Easy no-fuss milk toffee with pumpkin and chocolate. A twist on traditional Sri Lankan milk toffee. A deacadent little treat for the holidays or any time of the year.
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srilankan
Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry
Watalappan-Coconut Custard Recipe
Fish Curry Recipe
Looking at this fish curry,evokes the memories back in the day . Specially tuna, it had to be my favorite fish. Because it resembled meat,sturdy and held it’s shape. I despised fish of all sorts except this. I hated the tiny long bones fearing that it would get stuck in my throat and the fish smell . I’ve always been a meat girl. Chicken was very rare those days, you get to eat it only on special occasions. It was always beef and fish on rotation.
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Beef & Rice Conjee/Porridge
After a long silence in my blog,here I am reviving it again. Come what may,I realized I couldn’t abandon my blog. I sincerely thank all my readers who messaged me,inspiring me to keep the blog alive. Also a shout out to my husband who designed this lovely header. Felt like coming back to a newly decorated, good old home filled with memories. A lot happened during the past year,and I thank the Almighty for giving me courage and keeping me going.
It’s the blessed month of Ramadan. A month of fasting,not feasting. This year,Alhamdulillah,I made a resolution to keep our meals to a bare minimum. Not that we had extravagant meals all these years,but the focus was always been on food rather than more on worship. It’s always been what to cook for Iftar(Breaking fast),what to make for Suhoor(Early Morning meal),how many iftars do I have to organize and so on and so forth. But starting my higher studies on Islam, getting myself bombarded(in a good way) with all the updates about the true essence of Ramadan by the social media and various groups that I’m part of, helped me realize the true spirit of this blessed month.
Now in Srilanka, the staple Iftar meal is the Conjee or the rice porridge.
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Kiwi and Sago Pudding
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.
Red Lentils with Coconut Milk – Sri Lankan Parippu
‘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.
Sri Lankan Love Cake
It’s not that time of the year to post about love cakes. Not that I celebrate Valentines Day,anyways. But it was my birthday last month.I stepped into my thirties leaving my twenties behind. A decade filled with life changing experiences and so many lessons. Though,there was the slightest twinge of sadness,I was prepared to embrace this new chapter in life,with a piece of cake. Not just any cake,but the Love Cake.
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At home – Lankan Splendor
It’s been a while since I posted on this small space of mine. It was an unintentional break.When I first started the blog,I thought it was all smooth sailing. I was excited and enjoyed the experience,the novelty it brought me.It was supposed to be a hobby,occupying my leisure time.But I didn’t expect it to take over most of my time,the time I should be spending with my kids and looking after myself.
Preparing the food,arranging the set ,shooting would take several hours,not to mention the clean up after that,since there’s no maid around.Then there is editing,which would take days for me since I’m a perfectionist. Along comes the social media part,being active in Twitter and FB and submitting to all the food porno sites.It was so overwhelming. I had to find a balance but I was unable to.
Then came the holidays. A much needed one.We went home,to the green haven after two years. Away from all the dust,heat and artificial life.I wanted to make it special for my kids since the last few times they were in Sri Lanka they were too small to absorb anything. Sadly,it was a short holiday due to husband’s extreme workload. But we made the most out of it. As much as I wanted it to be a foodie tour, photographing food and prop hunting wherever we go,I never did any of those. I took my kids to visit people,relatives and friends. Places we’ve never been to.To enjoy being at home so they’ll look forward to going back again.Here are,some of the memories I brought along with me.These travel shots are by my husband whose a nature and wildlife photography enthusiast. I was more than happy to handover the camera to him,and enjoy my time with the kids.
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| Motherly love..A family of elephants in Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage |
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| A tusker having his lunch..At Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage |
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| Well behaved elephants coming to their sanctuary after a bath in the river |
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| A squirrel nibbling his snack..in the hill country,Gampola |
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| A view from the backyard in my husband’s paternal house,Gampola |
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| Sleeping Buddha statue in a temple in Gampola,the largest of it’s kind in South Asia |
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| It was the Rambutan season,stalls full of Rambutan adorn the sides of the road |
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| See how luscious the stall looks…I miss Rambutan |
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| Mangosteens waiting for someone to grab… |
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| The white flesh of the Mangosteen….the fruit leaves dark red stains on your fingers |
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| The winding roads leading to the hill country |
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| A lone boat in Kotmale Reservoir |
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| My personal favorite……. |
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| Puppets on a roadside stall |
Ground Rice Balls “Aggala”
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
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.
