves in ghee and saved them in the freezer. I’d taken some pictures at that time. Unfortunately could not seem to find them anywhere. Will update the recipe with the photos as soon as i can locate them. Sorry!

To compensate, here a post in Tamil by a blogger all the way from Brisbane, Australia. She grows Murungai, Banana and so many tropical plants in her garden. The Murungai leaves photo appearing in this post belongs to her.
Link: http://pirakeshpathi.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post.html - Murungai

http://pirakeshpathi.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post_28.html - what am i growing in my garden

Question: Probiotic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

Would Dosai fall under this category?

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Sri Lankan Curry Powder - miLagaai thooL.

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Archives

Chilli pepper is an integral part of Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine, that it’s so difficult to think about our cuisine without any chilli pepper in it. Yes, we do have a few dishes which use black pepper. But, unlike the regional cuisines of Tamil Nadu - eg. Chettinad food, Madurai cuisine, Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine, does not have any popular spicy recipe heated by black pepper. Black pepper is called ‘miLagu’ in Tamil. And chilli pepper is called ‘miLagaai’, miLagaai = milagu + kaai

We tend to use chilli pepper in almost all the dishes. Even the plain white/yellow dishes aka ‘vellai kari’ would have a sliver of green chilli in them.

For a few curries, the required spices would be roasted accordingly and ground freshly. Almost all the other curries requiring some form of heat, would use another staple belonging to Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine. I’m talking about the curry powder here.

Sri Lankan curry powder is quite different from all the other curry powder in the sense, it’s quite spicy. We would search for the choicest of the choice dried red chillies. Would roast them loving over medium fire. Other spices would also be treated with loving care, making sure nothing gets burnt or left half-roasted. Only the eldest female in the house-hold would be handling the roasting part.

Back in Sri lanka, the children would be banned from the kitchen when the curry powder preparation was underway. We would be given special snacks and would be instructed not to disturb them. My mom and aunt would be measuring out and cleaning the spices and my grand mother would have commandeered the aduppu(stove). When the red chilli was being roasted, the aroma would be strong enough to make even us kids sneeze. We could hear, my mom and aunt sneeze, but have hardly heard my grand mother sneeze.

Pic courtesy: Channa Dassanayaka @ Sri Lankan Flavours

In the olden days, the spices would be pounded by hand in an ural with ulakkai. The picture above shows a wooden ural. But generally an ural made of stone would be used. Wooden ural would be used to make coconut sambals(more of them another day). But, after the flour-mills came into being, the spices would be sent to the mill to be powdered. Once, the curry powder is brought home, it would be spread out to cool down. And would be stored in air tight containers.

In Madras, I’ve accompanied my mother in her search for the perfect spicy red chillies. Andhra varieties are prefered. In the beginning, we travelled to so many different stores all over Chennai once a month in search of the perfect red chilli. Once, my mom discovered a store in Paris-corner(major marketing suburb in Chennai), we have stuck to them.

The ritual in Madras is quite similar to what happened in Pungudutheevu. Spices would be roasted over slow-medium heat and would be ground in a flour-mill. The flour-mill would have a special unit to grind chilli-powder.

Whenever relatives visited from abroad, all they would ask for would be curry powder. This continued even in Chennai. The curry powder would be prepared, carefully packed and sent off. But a few years ago, since the Sri Lankan Tamil population increased tremendously, the curry powder started becoming available in the stores in Europe, North America and Australia.

http://www.niru.com/product1.htm

http://www.niru.co.uk

Nowadays there are so many varieties available in market, it’s a difficult choice. I prefer the Niru brand. Even in the Niru brand there are 3 kinds of curry powder. one is a regular curry powder which comes in 900g and 500g packages. There are also 250gm packet. And that’s the smallest size available. The other varieties are a spicier version of the curry powder named ‘Jaffna hot curry powder’. This is mostly used for meat dishes. The other is the pure red chilli powder.

I’ve been quite handicapped here(in the blog) in presenting the regular curries and other dishes because almost all of them require the curry powder.

