The Sri Lankan Cuisine at #WildAsparagusTable – Episode Four

The romance with #WildAsparagusTable continues

Sometimes I feel I am sailing in a cruise called #WildAsparagusTable, stopping at one city to try the cuisine of that place. Our captains, our guides…Ananya Banerjee and Saloni Malkani…steer the ship towards one destination every month, and we learn not just about food, but culture, dress style and sometimes pick up few language skills too. We have covered France, Mexico, Germany and this month it was SriLanka.

We are inspired and encouraged to swim into unknown waters, experimenting cuisines that we have never tried before. One month we spent sailing through net, googling-reading different food blogs, admiring food pictures, watching videos and hoping that we are able to match the ethnic taste of the natives.

During this month I learnt that #SriLankancuisine is the mixture of many cuisines (Indian, Indonesian, Singaporean, Asian) with different curries, flatbreads, rice. The ingredients popularly used are coconut (in different forms) tamarind, curry leaves, caramelised onions, chilies and spices.

What I didn’t know was that it has such a big variety of curries and desserts….my foodie friends surprised me when I finally saw the menu. Yes it’s a potluck. Each member prepares one speciality of the place, it may be tried and tasted, or just an experiment with new ingredients to explore new cuisine.

Eyes opened wide when the menu is made

And the eyes opened wider when The food is cooked…..we stand drooling, wondering what to start with, how much to eat. Everybody takes great effort to make a dish, so it will not be fair if we are too full to skip any dish. The trick is to skip dinner and breakfast and concentrate on only one lunch, savour each dish slowly, enjoy the fragrance, the textures, and the flavours of each dish.Take your own sweet time….

Our hostess, Rummy (Inderpreet Nagpal) had taken utmost care in setting the long dinning table with beautiful serving dishes and cutlery, a big spread of jasmine flowers surrounded the rows of burning lamps, Great selection of books lined neatly over the shelf, drinks were served from revolving turn table at the bar and the centre table  in the living room displayed assortments of Vegetarian thali, Non-vegetarian thali and great variety of desserts. The beauty was that every dish was cooked with love and interest and every dish tasted awesome.

To add to the zest of the feast, some were dressed in typical Sinhalese sarees. Common ice-breaker was “So, what did you cook?” Discussion was mainly around, (what else?) Food and recipes….

Throughout the afternoon there was uproar of happy laughter, as different jokes did their rounds in-between mouthful of tasty bites.

Ananya cooked the traditional dish Lamparis.

“The Lamprais, an influence of the Dutch Burgher community. It's rice that's been cooked in meat stock, stuffed with curry, meatballs and brinjal. This is wrapped in a banana leaf packet that's then steamed.”-She said. It was  Delicious!

During my research, I discovered that Wambatu mojo is the favourite dish prepared in every Sri Lankan home. It’s a kind of Brinjal pickle, it had interesting recipes and I decided to experiment on this dish

It was a simple recipe.

1. Half kg of brinjals are cut into thick strip, salt and turmeric is added to it and is kept for some time and then deep fried in small batches till dark brown.

2. Half kg of shallots, slit and deep fried

3. 100gms of green chillies, slit and deep fried.

4. 50gms curry leaves washed and deep fried

5. Pound together into a smooth paste

1tbsp mustard seeds

4 cloves of garlic

1inch ginger

1tbsp sugar

1tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

6. Add vinegar

combine and it should be sweet sour and hot.

7. Mix in with deep fried brinjals, shallots, green chillies and curry leaves.

8. Keep it for few hours to mature.

Enjoyed meeting all the home chefs and came home with the tastiest SriLankan pickle made specially for all by our most gracious hostess. 

Thank you so much!!

A special thank you to our afternoon refreshment courtesy 

#moonshinemeadery ! 

Chai Shai Aur Batein –Super Food- Rajgira

Now I have never known Rajgira nor knew Rajgira flour is known as Amarnath atta. So when Shital Kakad announced Ragjira as the superfood for this month’s potluck at Chai Shai aur Batain, I quickly clicked GoogleMaster to learn something more about this...

Amaranth or rajgira means “immortal” or “everlasting” in Greek because it contains more than three times the average amount of calcium and is also high in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and it is the only grain which contains Vitamin C. Rajgira also has far more lysine, an essential amino acid, which the body does not manufacture, compared to other grains. Lysine is needed to metabolise fatty acids, absorb calcium, and is essential for strong, thick hair.

Source: https://www.indiatimes.com/health/healthyliving/health-benefits-of-rajgira-amaranth-240859.html

But what to make when I do not know how it will behave? And what to make?

Rabia Patel, my friend,  made my task easier by asking me to make a #sindhicuisine Daal Pakwaan that she loves to eat.

Baas..that made things easier..kyun ki now I was set to make just pakwaan of Rajgira.

Doing research with family and friends also helped. Consulting with them, I learnt how it can be used...

"for making puris..add mashed potatoes” said one friend. 

“You could add rava flour to make it crispy” said another..

That gave me idea that it might be tricky to roll out puris, finally I decided on adding maida on instruction of my cousin sister.

 “Lets experiment” said my cousin who had come to spend some time with me. She made a dough taking equal proportions of maida and Rajgira atta..added 1tsp cumin seeds and salt. We added ghee to make a smooth dough. First two puris were soft and thick..whereas pakwaan are normally thin and crispy..and therefore, we rolled out thinner circles making dents with the fork

Voila!! We had crispy puris....

They were dark brown..but quite tasty.

Everybody raves about dhal pakwaan, but a novice will wonder what is so great about it? Its just chana dhal and crispsy puris...But the actual taste, my friend,  is in the accompaniments..it is best enjoyed with mint chutney and onions soaked in tamarind sauce..that is the taste that you enjoy..sweet, spicy and sour dhal with crispy puris...

