parippu with spinach, basmathi rice, katta sambol, and mango chutney
No Sri Lankan meal would be complete without these high-protein legumes, also called dahl, which soak up the flavors of coconut milk, lemongrass and cinnamon. Smooth and creamy, they comprise a perfect protein when eaten with rice. You can vary the consistency of the lentils from thick as oatmeal to watery as soup, depending on how much water you add. You may also add some fresh greens like spinach to the pot at the end for a healthy, colorful variation.
Tempering is a typically Sri Lankan technique that involves infusing a dish with a burst of flavor right before serving. I have read that it comes from the Portuguese, but I see no evidence of this fact in Portuguese cuisine. When we temper the dahl, we add fried onions, curry leaves, some dried chilies and black mustard seeds (which are considered an anti-flatulent, and therefore perfect for legume dishes). I also like to add a about a teaspoon of raw curry powder, for some added taste. You may purchase both my raw and roasted Sri Lankan curry powder at www.foodoro.com.
The Recipe
1/2 lb. (225 g) red lentils
2 cups (500 ml) water
1/2 onion, chopped
2 to 3 green chilies, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1-inch (2.5 cm) piece pandanus (optional)
1-inch (2.5 cm) stalk lemongrass
1-inch (2.5 cm) stick cinnamon
1 cardamom pod
1 clove
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup (125 ml) coconut milk
salt to taste
tempering: 2 tablespoons oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1 sprig curry leaves
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 whole dry red chilies
1.) Wash and drain lentils (removing any stones or chaff).
2.) Bring water to boil in a medium-sized pot. Add lentils, onion, green chilies, garlic, pandanus, lemon grass, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, and turmeric. Cover and simmer until lentils are soft (about 20 minutes).
3.) Add coconut milk and salt. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4.) In another pan, heat oil. Sauté onions and curry leaves until onions are translucent. Add mustard seeds and dry chilies. Fry until mustard seeds start to pop. Pour over lentils and mix well.
June 8th, 2012 7:00PM, $50 Per Person Includes Dinner & Specialty Cocktails
Menu
Appetizers:
Fish Cutlets
Masala Vadai
Beef Patties
Main Courses:
Basmathi Rice
Pork Curry
Fish Ambul Thiyal
Curried eggplant
Mallun (sauteed greens)
Paripppu (lentils stewed in coconut milk)
Coconut Sambol
Tomato Cucumber Salad
Mango Chutney
Pappadum
Dessert:
Caramel Pudding (flan)
S.H. Fernando Jr. (aka “Skiz”) is a journalist, filmmaker, musician, and gastronaut. His most recent book, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking, which focuses on the cuisine of his homeland, was a New York Times notable cookbook for 2011. A specialist in the flavors of Asia, Skiz travels and writes about food for his blog, “Rice&Curry,”(www.riceandcurry.wordpress.com) dedicated to all things spicy. He also produces a YouTube cooking series called “Pan Asian,” which highlights dishes from Asia and beyond. Skiz makes his own brand of Sri Lankan curry powder—Skiz’s Original—which is sold online (www.foodoro.com) and through gourmet purveyors across the country.
Bakakak Hayam comes from the Sundanese people of West Java. Sundanese cuisine apparently ranks as one of the most popular regional cuisines in Indonesia, which was once known as the Spice Islands. There are some great flavors in this dish–including galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and coconut milk–and I love the fact that it starts out like a curry, but is then eventually grilled.
As with many Asian recipes, you might be intimidated at first by unknown ingredients or simply by the long shopping list, but your efforts in the kitchen will be well-rewarded.
The Recipe
1 fresh chicken, quartered
1 teaspoon tamarind pulp
2 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons oil
1 cup (250 ml) thick coconut milk
1 stalk lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised and cut into 3 pieces
Spice Paste:
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
3-4 red finger-length chilies
5 shallots, peeled
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
1-inch piece galangal root, peeled and sliced
½-inch piece turmeric root, peeled and sliced
½ teaspoon, dried shrimp paste, toasted
2 kaffir lime leaves, sliced
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1.) Soak tamarind pulp in warm water for 5 minutes. Mash with fingers and strain to obtain juice. Place chicken in a bowl and rub the tamarind juice into the chicken. Set aside.
2.) Prepare the spice paste by dry-frying the peppercorns, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds in a small pan over low heat until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Grind in a spice grinder or blender until fine. Add the remaining Spice Paste ingredients and grind to a smooth paste, adding a little oil as necessary to keep the mixture moist.
3.) Heat oil in a wok until hot and add Spice Paste. Stir-fry over low to medium heat until fragrant, 4-5 minutes. Add the thick coconut milk and lemon grass and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Pierce the chicken all over with a fork and then add to the wok. Cook the chicken for about 15 minutes, turning from time to time until the sauce is absorbed and dries to a paste.
