Love & other Spices

asian inspired

Mildly Spiced Chicken Biryani

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I love biryani. They aren’t confined to special occasions or days, they’re a comfort food. It warms my soul and nourishes my body. It saves me from those days where I stare at an open refrigerator wondering what vegetables to pair and what to cook. No,I’m not good at meal planning. So, having an easy recipe with ingredients I mostly have in my pantry is a relief.

The only two ingredients I didn’t have until now are the white poppy seeds and dried plums. But ever since I started making biryani this way they’ve become part of my pantry. For my Irish readers, poppy seed is available in most Asian stores. They come in a 200g pack and will last for a long time, I mean a very long time. Unless you use it to make lemon poppy seed muffins all the time. A favorite of mine which I should blog about. And the dried plums. They are different from prunes and comes with the seed. It has a sweet and mild sour taste and that too can be found in Asian stores. It will be great addition to any curry. The hulled white poppyseeds and dried plums can be seen in the picture below.

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Kiwi and Sago Pudding

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The temperature is rising sharply here in Dubai. It’s hot and humid even in the evenings. The park outings with the kids have almost come to a standstill. We crave for juicy fruits,cooling liquids and food all the time. My granny used to make sago pudding or kanjee during very hot days in Sri Lanka. She used to say it’s very cooling to the body. It’s easy to make and delicious. We have it as dessert.

Easy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

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What you see above is a totally unplanned shot of our lunch last week.
I wasn’t planning to shoot anything that day but when I plated the meal it looked photogenic and I had beautiful early afternoon light streaming through my kitchen windows that was just perfect.I had to click.

It all happened too fast,with this dish. I had almost half an hour to cook lunch before I dash out the door to pick my hungry kids. A quick search online brought me this recipe which I was satisfied with as I had just the right ingredients,beef and broccoli..tada..

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Red Lentils with Coconut Milk – Sri Lankan Parippu

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It’s December already. The end before new beginnings. The weather is very pleasant and I’m loving most of it. The mornings are cold and it’s hard to get the kids up from their cozy beds. Afternoons are bit warmer,though. But the warmth doesn’t come alone,it brings the cold breeze along with it. And you wish you could be that little girl again,playing outside until you’re tired.
In the evenings,we go for walks in the neighborhood, my husband joining us sometimes. I just love these little excursions with all three boys. Having Shawarma’s in the park,savoring every bite of lightly spiced meat and sauce while the cold breeze hits your face,watching the kids run around and chit-chatting with my husband. I couldn’t be any happier.
Back in Sri Lanka,when it comes to meal times,seeing the piping hot bowl of tempered Parippu (Red lentils/Dhal) makes most people happy. It’s a staple in our country. It’s a must when growing up. I have seen a many a kid’s faces wither away when they don’t see Parippu on their plate of Rice and Curry. My cousins refused to eat their food. Period.

Ground Rice Balls “Aggala”

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It’s no myth that blogosphere has so many wonderful things to offer.Recipes that has amazing and an uncommon list of ingredients to the mouthwatering and saliva drooping food photos,you name it,you got it all. The most wonderful thing that offers, according to me is the hand of friendship.
Isn’t it amazing to find a friend who has the same tastes,similar opinions towards life and above all, blogs to discuss about ? We could go on for hours chatting.
I met Raji online through the Fooderati Arabia and met in person at one of the foodie tours around Dubai. We clicked off immediately. She is this warm,friendly,down to earth person. And we have some meet ups planned and I’m sure we’re going to enjoy it.
You can meet Raji on her delightful vegetarian blog, Vegetarian Tastebuds. Make sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter too.

Prawns in Mild Coconut Curry

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This month has been hectic so far. My elder son Ammar,one of the twins,came down with the fever. I should have expected this,with the weather change. We were sand blasted for a couple of days. The winds scattered copious amount of sand in to the roads and to our balcony too. A sign that chilly mornings and nights will be changing into warm ones. When that and it’s opposite happens-that is,warm days turn in to chilly ones-kids fall sick. It always catches me off guard.