Coconut Jaggery Crepes with Treacle
When Tika asked me to do a guest post on her site Cemplang Cemplung about a traditional Sri Lankan dish,I was thrilled.
I met the talented Tika in Facebook and instantly drawn to her site.Her food photography is amazing and her passion for it shines through each and every one of her photographs.She has won several DMBLGiT awards,a monthly food photography contest recognizing the best of food photography.
And this warm and generous lady has another blog dedicated to food photography tips for aspiring newbies like us.
Though I had several traditional recipes in mind,I wanted to feature this sweet dish I absolutely loved growing up.
A thin crepe roll filled with coconut,jaggery and nut filling and served with treacle on the side.
Prawns in Mild Coconut Curry
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
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
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.
Coconut Roti and Sambal
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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Milk Toffees with Nuts
Muslims all over the world celebrate Eid this week.The festival of sacrifice.It is one of the two most important Islamic festivals, Eid al-Adha begins on the 10th day of Dhu’l-Hijja, the last month of the lunar Islamic calendar. Lasting for three days, it occurs at the conclusion of the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.
Eid Al-Adha commemorates Prophet Abraham’s willingness to obey God when he envisioned that he was to sacrifice his son. Muslims observe this day by slaughtering an animal (usually a sheep) and then offering much of its meat in charity to poor people.
Red Rice Porridge
The delicious red rice is a staple in my country.This long grain beauty clothed in a red husk is minimally processed and has a high nutritional value.When cooked it imparts a deep rich color which is an absolute beauty.I have tried cooking brown rice and every time it fails to satisfy me.Even if I soak it for hours and hours and add bucketfuls of water or stock it never gets done properly but the red rice cooks fast and has a nutty flavor(yeah,when I mean cooked,it’s fully cooked and not make you feel you’re tasting soaked rice after simmering for half an hour as in the case of brown rice.) .
This dish is enjoyed on lazy weekend mornings and a staple in my household.Kids love it as it is and grown ups with a touch of spice and heat,like the hot mango pickle that I’ve used here or a spicy sambol.
Jaggery and Coconut milk Pudding/Watalappan
I’ve been away from my blog for sometime,It felt like a long silence.I was desperate to post,to get things out in the open,first Ramadan, then this excitement kept me busy.I was super excited..yeah..super excited.My little ones started schooling.
It seems like yesterday when I held my babies in my arms,having no clue as to what to do or how to take care.I braved myself for the task taking each day in with my Dearest DH next to me.It’s been forty months since then and now my little boys donned in uniforms,are off to school.Just can’t believe we made this far.
They’ve been to nursery before but this is the first step to the real world..An episode of life which I’m sure we all miss…More than them I love going to the school.It brings back all those lovely memories..chatting away with friends without a care in the world,delicious food being shared..Wish I could go back in time…
I wanted to celebrate with a post but taking the pictures and writing it up took time with the boys meddling around.Here I bring one of SriLanka’s favorite desserts and one we Muslims are famed for making..
Friends and colleagues flock around you,when you get back to school or work after the Eid holidays eagerly awaiting to taste this mouthwatering and healthy(Did I say healthy..? It doesn’t have sugar) dessert…
I love the look on their faces when I present them with a big bowl of Watalappan,like a bunch of small kids who’ve been given a bag full of candies.
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Chicken & Wheat Conjee/Porridge
If there’s one thing that’s staple in our Iftar menu,that has to be the Conjee,the warm and comforting rice porridge that will fill your belly and delight you after those long hours of fasting.I have to have at least a couple of spoonfuls or else I feel as if I haven’t had anything at all.
Back at home we have it all year around,specially for breakfast,made with red rice or herbs.An easy one pot meal that keeps you fully satisfied.And in Ramadan,it’s made in all the Muslim households for Iftar,mostly with some kind of meat and veggies.I still remember taking the warm conjee made by mom and aunt,to neighbors as it is a sign of good gesture.And we would taste the different varieties of Conjee and snacks received from our neighbors and relatives.All this porridge talk conjures up vivid memories of past that makes me want to live them again….hmmmm.I still make it here on weekends,specially on friday mornings and my DH and sons love it..