4.) Remove chicken from wok, coat well with any remaining sauce, and grill under a broiler or BBQ until cooked through and golden brown on all sides, about 10-15 minutes.
Skiz's Original Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder available at Foodoro.com
Once upon a time in America, going off the eaten path meant Chinese food—that is, if you were lucky enough to have a Chinese restaurant near you. Today, according to the trade publication, Chinese Restaurant News, Chinese restaurants outnumber McDonald’s franchises by nearly 3 to 1. This news hardly comes as a surprise when you factor in all of the hole-in-the-wall, wok-and-roll, take-out joints that have become part of this country’s urban fabric. Such a shift signifies that chop-suey and General Tso’s chicken may now be considered as American as apple pie–or make that pizza. These days when people crave something truly different or ‘exotic,’ they are turning in droves to other cuisines of Asia–and loving it.
In their Market Intelligence Report: Asian, food industry research and consulting firm, Technomic, says that, “Asian cuisine is one of the ‘big three’ ethnic cuisines, along with Mexican and Italian. As consumers have become accustomed to Asian flavors, their interest has moved beyond Chinese fare to include regional Chinese dishes as well as Thai, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese and Korean. Restaurants are responding both with items similar to those served from Asian street purveyors and with flavorful iterations of upscale dishes. The number of Asian concepts is growing in both limited service and full service, and chains large and small are seeing annual sales and unit counts rise.” A large banner at last years’ Summer Fancy Food Show in DC seemed to echo these results, proclaiming, “Importers identify Mediterranean and Indian as the most influential emerging cuisines.”
What’s behind the interest in Asian flavors? Credit the Internet and 24-hour cable outlets like Food Network and The Cooking Channel, which are creating a more educated consumer; national supermarket chains such as Whole Foods, who are making hard to find ingredients handy; and, of course, successive waves of Asian immigrants, who have brought their cultures and cuisines with them. America, after all, has long been known as a melting pot–the best evidence of which can be found in the foods we eat.
Take my own case in point: A second-generation Sri Lankan immigrant, I grew up eating “rice and curry,” as the cuisine of my country is known. I watched intently as my mother used to buy all the raw spices—coriander, cumin, fennel, etc.–as well as fresh curry leaves from a local Indian shop, and grind her own curry powder in order to make our meals. As food represents an important connection to one’s culture, I wanted to learn how to make these dishes myself, so I returned to Sri Lanka for a year and studied Sri Lankan food from the spices on up. Upon returning stateside, I published Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011), which became a New York Times notable cookbook.
I could never have secured a book deal in the first place without new trends in food—primarily the ascendant culture of cooking in the United States. The recipes included in my book are obviously important to me because I grew up with them, but the fact that such a niche cookbook is into its second printing suggests that American cooks are becoming more open and adventurous in their outlook as well as sophisticated in their tastes. In addition, my cookbook would be irrelevant unless the ingredients were available here. On this count, chains like Whole Foods and other specialty stores are stocking fresh curry leaves, coconut milk, lemon grass, and all manner of chilies. The Internet, too, makes it possible to access practically any cuisine or recipe in existence. You can even buy products like my Skiz’s Original Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder on gourmet sites such as Foodoro (if you don’t feel like making it yourself). If that’s not enough incentive to spend some quality time in the kitchen, the pervading economic slump is making eating in popular again—especially when you are able to travel someplace you’ve never been without even leaving your own kitchen. In short, all of these current trends have conspired to create a growing market for Asian food in general—and previously obscure cuisines like Sri Lankan food in particular–realizing the words of that famous song, “It’s a small world after all.”
The theme of this years’ Culinary Institute of America’s 15th Annual Worlds of Flavor Conference and Festival is “Arc of Flavor: Re-imagining Culinary Exchange, From The Mediterranean and Middle East to Asia.” Chefs and culinary professionals from all over the world will participate. Such a huge exchange of ingredients, techniques, and ideas suggests that we are moving towards a world fusion cuisine, where everyone will benefit. It sure is an exciting time to be cooking—and eating.
Pachamama, the fertility god of the indigenous people of the Andes
As I often judge a place by its street food, I was pleased to find Cusco with a vibrant tradition of the latter. In addition to anticucho, grilled beef heart on a stick served with a potato; and chicharrones, fried pork rinds, which surprisingly boasted a greater ratio of meat to fat; I also found hard-boiled quail eggs, choclo (giant corn on the cob) smothered with white cheese; chili rellenos (a chili stuffed inside a deep fried potato croquette ); baked sweet potatoes and plantains; and enough exotic fruit to keep me happy for days.
anticucho -- beefheart on a stick
chicharrones
choclo
chili rellenos
baked yams and plantains
soursop for sale on the street
fresh OJ vendor
Cusco’s central market also made a very favorable impression. This “Walmart” of the Andes is a one-stop shopping mecca that stocks everything from souvenirs to staples, which make up most of the huge mercado’s front section. But the back half is entirely dedicated to food–most of it prepared right in front of you. Two whole rows of vendors special in chicken noodle soup and escabeche topped with chopped cilantro and a spicy salsa picante. Other vendors specialize in lomo saltado, fried fish, beef ribs, ceviche, and more. You know everything is super fresh because the stalls selling meat and fish are right next door to all of these cheap eateries.