Anybody interested in trying Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine, should have the curry powder at hand. Sri Lankan curry powder could NOT be substituted by the Sambhar powder or any other curry powders from India. And no, no garam masala powder. God forbid! The closest to Sri Lankan curry powder would be the curry powder from Malaysia. I’ve seen and have used ‘Baba curry powder for fish curries‘. Incase the Sri Lankan curry powder is not available in a store near you, you can go for baba masala. Otherwise, the only other option would be prepare your own blend. It’s worth it. I promise.

Ingredients:

Red chilli - 75gms
Corriander seeds - 25gms
Fennel seeds - 15gms
Cumin - 5-10gms
Black pepper - 10gms
Fenugreek seeds - 5gms
Turmeric - 1/4tsp (traditionally the turmeric pieces were used)
Curry Leaves - 5-6 leaves
Rice - 1 tsp

In a kadai or skillet, slow roast the dried red chilli. The lenthy varieties are usually more spicy. You can also opt for the kind displayed here. Roast for about 3-4 minutes. Similarly slow roast corriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin and black pepper. Roast rice until it changes color and becomes a bit white. Roast curry leaves until the moisture evaporates.

Let the spices cool down. Grind them to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. Add the turmeric powder at the end and mix nicely. Let the curry powder cool down a bit and store them in an air-tight container.

Now you are really ready to explore Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine!

Note: The measurements given here are just a guide. Each household would have their own measurements and this would reflect in the curries.

My cousin roasts fennel seeds and grinds them in her Sumeet and adds to the curry powder and stores them seperetely for meat dishes. I’m lucky enough to get some from her regularly. My aunt does the same.

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Thakkali Sambal (Tomato Salad)

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Tomatoes, Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Jihva For Ingredients(JFI), Archives

In traditional Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine, we dont have many recipes that could take the place of salads. Even though, we have sambals and thogaiyals, some of the ingredients were toasted. The hot tropical weather where any fresh uncooked food could get spoiled could have been the reason.

But, we do have one dish without which any meal with a meat curry would be incomplete. Be it a humble lunch with one dry or watery meat curry or a grand dinner party where varieties of dry and water curries and fried pieces of choicesest of the choice meat would vie for one’s attention.

It’s none other than our easy beazy ‘Thakkali Sambal’. Or Tomato Sambal. Sambal is a word we borrowed from the Malayan Peninsula. Sri Lankan Cuisine and Cuisines from the Malayan Peninsula - namely Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, seem to have exchanged some culinery notes almost 100-150 years ago when the Sri Lankans went to Malayan Peninsula looking for work.

Recipe:

1 medium sized Tomato
1 small onion
2 green chillies
3-4 curry leaves
2 inch cucumber (Optional)
Salt - as per taste
2-3 tablespoon Curd(Plain Yoghurt)

De-seed the Tomato. Finely chop tomato, onion, chillies, curry leaves and cucumber (if using). sprinkle some salt and mix nicely using your fingers. While mixing do crush the vegetables a little. This would release their juices out a bit. Add curd and mix nicely. Ah the aroma that comes out of this simple mix is pure heaven, I tell you!

A word of advice: Homemade curd is the best way to make Thakkali sambal. The curd brings out the best in all the ingredients!

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payaththam urundai (Mungbean balls)

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Flour, Archives

I had to prepare something urgently last week. I had enough spicy snacks. But, did not have any traditional sweets. And I had only an hour to do something. I wasnt prepared to spend time near the stove. But, my vanity would not let me be. So, came up with something real quick.

Payaru or mung beans are often used in Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine. It’s also my favourite lentil variety. I’d bought roasted mung bean flour from the Sri Lankan store to prepare a traditional sweet item. I had only until then assisted while this sweet was made. But borrowed a few ideas from that sweet and voila in 10 minutes mung bean balls were ready.

Recipe:

2 cups mung bean flour (roasted). Roasted mung bean flour is available in sizes of 1 lb in Sri Lankan stores.
1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar (Jaggery could be substituted)
a pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoon ghee
hot water

Mix mung bean flour, sugar, salt and ground pepper. Add ghee and mix nicely. Add hot water slowly and keep mixing with a spoon. when the mixture looks as it does in the photo above stop. Mix with hands and start making small balls. Sizes could vary anywhere from the size of a marble to the size of a small lime.