Conjee,aka rice porridge,aka jook is a staple in most rice based cultures specially in China,Malaysia,HongKong,SriLanka to name a few.Wikipedia has more info on this here.It’s one of the first weaning foods given to a baby.Even though it’s made with water or stock in other cuisines,back at home we add coconut milk for grownups.
Unfortunately ,I couldn’t find the white raw rice we use, here in Dubai.But luckily I found another alternative,which is Bulgur Wheat,easy and cooks in much less time than the rice cause it’s already parboiled and broken.
And now this is what I make everyday..till the end of Ramadan..Do I get bored eating the samething everyday? No,I use different meats and sometimes only fried onions.
Here’s the recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white bulgur wheat small
2 cups water
1 chicken breast,cut into small pieces
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
3 tbsp grated carrot
few green stalks of spring onions or leeks chopped
5-6 curry leaves
2” inch cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 cardomoms
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
1” inch ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
l/4 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp pepper corns
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
salt to taste
Method:
- Soak the wheat in water for about 30 minutes.Wash and drain.
- In a pot,add the wheat and all the other ingredients except for coconut milk,cumin seeds and pepper corns.Add salt.
- Boil until the meat is cooked and water has evaporated.Don’t make it very dry.
- Add the coconut milk and crushed cumin seeds and pepper corns.Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Adjust seasoning.
- Serve it warm.
Notes:
* You can garnish it with fried onion and chopped coriander leaves or spring onions.
* I used 1 cup of thick milk and the rest thin milk.1 cup of freshly grated coconut blended with 1 cup water yields 1 cup thick milk in the first extraction.Second and third extraction will give you thin milk.
* You can spoon out the curry leaves,ginger and whole spices before serving.You sure don’t want to bite into a cardomom or clove!
Enjoy the yummy goodness…!!!
Shrimp String-hoppers Biryani
There’s so much to do in this blessed month of Ramadan.First let me wish my readers a Blessed Ramadan,even though this comes pretty late it’s something I had to do now that I have followers.Thanks guys for making my days!!
Even though what I am not going to say next is not in anyway related to food blogging,I need to get it out and across.You must have heard about the famine in Africa,specially in Somalia.There were about 29,000 child deaths in the past 9 months.Having lost a baby brother when growing up and as a mother of two little kids I felt strongly about this.Specially knowing that,this could be avoided with a bit of help from all of us.Here in Dubai,we have SMS services that donate money and Government sites where you can login and deposit your Sadaqatul Fitr or charity online.Spread the word around.Please ask dua for them specially when breaking fast. And find out how you can help from your country or area.
Having said that,in this holy month there are always Iftar get together’s to look forward to.Back at home,a quite popular Iftar dinner menu is string hoppers made with either wheat flour or rice flour cause it makes a light dinner.Making it from scratch looked quite labourous to me,but the elders enjoyed it and it was team work.How I miss those days!
So,here in Dubai,I was happy to find ready-made string hoppers making it easy for me to throw an Iftar dinner without much hassle.This is what I did when one of our friends came for Iftar the other day and it made a tasty light dinner perfect for Ramadan nights.
Chocolate Biscuit Pudding
Invite me for a dinner or a get-together.This is the first thing that comes to my mind to surprise you with.It’s easily put together in no time but has to be chilled overnight for that extra flavor.This is one of the favorite desserts of the Srilankans because I’ve seen peoples faces light up to the mere mention of the name.
I’ve made it twice in a row for a friend who invited me for dinner and for a friend i’ll be inviting pretty soon.Well,if you have your hands full with kids like me,this can be made ahead of time and kept it in the refrigerator until you get that dinner party finally arranged for your friend.
Kankun Stir-Fry
Surprisingly,this is one of my favourite dishes since childhood when I despised all sorts of greens on my food.Maybe it’s the subtle flavour of Maldive fish combined with red chillies that tantalized my taste buds or the distinct slippery texture and flavour of the leaf or the childhood memories it brings..Whatever that is,it still remains one of my favourits.
Though it’s hard to find the fresh large Kankun leaves here in Dubai,I received two bunches of rather small leaves and I put it to use immediately.
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