Lankan Golf Club inspired Cheese on Toast with Date and Lime Chutney

So this is like my all time favourite cheese on toast or as we call it in Sri Lanka ‘cheese toast’ that I used to eat in the Colombo Golf Club every given chance growing up.  It’s super simple, extremely bad for you but SO SO indulgent.

Ingredients

• 100g of  mature cheddar or red leicester cheese
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 small egg (lightly beaten)
• a small knob of butter
• 10 ml double cream (or enough to make a thick paste)
• 2 pieces of toast, lightly toasted
• 1 -2 small green birds eye chilli (can be omitted if you want non spicy cheese on toast)
• a pinch of paprika

This is meant to be quite chunky and saucy and thick. Mix all the ingredients together bar the toast. Take the paste and spread half of the sauce on each piece of lightly toasted bread. Then toast the cheese on toast under the grill under very golden and bubbly. Serve with a side of hot sauce or date and lime chutney as I have done above in the photo!

You won’t regret this toast, it’s flipping delicious.

Mint Sambol! Whaaa?

So you are thinking of eating some biryani but you don’t have the standard mint sambol; fret not, here’s my cheat recipe. No miris gala required but you will need a blender.

Ingredients

Serves 6 pax

• 60 grams of mint leaves (not stalks, leaves!)
• 30 grams of coriander leaves
• 1 fresh green chili
• the juice of 1 – 2 limes (depending on how runny you want it)
• 100 grams desiccated coconut
• half a tin of coconut milk
• salt for taste

Method

• Soak your desiccated coconut and pour the coconut milk over the dried pieces. Mix it together and allow it to soak. Set it aside.
• In a blender, put in all the remaining ingredients. Add the coconut milk soaked desiccated coconut into the blender.
• Blend till you make a fine semi runny mixture. If you find the mixture is too thick, add more coconut milk.
• Add salt to taste, and voila, Mint sambol!

Pineapple Curry YUM YUM

Pineapple curry is a total treat for me! It’s the sort of curry that is made for a Sunday lunch and served with Sri Lankan yellow rice which is super delicious too. So I thought that I would try my hand at it and it came out really well! I hope that you enjoy this meal as much as I do. This one for the veggies out there.

Happy eating a fruit curry x x

Serves 6

Ingredients 

• 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• One whole peeled pineapple
• 1.5 red onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1.5 inches of ginger
• 2 – 3 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1 – 2 fresh red chillies (depending on how spicy you want to make it)
• 1 leveled tablespoon of roasted curry powder
• 1/2 leveled tablespoon of chili powder
• 4-5 cloves
• 1-2 dry kaffir lime leaves
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1/2 can of coconut milk
• 1 heaped tablespoon of muscovado brown sugar
• 1 cup of water
• two leveled teaspoons of mustard seeds
• salt to taste

 

The starting ingredients! Tesco’s have started pineapple that’s been peeled! Essentially doing all the hard work for you.

Cut the pineapple into sizeable chunks so you get a juicy bite in the curry. Dice all the core ingredients and be ready to cook!

To finish off the curry, you will need a tin of coconut milk and some brown sugar.

Curry powder time – roasted curry powder and chili powder! For an added twist, add kaffir lime leaves, cinammon and cloves!

Start by frying the red onion in a medium sized deep pan  until they start to wilt.

Once the onions have wilted down, immediately ass the garlic, ginger, fresh chilli, curry leaves and a cinnamon stick.

After a few minutes, add in the fresh cubed pineapple and fry into the onion mixture.

Follow by adding 1 cup of water and give the pineapple a mix.

Add one leveled tablespoon of roasted curry powder to the mixture and half a leveled tablespoon of chili powder.

Stir the curry powder and chili powder into the pineapple curry. Add in 4 cloves and 1 dry kaffir lime leaves.

Add in half a can of coconut milk and one heaped tablespoon of brown sugar and allow to reduce. Add a good pinch of salt.

Once the curry has cooked for twenty minutes, the curry should have reduced down to a thick gravy.

In a seperate frying pan, fry half a diced red onion in a tablespoon of sunflower oil with two leveled teaspoons of mustard seeds. Once the onions have caramelized, take off heat and set aside.

Finally, add the fried onion and mustard mixture into the pineapple curry and stir it into the curry.

Finally plate up your pineapple curry with spring onion fried rice!

KICK ASS beef curry with bone marrow

I first learnt to make a beef curry from my Aunty Mumtaz (she is an awesome cook). She taught me how to make it in a more ‘Muslim’ way as unlike most Sri Lankan curries, this beef curry is not cooked with coconut milk but instead only uses water. I have made my own twist on this recipe by adding bone marrow, stock and tamarind. I hope that you like it. Happy cooking.

