The criminally cold wave has finally receded and the Calcutta winter has transformed back into the winter of my childhood - soft,sunny mornings, pleasant,warm afternoons and cold,clear nights. As we count down to 2012, people around me generally seem happier if but a bit pensive,probably reflecting on the days gone by. Irrespective of whether or not our world as we know it ends in 2012,this is a good time to be merry,spend time with family and be thankful for all that we have in our lives.On the cooking front,I am enthusiastically reading cookery books and scouring through food blogs and happily experimenting in my kitchen. Maybe, the joy of having my own food blog is inspiring me on a regular basis.
I have never cooked or eaten anything remotely SriLankan before,therefore this event seemed like the perfect reason (read: excuse) to change that. For my debut into the world of SriLankan cuisine, I chose two simple,home-style vegetarian dishes for a lazy winter afternoon lunch.
Bengalis traditionally eat leafy greens as the first course of a meal (or second, if a 'bitter' dish is on the menu, in which case,that precedes). I chose this Sri-Lankan Mustard Greens recipe from Nupur's extremely popular blog Onehotstove and made some minor adjustments to it. She found this wonderful style of cooking greens from that culinary treasure trove, Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.
Sri-Lankan Mustard Greens
(serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
1 bunch of fresh mustard greens
1/2 medium onion,cut into long strips
8-10 curry leaves
2-3 green chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp white oil
2 tbsp milk
Procedure:
1.Wash the greens and then chop them into thin,long strands. Remove tough stems, if any.
2.Heat oil in a skillet/medium sized pan.
3.When the oil is heated, add chopped onions,chillies and the curry leaves.
4.Fry till the onion turns pink and add the greens. If the greens seem too much for the cooking vessel, add as much as the vessel will take and stir around. The leaves will wilt quickly, and then you can add the rest.
5.Add the turmeric and salt to taste,reduce the flame and stir well.
6.Once all the greens have wilted and have started giving out water,cover and cook on medium flame for 10-14 minutes.
7.Add the milk and switch off the flame.
Nupur added grated coconut at the last stage according to Madhur Jaffrey's suggestion. I try to avoid saturated fat like the coconut as much as I can, unless it's absolutely essential to the dish. The greens soak in the milk and it helps to sweeten the sometimes bitter taste of mustard greens. The resultant dish was mellow and flavorful,not to mention filled with the wholesome goodness of greens.What's even better, any kind of greens can be made in the above way.
To go alongside the mustard greens, I chose this Dhal Curry from srilankafood.net. The website has some other interesting Sri-Lankan recipes which I look forward to trying out in the coming days. I followed the recipe closely and didnot make any changes.
The combination of onions and curry leaves (same as in the greens) and generous addition of milk came together to create a silken-textured Dhal that was very different from our Bengali way of cooking Masoor Dal with nigella and onions or the Punjabi Dal-Fry with onions,tomatoes and cilantro, the two ways in which I normally cook Masoor Dal.
I served the Dhal Curry and the Sri-Lankan Mustard Greens with some freshly steamed rice. They will also go well with whole-wheat Rotis.
The Flavours of :Series 2 Asia event is hosted here at simply.food by Nayna and all through this December, Priya at Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes is hosting the theme for this month - Flavors of Srilanka. Today being the 30th of December, I just about made it in the nick of time to participate in the event. I am looking forward to picking up a lot of recipes and tips when the event round-up is declared. I know I definitely want to cook and eat more of this beautiful island nation's food which I know so less of.
I have never cooked or eaten anything remotely SriLankan before,therefore this event seemed like the perfect reason (read: excuse) to change that. For my debut into the world of SriLankan cuisine, I chose two simple,home-style vegetarian dishes for a lazy winter afternoon lunch.
Bengalis traditionally eat leafy greens as the first course of a meal (or second, if a 'bitter' dish is on the menu, in which case,that precedes). I chose this Sri-Lankan Mustard Greens recipe from Nupur's extremely popular blog Onehotstove and made some minor adjustments to it. She found this wonderful style of cooking greens from that culinary treasure trove, Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.
Sri-Lankan Mustard Greens
(serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
1 bunch of fresh mustard greens
1/2 medium onion,cut into long strips
8-10 curry leaves
2-3 green chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp white oil
2 tbsp milk
Procedure:
1.Wash the greens and then chop them into thin,long strands. Remove tough stems, if any.
2.Heat oil in a skillet/medium sized pan.
3.When the oil is heated, add chopped onions,chillies and the curry leaves.
4.Fry till the onion turns pink and add the greens. If the greens seem too much for the cooking vessel, add as much as the vessel will take and stir around. The leaves will wilt quickly, and then you can add the rest.
5.Add the turmeric and salt to taste,reduce the flame and stir well.
6.Once all the greens have wilted and have started giving out water,cover and cook on medium flame for 10-14 minutes.
7.Add the milk and switch off the flame.
Nupur added grated coconut at the last stage according to Madhur Jaffrey's suggestion. I try to avoid saturated fat like the coconut as much as I can, unless it's absolutely essential to the dish. The greens soak in the milk and it helps to sweeten the sometimes bitter taste of mustard greens. The resultant dish was mellow and flavorful,not to mention filled with the wholesome goodness of greens.What's even better, any kind of greens can be made in the above way.
To go alongside the mustard greens, I chose this Dhal Curry from srilankafood.net. The website has some other interesting Sri-Lankan recipes which I look forward to trying out in the coming days. I followed the recipe closely and didnot make any changes.
The combination of onions and curry leaves (same as in the greens) and generous addition of milk came together to create a silken-textured Dhal that was very different from our Bengali way of cooking Masoor Dal with nigella and onions or the Punjabi Dal-Fry with onions,tomatoes and cilantro, the two ways in which I normally cook Masoor Dal.
I served the Dhal Curry and the Sri-Lankan Mustard Greens with some freshly steamed rice. They will also go well with whole-wheat Rotis.
The Flavours of :Series 2 Asia event is hosted here at simply.food by Nayna and all through this December, Priya at Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes is hosting the theme for this month - Flavors of Srilanka. Today being the 30th of December, I just about made it in the nick of time to participate in the event. I am looking forward to picking up a lot of recipes and tips when the event round-up is declared. I know I definitely want to cook and eat more of this beautiful island nation's food which I know so less of.
No comments:
Post a Comment