Nothing like some chicken noodle soup!
salsa picante
escabeche
beef ribs
The market is pulsing with the sights, sounds, and smells of Andean Peru. Piles of vibrant textiles next to stacks of fruit, wheels of cheese, and the wafting aromas of dozens of food stalls serving lunch. Pork products occupy their own special aisle within the market, and Peruvians obviously go for the whole hog.
After a huge feed, you can relax with a cup of herba mate tea right outside the market. I also discovered a great cold drink called chicha morada, which is made from black corn. It’s sweet, hard to place taste lies somewhere between licorice and cinnamon, while it’s fermented cousin, chicha, made of regular corn, is known to pack quite a wallop.
herbe mate vendor
chicha & chicha morado
black corn, the raw material of chicha morada
Speaking of drinks, I was not about to leave Peru without trying their home-grown liquor, pisco, a type of grape brandy. The drink of choice, a pisco sour made with lime juice, sugar, and topped with a foam of egg whites, is certainly potent, but also very tasty, and it reminded me of one of my favorite cocktails, the Caipirinha ( a brazilian drink made from sugar cane liquor).
The potent Pisco Sour
I feel like I got a good taste of Peru on my 10 day excursion, but I also feel like there’s much more to see and do here. As different as Lima and Cusco are to one another, I’m sure there are other corners of the country that are just as unique. I liked pretty much everything I tried except for one thing: coca leaves. In Cusco, especially, all the locals chew the leaf (or drink it in tea), from which the drug cocaine is distilled, as a means to deal with the effects of the high altitude. While the strong bitterness of the leaf is obviously an acquired taste, I would never have known that it actually does help with the altitude had I not tried it. I also credit it for giving me the energy to climb Machu Picchu in just under an hour.
The ancient citadel of Machu Picchu, located high up in the Andes Mountains, has long been on my list of “must see” places on the planet, and I was finally able to fulfill this dream this past March, climbing both Machu Picchu and the lesser known Huayna Picchu (the rounded peak in the background of many classic Machu Picchu shots). But no matter how many photos you have seen of this popular site, it cannot compare to the experience of actually being there, surrounded by cloud covered peaks; breathing in the thin, crisp air; and being awestruck at the huge scale of the ruins and what it must have taken to build them in such a challenging location.
Of course, one of the main attractions of any trip abroad for me, is the food. Having never visited Peru before, I had no idea what to expect other than great ceviche and, of course, cuy or guinea pig. Arriving early in the morning in Lima, one of the first bites I had, however, was the familiar empanada–ground meat wrapped up in a pastry. So many cultures worldwide have something similar: In Jamaica and Sri Lanka, they call them “patties,” in Brasil, salgados. In Peru, empanadas are as ubiquitous as Manhattan’s dirty water hot dogs, stuffed with all kinds of fillings from ham & cheese, to beef, chicken, as well as an amazing sweet variety made with guava and cheese.
empanadas
a flaky pastry surrounds a moist, meaty filling--who doesn't like that?
the ultimate street food
Judging by the hotels in which I stayed, breakfast is not much of a meal in Peru. The most you’ll get is a white roll with butter and jam and maybe some fruit along with a concentrated coffee liquid to which you add hot milk. To see what average Peruvians start the day of with, however, I took a look at what’s cooking on the streets. Outside one of Lima’s old school mercados (markets), where you can by all manner of fresh meats and produce, I followed the noise of frying and the aroma of meat and eggs, to discover what’s really for breakfast here.
can't beat the streets...
...for a classic fry up!
Speaking of the mercado, it’s a great place to get a “lay of the land” and see which foods are available in a country as well as which foods people like to eat. In Peru, where the mighty Amazon begins, there are no shortage of exotic eats, many of which I am still trying to at least put a name to.
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The meat section reminds me of a typical market in Sri Lanka (or any developing nation for that matter), where huge sides of beef hang on hooks sans refrigeration. As people waste no part of the animal, plenty of offal (the nasty bits) is available as well, to be made into traditional dishes like cau-cau, or cow’s stomach (which I did not have the pleasure of trying this time around) .