Arrange neatly in a beautiful dish and serve. I had only two left over to take a picture. My quick recipe seems to be a success! I was even asked for the recipe!

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Paruppu Kari

Posted by Mathy Kandasamy | Filed under Vegetarian, Sri Lankan, Pulses, Archives

In Sri Lanka, friday is a day of vegetarianism. And on fridays the menu would be quite elaborate. We would have atleast four to five side dishes minimum. Generally there would be a thick spicy kuzhambu, a watery spicy kuzhambu, two mild vegetable curries, and paruppu kari along with some appalam (pappadam), moru mizhagai(fried dried chillies soaked in yoghurt) and vagadam (made from neem flowers with lentils, chillies and spices). Home made yoghurt would round it out.

There are so many lentils in Sri Lankan cuisine. But the one most people reach to is Masoor Dhal (Red Lentils). Or Mysore paruppu as we Tamils call it. In Sri Lanka the big onions are called Bombay Onions. When asked why, I was told that when pests destroyed all the onion crop, onions had to be imported from India. Apparently the ships sailed from Bombay. So for me the Mysore paruppu came from Mysore. It made me find out more about Mysore. Ah, the ways we gather knowledge.

I love Masoor paruppu for it’s lovely color. It’s a joy to see that salmon color change into a gorgeous golden shade. And it happens quickly too. The fact that Mysore paruppu gets cooked quickly is what must have attracted the house-wifes in Sri Lanka. Red lentils would be picked for any impurities and would be checked for any small stones. This would be done while the rice was being cleaned in a similar manner. While the rice would be immiediatly washed and cooked, the lentils would be stored in a safe corner, away from small hands attracted by it’s lovely color. Finally when all the dishes are getting ready, the paruppu chatti(vessel) would be placed on aduppu(stove).

Recipe:

11/4 cup Masoor Dhal (Red Lentils) cleaned and washed twice.
1/2 onion - thinly sliced
2-3 green chillies - sliced into two.
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 garlic
1-2 sprigs of curry leaves
a pinch of turmeric powder
salt

In a thick bottomed vessel add the cleaned Masoor Dhal. Pour water so that it comes upto almost half an inch above the level of lentils. Add sliced onion, green chillies and turmeric powder. Let it boil. Check in about five minutes and if necessary add more water. The red lentils would have already turned into a lovely golden color.

Now is the time to add the spices. Roast black pepper and cumin seeds seperately. Crush them coarsely using the mortor and pestle(See Indira’s post). Add garlic and pound a bit more. Garlic should be broken into small pieces and should be mixed with the spices. Need to tell you all something about garlic here. Everybody I know uses garlic with it’s thin skin intact. Backhome, the garlic is much smaller than the ones available here. So, just the outer skin is taken off by brushing between hands. I tend to save the small garlic cloves from the middle of the bulb and use it for the paruppu kari. This way, i dont have to spend time peeling the skin off from those tiny cloves, you see.

Add the pounded mix to the boiling lentils. Cover partially and let it cook. A lovely aroma would emanate from the stove. It would make you swoon! And it does not fail to take me to my childhood days. If ever there’s a dish that’s purely Sri Lankan Tamil, it would be this. Even today, if I happen to go to my relatives houses on Fridays. I would be served paruppu kari.

Ok. Enough swooning and wool-gathering.

Before switching off add salt and mix thoughly. And now is the time to tearup and add the curry leaves. The paruppu kari is never complete without the fresh curry leaves. There’s something to be said about this final step. I dont know what happens chemically. But it’s pure magic. That’s what it is!

One word of caution. Dont even think of jazzing it up with some tadka. Well, if you really want then add some ghee when spooning it up ontop of the rosematta rice. But my favourite way to eat this paruppu kari is with a day old bread. Preferably French baguette. The crusty bread would soak it all up. YUMM!

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