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

• 450 grams of beef shin
• 1 beef bone with marrow
• 1 liter of water
• 1 beef stock cube
• 3 teaspoons of tamarind paste
• 2 teaspoons of ghee/butter
• 3 tablespoons of oil
• 2 levelled tablespoons of roasted curry powder, 1 heaped tablespoon of roasted curry powder
• 2 levelled tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 levelled tablespoon of tumeric powder
• 1 red onion (sliced)
• 3 cloves of garlic (diced)
• 1.5 inch of fresh ginger (diced)
• 2 fresh red birds eye chilies (chopped diagonally)
• 3 sprigs of curry leaves
• 2 stalks of celery
• 5 – 6 stalks of fresh coriander leaves for serving

Method

I thought that I would do something different and make a semi ‘cooking by numbers’ – by posting each step as a photo.  Would love feedback as to whether you think this is easier then my written methods.

This is a great stewing cut. Good marbling of fat on the beef will be better the longer you cook it for. Usually a shin will be sold as a large piece of meat, so ask your butcher to cut it into big pieces.

If you have a lovely butcher like mine at Sheepsdrove in Little Venice, they will give you a bone with your shin of beef. The bone and the marrow will add amazing flavour to your curry, and then once its cooked, you can spoon out the centre of the bone and eat the super yummy marrow!

These are key store cupboard essentials if you are planning on making a curry. Sri Lankans tend to use ‘amu miris’ (which is green birds eye chilli) but I can’t handle very spicy food, so I prefer to use the milder thai red chillies. However if spicy is the name of the game, then tots use green chillies.

Ma’s is my favourite brand of Sri Lankan spice mixes. For this curry I wanted to use the Roasted curry powder, chili powder and tumeric powder.

 

1 levelled tablespoon of chili powder, 2 levelled tablespoons of roasted curry powder and 1/2 tablespoon of tumeric powder. Leave the meat marinading for at least 30 minutes.

In a separate pan, dissolve one beef cube and 3 teaspoons of tamarind paste in one liter of water. Set aside.

Start by heating a large pan with 3 x tablespoons of oil. Add in the sliced onion and cook for a few minutes. Add in the diced garlic, ginger and fresh red chili. After 2 minutes, add in one heaped tablespoon of roasted curry powder. Add one teaspoon of ghee/butter. Then immediately add in one levelled tablespoon of chili powder and then 1/2 tablespoon of tumeric powder. Fry the spices into the onion mixture. If it looks a little dry add a little more butter/ghee.

As soon as the curry, chili and tumeric powder has mixed into the onion mixture, add in the marinated beef and brown. Make sure you are stirring consistently to ensure that the pan does not burn.

Once the beef pieces have started to brown, add a little bit of the tamarind stock water to loosen up the onion mixture and spices at the bottom of the pan.

Once the beef is browned and the stock has absorbed the spices, add all the beef stock and tamarind water. Ensure that all the beef pieces are submerged under the stock. The bone will not be fully submerged, but whilst its cooking, keep turning the bone to ensure even cooking. Finally add in the curry leaves and allow the beef to cook over a medium fire.

If you fancy it, you can put in two stalks of chopped celery into the stock as it cooks down for added flavour (but this is optional). Whilst the stock cooks, the curry will seem extremely spicy, but as it reduces the spiciness will calm down. In case you think it’s too spicy as it cooks, add two or three raw potatoes into the stock. The potatoes will help to absorb the heat in the curry. If you want to mix it up a little, you can add a whole smoky chipotle chili.

Whilst the curry is cooking ensure you stir it from time to time to prevent it from burning. The curry should cook on a medium fire for about 1 to 1.5 hours. As pictured the curry should reduce down to a very thick sauce. Add two generous pinches of sea salt. If you feel that the gravy is too thick, then add a little water and cook it for a little longer.

Finally switch off the heat and finish off the curry with some fresh coriander leaves.

 

Serve the beef with some hot basmati rice and finally, carefully remove some of the marrow from the center of the bone and add onto the side of the curry when plating up (check out the marrow on the plate above – it was so yummy). Add some steamed curly kale to make the meal a little more healthy!

My dad’s dhal curry

This recipe was taught to me by my father when I was 11 whilst on holiday in London. It was a was a tharaka dhal recipe that my dad taught my mom when they first got married and one that he would cook when he lived in England about 30 years prior. Since then, I’ve put my own spin on it and tried making it a little more nutritious by adding baby leaf spinach.

This recipe will serve 4 (maybe some spare for a later date).

Ingredients

1.5 cups of red split lentils (ensure it’s this lentil, Sri Lankans don’t tend to make dhal with bigger lentils, it’s just not our style)
3 cups of water
1 levelled tablespoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 inch piece of fresh ginger (grated)
1/2 cup milk (or coconut milk)
1 red onion (finely diced)
1 fresh red chilli (chopped with seeds)
2 teaspoons of mustard seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable/ sunflower oil
200 grams of baby leaf spinach
Sea salt to taste

Method

Wash the lentils under cold running water. Once the water runs clean place in a medium sized pan with the 3 cups of water and the turmeric and chilli powder on a medium heat and allow to come to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat down to a low fire.

