Well this feels nothing short of an honour to be able to post. For the past 3 nights we've been staying with a Sri Lankan family in the mountain village of Ella. Grandma Daya has been making some of the most amazing food for us and this morning we helped her out in the kitchen. This array of Sri Lankan staples is the typical fare we've found in most restaurants we've eaten at here, and blissfully, can all be recreated at home really easily. It's bloody delicious.
(You'll be preparing the green beans and cabbage in the same way initially, so you may as well do the above prep at the same time)
We had the luxury of fresh coconuts and a desiccating machine.
Your stage one milk will be thicker and creamier, this will be used to thicken dishes at the end. And the stage two milk is thinner, and used for boiling pulses/veg with.
And the cabbage, my personal favourite.
3. Once it's all been mushed and mixed in, add a squeeze of lime, one chopped tomato and a pinch of salt.
Serve the lot with some brown or basmati rice ("white rice is no good" in Daya's rich Sri Lankan accent). Easy as pie, authentic as a sari, and just delicious.
Ingredients ::
Though Alice and I cooked these all in conjunction with one another, for the sake of clarity I'll tackle them one by one so you can pick and choose which to make. Though I'd recommend the lot.
With the cabbage and green bean sides, the two lead veggies can easily be switched for your seasonal preference, for example brocolli or potatoes.
Spices you'll need ::
(Methi seeds = Fenugreek seeds). You'll also need some mustard seeds.
Simple Daal
1. Wash the lentils (as much as you'd like for two, double everything else for 4, and so on) in cold water. Add to a bowl with ::
- 5 or so small curry leaves
- 2tsp chilli powder
- 2tsp curry powder
- 3tsps finely sliced red onion
- 2tsps fenugreek seeds
- 1tsp turmeric
2. In a high-heated saucepan, fry two cloves of finely chopped garlic and a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Fry for a minute (and enjoy the aromas fill the kitchen), then add the lentil mix, and fill with boiling water to 2 fingers above the lentils. Boil on a high heat until the liquid has all absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, and I assure you this is simpler than it sounds, get the desiccated coconut, break it all up either in a blender or by bashing it up in a pestle and mortar, reserve two handfuls of it for the Coconut Samba (a dish not a dance), and add the rest to a bowl with some tap-warm water until submerged. Leave for 5 minutes, then give it all a good squeeze through with your hands.
Then, place a sieve over a new bowl and add the liquid coconut mix to the sieve. Squeeze the mix in your hand to get all the liquid out. Set this bowl of coconut milk to one side. We shall call this the stage one milk.
4. Add the remaining desiccated coconut from the sieve back into the first bowl, and add some more tepid water until submerged. Repeat the same process as above, and set into a new bowl. This, we shall call stage two milk. So you know, this is how coconut milk is made; with coconut water being the liquid that's found unprocessed in the coconut when you first crack it open.
The ever-smiling Grandma Daya : )
5. Once the water has boiled away into the lentil mix, add some of the creamier stage one coconut milk to the lentils until submerged. Boil away on a medium heat until it is all a good curry-like consistency. Finished. How easy?
Green bean & Cabbage sides
1. Slice the green beans down the middle and cut into 1-2 inch pieces. For the cabbage, finely slice the amount you'd like. Set these two into different bowls.
2. Add the same ingredients as mentioned in stage 1 for the daal, and fry in the same way you did for stage 2 but for about 5 minutes and in separate pans. After the 5 minutes, add some of the thinner stage two milk - about half a mug in each pan, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Finally, add a couple of tablespoons of the thicker good-shit stage one milk. Two sides, done.
The finished article - Green beans
Coconut Samba (the actual name)
1. Get a pestle and mortar and add 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes, two chopped cloves of garlic, and a pinch of raw onion. Mush that shit up.
2. Gradually add the desiccated coconut, tablespoon by tablespoon, mushing and mixing as you go. It should all turn red.
3. Once it's all been mushed and mixed in, add a squeeze of lime, one chopped tomato and a pinch of salt.
Next side, done - Alice's favourite. This stuff is seriously good.
Finally, and this is something you rarely get with Indian food, but Daya tells us they have this with almost every meal, Salad!
I don't really need to talk you through this but it's essentially chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion, some green pepper and a little shredded lettuce of your choice (romayyyn would be good). Freshen up with pepper, salt, lime juice, and weirdly, though it totally works, a tiny bit of mayo - about a teaspoon.
Ingredients ::
Two packets of desiccated coconut, or enough for 2-3 big handfuls per person when fluffed out
Basmati or brown rice
Green beans
White cabbage
2 tomatoes
Cucumber
2-3 red onions
1 green pepper
Romaine lettuce
Two mild red chillies
Garlic
Red lentils
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Turmeric
Curry powder
Chilli flakes
Fenugreek seeds
Salt and pepper