So, this was my contribution for the potluck this week with #homechefs at '#ChaiShaiaurBataain hosted by Shital Kakad at her beautiful cook studio 'ShitalFoodCottage

Sharing the recipe toh banta hai...here is how I make it

For Puris

Mix 1cup Rajgira Flour and 1 cup maida

Add half tsp salt

Add half tsp cumin seeds

Mix and make stiff dough add just half cup water

Roll out thin circular shapes

Prick it with fork or knife

Deep fry till crisp

For dhal

Soak 2cups channa dhal for 2 hours

In a pressure cooker, stir fry 1 tsp cumin seeds in 1tbsp of ghee

Add 1 pinch of hing

Add the soaked dhal

Add salt and 1tsp of turmeric powder

Add 1 cup of water and pressure cook with 2 whistles.

Garnish with red chilie powder, cumin powder, pomegranate powder and chopped coriander leaves.

For mint chutney

Mix a small bunch of corainder leaves and mint leaves

Add one small onion, few cloves of garlic, 5 or 6 green chilies, salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

Add 1tbsp of lime juice

For tamarind sauce

Soak tamarind for an hour, squeeze out the pulp.

Add finely chopped onions

Add salt, sugar, cumin powder

For serving

Top the dhal with onions in tamarind sauce, mint chutney and enjoy with crispy Rajgira puris.

The brownie point was the live demonstration by chef of Punjab Grill Official @amiteshvirdi who shared his nuggets of knowledge with us.He has good knowledge of cooking and is also obsessed with every ingredient that he uses, His live demo on sweet potato and bitter gourd was truly loved by all

The potluck event at ShitalFoodCottage was a success because everybody's dish was commendable, You can find their recipes at Shital kakad s blog

Dal Divas Potluck

There was rice, bread, papad, achaar and then there were dhals..a great variety of dhal from different parts of India. All dhals were carefully cooked with great interest and all tasted good! Rushina Ghildiyal, the main flame behind this event of celebrating Dal Divas, invited us all to her APB Cook studio to showcase our speciality.

How could I miss?…since I was in Mumbai this time, I was keen to attend this one.

Rushina has been promoting Indian cuisine since some time now and there have been series of events organised by her, observing different days like Biryani day, pickle day, bhajiya day, masala day, vadi day, but I have always missed it for some reason or other….

Although I have blogged on it..whenever I could... you could read it

Chutneys my family enjoys around the globe

Celebrating Pulao Biryani day with my family 

Authentic Garam Masala used in Sindhi Cuisine

Dhal Divas too, I would have missed because there was another commitment that got cancelled and luckily I was able to attend.

It was a potluck with all the women showcasing their speciality. Rushina made a list so that there were no repeatition.

I was asked to make green split dhal. Now dhal is a comfort food, not that I eat everyday (no, not when I make Chinese, Italian or continental, not even when I make non-veg) when I eat dhal..its only dhal. A complete meal by itself.

I was asked to share my recipe…so..here it is…I cook with instinct, no measurements, no fixed methods..

I boiled 2cups of green split dhal, adding 1tsp of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker. After 3 whistles, I put off the gas and went for a bath.

Till then dhal had cooled off and it was safe to expose it. Mixed it well, added 2 cups of water and kept it back on the burner. Boiled dhal also tastes good, if I would just add salt and black pepper and eat as salad,it would be nice but I  decided to cook it.

Added 3 chopped tomatoes, 2 inch grated ginger, 5 green chilies and a small bunch of chopped coriander leaves. The phone began to ring.

“What are doing? Are you free today?”

“No, I am making dhal for Dal Divas day”

“I want too”

“Ok ..will send you.”

Went back to the kitchen to mix the dhal. Chopped spring onions and garlic.

Another phone call for another small chat. This one wanted to taste too. I must remember to make bigger quantity next time. (Or not answer the calls when cooking small quantity)

Also must remember to keep my phone away from kitchen.

Kept a tiny deep pan on another burner. Deep fried spring onions in 2tbsp of ghee. Added the burnt spring onions to the dhal.

Added more ghee to the pan and deep fried chopped garlic till it was dark brown. Added this to the dhal mixture.

I must taste to check if it is proper. Added salt to adjust the taste, added mango powder to add sourness, added peri peri sauce for pungent taste and added cardamom powder for flavour.

If I like it, its good enough.

Got dressed and left for the potluckparty. Reached the venue after one hour, a bit delayed because of too much traffic.

I was in for a surprise. Chef Ashish Bagul of BKC Trident was to demonstrate four different dhals from East, West, North and South of India.

There were cholar dhar

Mohini moong dhal fit for royalties

Vala chi amti

Khade maash ki dhal

I am reminded of my NRI friend who had visited India and was amused when she heard series of pressure cooker whistles from different kitchens at lunch time. Dhal is best cooked in pressure cooker and then there is tempering done that is not only for flavours but also for improving the nutrient value of the dish and helping to absorb many hidden nutrients in the vegetables.. Pure ghee is the perfect choice for tempering dhals and different regions of India use different combo of tempering depending upon the climate and the culture of that place.

I am not sure if any other place in the world has such a big variety of dhal preparation like in India. But it’s the tempering that makes Indian dhal so interesting and so aromatic.

The kitchen was filled with strong aroma of food..such lovely fragrance of ghee and spices, that I couldn’t wait to taste.

I wanted to taste all the dhals…24 different dhals. I tasted them all and relished it. All these ladies are great cooks. (You might wonder if I have large appetite to try them all..but I did not eat accompaniments, no rice, rice, no bread, no roti)

Made new friends, learnt new techniques, a great day to celebrate.

DalDivas was fun……. What did you cook on 25^th Jan?..do share the link of your dhal if you did…..