Koththu Roti-The famous Srilankan street food

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I recently fumbled upon Bee’s site RasaMalaysia.Being a Srilankan I was so delighted to find many names I was familiar with like Sambal and Roti.Did you know that “Rasa” means taste in our local Sinhalese language? 

Bee was gracious enough to accept my request to do a guest post on her site,to introduce her readers to a bit about Srilankan food. Lankan food is a mix of many Asian cuisines,influenced by the migrant South Indians and Malay workers and also from being under colonial rule by the English,Dutch and the Portuguese.

Srilankan Milk Rice-kiribath

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Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you a happy 2012 filled with lots of love,joy and laughter.
Here’s to new beginnings with a traditional Coconut Milk Rice or Kiribath,the way we Srilankans celebrate new year, be it  Roman or the traditional Sinhalese new year. Kiribath makes it’s way into every important event or auspicious moment in a Lankan’s life.

Sweet and Sour Chicken and Vegetables

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Hoping you all are enjoying the holiday season and spirit.My kids were on winter break and their mornings are spent sleeping till eight or nine.Which gives a much needed me time without the hustle and bustle of waking up in the wee hours of morning cooking and trying to get the kids to school.I’ll be up watching the sunrise with a mug of steaming hot coffee and my favorite bran crackers, savoring every moment of the peace and calmness, looking forward to the day ahead.

Coconut Roti and Sambal

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I feel bad for not posting regularly even though I want to,circumstances simply doesn’t allow me to.So pardon my intermittent absences from blogging.The winter has finally dawned on Dubai.You wake to chilly mornings that makes you curl up on the bed some more wanting to forget about the all the chores ahead.And specially on the weekends I just love to whip up something quick and hearty preferably traditional as the rest of the day we’ll be spending out enjoying the gorgeous weather.

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Soft and delicious Ghee Rotis

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Chappathi or Roti(pan cooked flatbread)as we call it,sans the ghee,has been my food in need,the food that came to my rescue when I didn’t have enough time to spend in the kitchen with two newborns to tend to.The food I can eat with almost any curry,veggie or spread I had, in any form be it stuffed,wrapped or just shredded.

I’ve been making roti ever since I was introduced to it by my Mother-in-Law.It helped me through my working years in Doha(first time away from home),during the infant and toddler years and still during the growing up stage of my young ones.
I normally make about 25 to 30 rotis in one go,all cooked,freeze them up and take out the required quantity and reheat it in the pan again.My boys love to eat the roti’s rolled up with cheese or the favorite Nutella.Yummy!

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Chicken curry

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I love cooking chicken this way.This is how the chicken curry is made in our household as far as I can remember.The spices that are crushed and added in final stages of cooking brings out such a nice flavor and aroma which I defenitely look forward to enjoying.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken cleaned and cut into pieces
2 ” cinnamon pieces
1 bay leaf
2 cardomom and clove pods each
curry leaves
1 green chilli chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 pods of garlic and 1′ inch ginger crushed
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
some cumin seeds,fennel seeds and pepper corns crushed(save for last)
1/4 cup of thick coconut milk
oil
Method
  • Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add cinnamon,bay leaf, cardamom,clove and curry leaves.
  • Add the onions,a pinch of salt and cook till the onions turn soft and add in the crushed ginger garlic paste.
  • Fry for a while till it turns light brown in color and add the chopped tomatoes and the spices.
  • Add a little bit a of water and cover and cook for till the tomatoes are soft.Add in the tomato paste,chicken,a cup of water,salt and cook till the chicken is done.
  • Stir the coconut milk in and heat it through.
  • Two to three minutes before you switch off the fire add the crushed spices.Adjust seasoning.

 

*Notes:

 

  • I have reduced the amount of chili powder because i feed this to my kids and added tomato paste to retain the reddish color.You can add more chilli powder if you want to fire things up a bit.
  • When I’m too lazy or pressed for time to extract the coconut milk I use about 2 tbsp plain yogurt.