In a separate frying pan, heat the oil on a high fire. Immediately fry the onions, grated ginger and fresh chilli until you see the onions turning translucent and the aroma of the onion mixture escapes the pan. At that point, add the mustard seeds and continue to fry for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Whilst the dhal is cooking pour in the milk and mix well. Once the milk is properly combined, add the fragrant onion mixture into the cooking dhal. Combine the mixture into the dhal until evenly spread throughout the lentils.

Place all the spinach on top of the dhal and allow the spinach to steam and wilt into the dhal. Once the spinach is wilted into the dhal, give it one last mix with a spoon and add the salt. This is a taste preference, so put as much as you feel fit. Once the salt balance is to your liking, turn off the heat and serve.

Yum.

A basic Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

Ingredients 

• 1 red onion
• 3 cloves of garlic 
• 1 inch of fresh ginger (grated)
• 2 red bird eye chillies (if you want it to be spicy – omit if you want a milder curry)
• 4 leveled tablespoons curry powder (if you can find Sri Lankan curry powder – bonus! but if not Garam Masala curry powder is a substitute)
• 2 leveled tablespoons chili powder
• 1 leveled tablespoon tumeric powder
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves (available at any good green grocer)
• 1 stick of cinnamon 
• 1/2 can of coconut milk
• 1/2 cup of water
• 4 pieces of chicken thighs on the bone (I am a bit of snob when it comes to chicken meat, I prefer dark meat over white meat) 
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable/sunflower/coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons of ghee or butter 

Method

• Dice the red onion, garlic and fresh chili into small pieces. 
• Take two tablespoons of the curry powder and the ghee/butter and marinate the chicken thighs in the powder butter combo before you cook it  (the longer the better, but give the chicken at least 30 minutes in the curry powder).
• Heat a deep medium sized pan, and heat the oil on a medium fire. 
• Once the oil is hot, saute the onions until slightly translucent and immediately add the garlic, ginger, fresh red chilies, the cinnamon stick and the fresh curry leaves into the pain and cook for a few minutes. 
• Once the onion mixture is cooking, add the remaining two tablespoons of curry powder, the chili powder and the tumeric. The onion mixture will take the colour of the powders and the pan will start to look quite dry and almost as if its going to burn. Add a little water to this mixture to allow the onion mixture to really absorb the flavour of the spices. 
• After a few minutes (approx 4 minutes), add the chicken thighs and brown. If you ever feel like the pan is about to burn the food being cooked in it, add a little water. 
• Once the thighs have browned, add all the remaining water and the coconut milk and allow the curry to cook over a low fire for 30 – 40 minutes.
• Once cooked, there should be a thick gravy and succulent pieces of chicken.
• Serve with a few coriander leaves and a side of hot piping rice!

ENJOY!  

Lady of Lanka Presents… Family

Family is synonymous with mealtimes in Sri Lanka; if you know any Sri Lankans in your circle of friends/family, you will notice that everyone refers to their parents and their friends as ‘Auntie or Uncle’ or that we have our own dialect of unofficial ‘Sri Lankan English’.

The country itself is a brilliant oxymoron. Everything happens in its own ways. If you come to Sri Lanka, or you have been, you may realise that there are no fancy Sri Lankan restaurants in the country and if you want to eat authentic Sri Lankan cuisine, it has to be either on the roadside or in someone’s house.

My best memories of eating are with my extended family. My father comes from a large muslim family, with nine brothers and sisters. Each of my aunts/uncles had at least two kids, so you can imagine how big the Marikkar Clan is! On my mom’s side, my grandparents only had two children, but my aunt had four wonderful kids that I call family. My family is a mix of cultures and nationalities that include and not limited to Sri Lanka, Italy, America, Britain, the Maldives, Singapore, and Indonesia!

What a lot of people don’t know and take for granted is that Sri Lankan food, much like Italian food, is very regional. And as my nine Uncles and Aunts married muslims from different parts of the country, all the food that each household cooks is authentic and unique to them. It’s also important to note that most curry powders are roasted at home, so every household will have a different base for their curries, and no two curries will ever taste the same.

I decided to create this blog, as an ode to my family and the amazing taste of Sri Lankan curry and give those curry recipe seekers an easy method to making brilliant curry.

Happy cooking!

Love,

The Lady of Lanka

 

All my female cousins on my dad’s side (the Marikkars) at my sister’s wedding. Aren’t they lovely?

 

This photo has to be in 1988, this was a common practice of having Sunday Lunch at my Grandparents house! Clearly this was my cousin, Govinda’s birthday.

This was our old kitchen in my house in Sri Lanka. Although not the main house for family gatherings, it was where one of the special gatherings would take place! We had always soft drinks or faluda to accompany our meals! However, I HATE FALUDA! Rose Sherbet, gah!

These guys are the best. Pictured at christmas after my two day epic cooking fest, lots of wine and brandy later. I think my dad stole those crutches from one of our 35 guests every christmas day lunch. Left to right: my mom, my sister, me , my Dad and our British import, my brother in law.