In Lima, ceviche is king, and I tried all manner of this seafood-cooked-in-citrus specialty, from the 5 soles plate at the mercado to the more high-end offering at La Rosa Nautica Restaurant (see earlier blog post). What I love about ceviche here is that they serve it with so many sides–a boiled sweet potato, toasted corn kernals, rice, and even fried calamari–which make it a full meal, while also providing a textural counterpoint for the tender chunks of fish and seafood. I also love the marinating liquid–leche de tigre (milk of the tiger)–made of lime juice, cilantro, red onions, and salt.
my first ceviche: can't even see the fish swimming in the "leche de tigre" and topped with fried calamari and a chunk of sweet potato
freshwater ceviche
But while seafood is primarily the province of coastal areas, a plate of lomo saltado stands as more a contender for the national dish. A simple stir fry of (usually) beef with onions tomatoes and peas served with rice and french fries, lomo is a gut-buster that is guaranteed to keep you going all day (that is, if you are not inclined to take a nap after eating it).
lomo saltado
Of course, if beef is not your thing, there’s plenty of pork and chicken to go around, and for those on the more adventurous side, alpaca (a relative of the llama) provides a great lean alternative. With a taste akin to beef, alpaca, prized for its soft fur, which is used to make everything from sweaters to rugs, also makes a mean steak.
an alpaca
grilled alpaca
Another quintessentially Peruvian favorite is, of course, guinea pig or cuy. Though Americans might balk at the idea of eating an animal that many consider a household pet like dogs and cats, Peruvians also keep these animals as pets, yet relish their taste, regardless. No self-respecting gastronaut, could bypass such an opportunity, so I seized the cuy with both hands at a restaurant catering to locals in Cusco, the former Inca capital. Located almost 12,000 feet above sea level, Cusco has a decidedly rootsier feel compared to more cosmopolitan Lima. It’s also difficult to breathe here, and handful of coca leaves placed between the cheek and gums and alternately chewed and sucked on greatly helps deal with it. It doesn’t seem to bother the locals, however, mostly quechua-speaking Indians, who appear out of a different era.
cuy...or guinea pig to you
a typical resident of Cusco
The grilled guinea pig was served whole (or actually vivisected from head to tail) along with some pasta, sauteed vegetables, and a couple of large Andean potatoes. The crispy skin, much like chicken skin, was delicious and comprised most of the edible material here as this small animal does not have that much meat (and a lot of bones). In fact, what little flesh there was tasted a lot like chicken except for the ‘head cheese’ up in the well-baked cranial cavity which had its own unique flavor. I thought nothing of polishing off the little critter except when I stared at its tiny, rat-like claws, which elicited unwelcome visions of the New York subway. At 20 soles (about $7.50), cuy was also no bargain in comparison to other local food, so I didn’t have it again on the trip. However, I did see a much cheaper version of cuy at a street fair Cusco, served with bread, cheese, and topped with a kind of seaweed of all things, but having just polished off a hefty portion of lomo saltado, my appetite was satiated for the rest of the day.
I’m a huge fan of Caribbean food. Give me some jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtails, escoveitch fish, or roti any day, and I’ll be happy. I also love caribbean spices such as allspice and thyme, and the flavorful bite of scotch bonnet (habanero) peppers. I can eat patties all day, but there’s a great snack from Trinidad called “Doubles,” which is two pieces of fried dough stuffed with a chickpea mixture, and channa aloo is actually that delicious filling. This dish is also my goto Trini recipe–especially when there’s not much in the cupboard but a can of chickpeas, and I’m looking for something quick, easy and delicious. It’s usually eaten with roti, a traditional West Indian flat bread, but eat it with rice and you’re getting a perfect protein. So good, I bet you won’t believe it’s also vegan, so indulge in something healthy too.
The Recipe
From Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago (Hippocrene Books) by Ramin Ganeshram
Ingredients:
1 cup dried, or 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ small onion, chopped (optional)
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped shado beni or cilantro leaves
¼ Scotch Bonnet or other hot red chili pepper
2 tablespoons Trinidad curry powder
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into ½ -inch chunks
1.) If using dried chickpeas, soak them in 3 cups water overnight; drain and rinse. In a deep saucepan, cook the chickpeas in 3 cups of fresh water, simmering until tender (about 15 minutes). If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2.) Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and add onion, garlic, shado beni (or cilantro) and hot pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring often
3.) Add the curry powder and cook, stirring constantly for 30-45 seconds (Do not allow curry to scorch).
4.) Stir in the chickpeas and potatoes. Cook covered for 1-2 minutes. Add just enough water to cover the potatoes and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve with hot roti.
Makes 4-6 servings
channa aloo served with a hot buttered naan, tomato slices, and some mango chutney
Sweet Hands available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
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Paneer
